No. 12 USC gets Oregon at the Coliseum on Saturday, Sept. 26, and the Trojans are looking at last year’s 42-27 loss in Eugene as a blueprint for what has to go better this time.
This is familiar territory for two programs that have been meeting since 1915, but the Ducks arrive with plenty of continuity. Oregon’s offense still runs through quarterback Dante Moore, and coach Lincoln Riley pointed to how much of that unit remains intact.
“Same quarterback, a lot of the same receivers, they got a very good tight end, good offensive line,” said USC coach Lincoln Riley. “We know obviously, about their defensive line; a lot of those guys returning.
A couple of new faces in the linebacking core and secondary. It’s a good football team, very talented football team.
They got some experience back.”
For USC, the lesson from the previous meeting is simple: the game swung on special teams, and the Trojans can’t let that happen again. The first big jolt came when Oregon receiver Malik Benson took a punt 85 yards for a touchdown early in the second quarter, turning a tied game into a Ducks surge.
Later in the half, Oregon missed a field goal, but USC linebacker Desman Stephens was flagged for jumping over the center, giving the Ducks another shot. They took advantage, eventually stretching the lead to 14.
Ryon Sayeri had been remarkably steady before hooking a 27-yard field goal late in the second quarter, but USC was already stuck chasing the game after a string of special teams mistakes. That kind of breakdown has shown up again this season, too.
Against Rutgers in Week 3, the Trojans allowed a 40-yard fake punt on 4th and 21 late in the second quarter, a play that helped the Scarlet Knights hang around all day. They did make a splash against Louisiana in Week 2, when a partially blocked punt led to Trent Mosley’s 86-yard return for a touchdown.
Mosley is out now, so USC needs someone else to deliver that kind of lift. That’s part of why the Trojans brought in linebacker coach and special teams coordinator Mike Ekeler from Nebraska.
Another problem from the 2025 matchup was what happened up front. USC was already missing starting left tackle Elijah Paige, then lost center Kilian O’Connor in the first half.
Jayden Maiava spent the afternoon under heavy pressure behind a patchwork offensive line, threw two interceptions and never got much help from the ground game. King Miller carried 15 times for just 30 yards.
This time, USC faces the same Oregon defensive line it saw a year ago, with Bear Alexander as the most familiar name. Alexander played for USC in 2023 before quitting three games into the 2024 season and transferring to Oregon.
That makes the Trojans’ ability to hold up in the trenches even more important. They can’t let the offense become one-dimensional, and they also need a better answer for Moore, who has struggled in his career when pressure gets to him. If USC can make him uncomfortable, that changes the shape of the entire game and helps a secondary that may be missing a couple of starters.
Oregon also ran for 179 yards against USC last season, and the Trojans have spent the offseason trying to strengthen their defensive front through recruiting and the transfer portal. Saturday is a chance to see whether that investment pays off.
There’s another layer here, too. The offseason talk around Oregon’s loss of coordinators Will Stein and Tosh Lupoi was easy to dismiss at the time, but the Ducks have felt it. Dan Lanning has been outcoached in both of Oregon’s games against FBS competition this season, with poor execution, questionable coaching decisions and bad mistakes piling up.
That puts the spotlight on Riley and USC to seize the coaching edge in a marquee matchup. The Trojans’ new-look defensive staff, led by Hall of Fame coach Gary Patterson, has produced the kind of results people expected when the season began. If the Patterson effect is going to show up in a big way, Saturday at 4:30 PT at the Coliseum is the time.
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