Oregon’s trip to USC now has a time and a TV home, and it lands in one of the weekend’s showcase windows.
NBC announced Monday morning that the Ducks and No. 11 USC will kick off at 4:30 PM PT, with the game airing on NBC. That puts the Top 25 matchup in the network’s game of the week slot.
The Ducks head into the meeting coming off a rough 39-31 loss at Oklahoma State, a game that looked ugly well beyond the final score. The Cowboys piled up nearly 600 yards of total offense and held Oregon under 300 yards despite the Ducks entering as more than a three-touchdown favorite. Dante Moore had one of the worst outings of his career, Oregon’s offensive tackles had major issues against an Oklahoma State defensive line that was supposed to be overmatched, and the Ducks’ defense was carved up with little pressure up front and too much room given up on the back end.
After the loss, Dan Lanning didn’t soften the message.
"You know, the score was closer than it really was because it wasn't close in a lot of ways. We got our ass kicked in a lot of areas. Tons of credit to Coach Morris and his staff," said Lanning after the loss at Oklahoma State.
He also pointed to the broader issues his team has to clean up.
"You know, with the takeaways that we had on defense, it doesn't look like it looked. That being said, there's a lot of opportunity for improvement.
Overall, as a team, we didn't tackle well in Week 1. We didn't tackle well in Week 2.
We didn't win the line of scrimmage on either side of the ball. We've got to do a better job there.
"There are a lot of things you can look at and evaluate and say, 'Okay, let's go to work.' Ultimately, on the same note, every single goal is still in front of us.
We control our destiny. But this is a game where we needed to show improvement, and we didn't show improvement.
So we have to see that now moving forward with our team.
"We've got a locker room that's hurting, obviously. But on the same note, Oklahoma State went and won that game, and we didn't do the things that you have to do to win that game.
We owe that result to ourselves. So that's what happened."
That setback knocked Oregon down in both major polls. The Ducks are now No. 18 in the Coaches Poll and No. 21 in the AP Poll.
Before heading to Los Angeles, Oregon has a quick turnaround this week with a Friday night home game against FCS opponent Portland State. That one kicks at 7:30 PM PT, and the Ducks are listed as a 58-point favorite.
USC comes into the matchup with momentum after a strong opening run. The Trojans opened by beating San Jose State 42-26, then rolled past Fresno State 39-0, and followed that with a 49-30 win over Louisiana to finish a three-game homestand. This weekend, USC heads east to face Rutgers before turning its attention to Oregon.
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The broader debate has also been unforgiving elsewhere, with Georgia Techs 0-2 start, Rutgers rough opening under Greg Schiano, John Mateers uneven showing for Oklahoma and Ohio States loss after leading Texas all feeding the same kind of post-Week 2 reckoning. For Oregon, the concern is less about one bad afternoon than what it suggests about how quickly expectations can harden when a contender does not look as sharp as advertised. [Read more 🡒]
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