Oregon State
With four teams still legitimately contending for the Pac-10 title, there are plenty of reasons to watch. 1. Will Foles bounce back after struggling at Cal? Arizona sophomore quarterback Nick Foles wasn't terrible at California last week, but he wasn't as good as he has been -- read: really good -- running the Wildcats offense since he took over...
more »
(0)
Two Pac-10 players are on the Walter Camp Player of the Year "Players to Watch" list: Stanford running back Toby Gerhart and Oregon State running back Jacquizz Rodgers. A list of five finalists will be announced Dec. 2. The 2009 Walter Camp Player of the Year recipient, who is voted on by the Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches and...
more »
(0)
By Michael Lev, staff writer,
USC
USC fell from No. 11 to No. 22 in The Associated Press Top 25. The Trojans hadn’t been lower than 13th since October 2002. USC is 18th in the BCS standings, one spot behind Stanford and one ahead of Oregon State — not that that matters anymore. This week’s award for the ranking that makes the least [...]...
more »
(0)
Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller Went 4-1 last week -- if I could only pick Oregon games! -- and the season record stands at 43-15. And, as a few of you have generously noted, I'm on a bit of a run here -- 16-2 to be exact. A couple of these games, however, gave me pause. Stanford 33, USC...
more »
(0)
Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller To paraphrase a great philosopher and renaissance man, Ric Flair, "This ain't no garden party, brother, this is the Pac-10, where only the strongest survive. Wooooooo!" Folks, the screws are tightening. 1. Does USC's Pac-10 run end Saturday? It's fairly simple. If Stanford wins at USC, it's likely one of the great runs in...
more »
(0)
Random thoughts from the past weekend… —USC coach Pete Carroll–an avowed disciple of pro-style offenses and defenses–got a healthy dose of college-style medicine against Oregon. Is it just me, or is Carroll turning into the next Mack Brown/Lloyd Carr/Phil Fulmer? Meaning, like the programs headed by the aforementioned coaches, USC is laden with talent, but lacking urgency, creativity or dynamism...
more »
(0)
Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller No changes this week, which may be a first this season. 1. Oregon: The Ducks left no doubt against USC. None. Zero. Now, can they maintain the focus that got them here -- the Pac-10 title within sight -- or will they start to do most-muscular poses in their bathroom mirror? Because if they start to get...
more »
(0)
The Trojans have survived tough road environments this year at Ohio State, Cal and Notre Dame. However, the biggest test of the year will be Saturday night at the toughest place to play in the Pac-10, Auzten Stadium, where the Trojans will battle the 10th ranked Oregon Ducks.
The Trojans will have to survive a real house of hunts with a raucous Halloween night crowd, rain and wind in the 1st half and an Oregon team that is operating at the top of its game.
The fourth ranked Trojans have not left the state of Oregon with a victory since 2005 and will have to play together and disciplined in all phases of the game to for them to leave with a victory.
5 things to keep track of plus the obvious:
1- USC’s Defensive Line vs. Oregon’s Offensive Line: Oregon’s offensive line is fairly inexperienced and has yet to play a top tier defensive line. The Trojans must get penetration early and break-up Oregon’s offensive rhythm. The key to stopping any spread attack is linebackers being able to stay home and cause havoc on the short passing game and mis-directional running plays.
The emergence of the spread offense has led defensive coaches to really focus on it in the offseason and will see if that hard work pays off on Saturday.
2- Force Oregon into obvious passing situations: The Oregon offense is very potent when they are running the ball 2/3 of the time and not forced into throwing situations longer than 10 yards. Oregon only averages 157 yards passing a game. The hurry up aspect of Oregon’s offense is based on a solid running game where they like to hand it off or throw a pass behind the line of scrimmage 85% of the time.
Oregon prefers to throw the ball less than 20 times and Masoli is a weak mid to deep thrower under pressure. Evidence of that was clear in USC’s 44-10 victory over Oregon in the Coliseum last year.
Oregon tailback LaMichael James might be the second best back in the conference behind Oregon State’s Jacquizz Rogers. He is a great cut-back runner and has the ability to make a big gain at the blink of an eye. Containing James will be the key to forcing Oregon into 3rd and long situations.
(More of what to look for after the jump)
(3)
Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller The big one is in Eugene but every game matters. Three teams are chilling at home. 1. Matt Barkley thinks Autzen Stadium is going to be a barrel of monkeys: Matt Barkley told the LA Times that he's looks forward to playing in Autzen Stadium -- "the energy is going to be awesome and...
more »
(0)
(Photo by Icon Sports Media)
Here's a piece from ESPN’s Ted Miller on Allen Bradford's breakout game vs. on Oregon State. Bradford rushed for 147 yards on 15 carries (both career highs) and scored two touchdowns. Miller compares Joe McKnight and Bradford to LenDale and Reggie, Thunder and Lighting 2.0. Bradford doesn't agree though:
"Me and Joe will never be Reggie and LenDale," Bradford said. "All we can be is Joe and Allen, so that's what we're going to be."
Someone that does agree with Miller is Oregon coach Chip Kelly:
"With their stable of running backs, they've got thunder and lightning and hurricane, typhoon -- you name any storm, they've got it," Kelly said.
The USC ground game has unlimited potential. Can Joe and Allen be Thunder and Lighting 2.0? With the O-Line looking better and better each week, anything is possible. It would definitely be a treat to see Joe and Allen do their best Reggie and LenDale impersonation and go off on Halloween.
To read Ted Miller’s full article click here.
USC RB Bradford ready to thunder his arrival [espn]
(0)
HeismanPundit.com Heisman Poll, 10/27 Total Points with first place votes in parantheses 1. Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama–56 (9) 2. Jimmy Clausen, QB, Notre Dame–26 (1) 3. Colt McCoy, QB, Texas–25 4. Tim Tebow, QB, Florida–23 (1) 5. Ndamukong Suh, DT, Nebraska–15 (1) 6. Golden Tate, WR, Notre Dame–10 (1) Case Keenum, QB, Houston–10 8. Jacquizz Rodgers, RB, Oregon State–8...
more »
(0)
USC's Taylor Mays rips the helmet off Oregon State receiver James Rodgers in the fourth quarter of Saturday's game at the L.A. Coliseum. "I didn't mean to rip the dude's helmet off," Mays said. A Pacific 10 Conference official has been suspended for not calling a facemask penalty on Mays. The league did not identify the official....
more »
(0)
Previous Headlines
