Oregon Defeats USC In Pac-12 Championship Game
On a special Friday night matchup the USC Trojans (South) and Oregon Ducks (North) went head to head at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for a shot at the Pac-12 title. Despite the Trojans having the home field advantage in Los Angeles tonight, they were not able to find the W against the ultra aggressive Oregon Ducks.
Both teams entered the Coliseum fired up, consistently making noise on the sidelines and creating their own energy despite an empty stadium with no fans.
The Ducks found their momentum early on in the first quarter after USC QB Kedon Slovis threw an interception just one minute into the game. Slovis' turnover set the tone for the Trojans for the rest of the night.
The Ducks scored back to back touchdowns on two Kedon Slovis interceptions and led 14-7 up until 0:50 seconds into the 1st quarter. Slovis was able to connect with USC WR Amon-Ra St. Brown with seconds left in the first for a touchdown.
Going into the second quarter, the Ducks kept their lead over the Trojans. Oregon made a score at 9:45 and 1st & 10 at USC 16, as QB Tyler Shough found TE DJ Johnson for a 16 yard pass. The Trojans tried to tie it up before the half, when RB Markese Stepp ran 1 yard into the end zone, but the Trojans remained behind 21-14.
What was evident tonight was how dominant Oregon's defense was throughout the entire four quarters of the game. They played fast and ultra aggressive.
"Credit to Oregon and Mario. Very good game plan" said Clay Helton in the post game press conference. "They got Kedon off the spot a bunch." (Helton)
And they sure did. Slovis was consistently thrown out of the pocket all night long. Oregon's defense presented pressure and gave Slovis' little to know time to check the field on a majority of USC's offensive plays.
As both teams took the field for the second half, the Ducks were able to maintain their momentum and lead over the Trojans for the rest of the game. The Trojans tried to comeback late in the fourth quarter (again) scoring a touchdown at 4th and Goal at the Oregon 4, with 6:16 left in the game, as Slovis' found WR Bru MocCoy for a four yard pass, but the seven points on the board was not enough to beat the Oregon Ducks.
To add, penalties were a struggle tonight for the Trojans, they finished 9-98 while the Ducks finished 5-70.
Despite the "comeback kids" trying to fight their way back to victory late in the fourth quarter yet agin, the Trojans could not get the job done and the Oregon Ducks win the Pac-12 title.
"There are a lot of hurt souls in our locker room right now and it's something that our kids wanted extremely badly to win a championship and we came up a play too short today." said Helton after the loss on Friday night.
FINAL SCORE: 31 - 24
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