Oregon Ducks Win Sixth Straight, Adams Throws Six Touchdowns vs USC
The USC Trojans last visited Oregon in 2011, then the team was different and Cody Kessler was a Freshman on the bench, since then he has turned into one of the better Quarterbacks in the Pac-12 Conference. On Saturday, be brought his 70 percent completion percentage on the season into Autzen Stadium. The Trojans controlled their own destiny in the Pac-12 South. Oregon needed a win against USC and would be watching Cal and Stanford on Saturday night looking for a Golden Bears upset.
But they would need to take care of business at home first. It was a brisk day at Autzen Stadium. The USC Trojans would win the coin toss and elect to receive the ball to start the game. Quarterback Cody Kessler would start the game with completions of 15 and 11 yards, but the Oregon Defense would force a 3rd and 9. Kessler would be called for intentional grounding, but an Oregon Defensive penalty would keep the drive alive. The Oregon Secondary would come up with two big back to back plays to bring up 4th down. Kessler would throw incomplete on 4th down giving the ball to Oregon at the 31 yard line. It was an impressive Defensive start for the Ducks Secondary with several big plays on the opening drive of the Trojans.
Oregon would get right to work with a completion to Bralon Addison and a run by Royce Freeman. Quarterback Vernon Adams threw an interception in the end zone giving the ball back to USC at the 25. The Ducks Defense would hold, and Oregon would score first on their next drive. It was a quick strike from Vernon Adams to Bralon Addison for 48 yards that put Oregon on top of USC.
Nov 21, 2015; Eugene, OR, USA; Oregon Ducks running back Royce Freeman (21) runs the ball as USC Trojans safety John Plattenburg (24) defends at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports
USC would work their way down the field and Charles Nelson would have nice stop on Trojans Wide Receiver Tyler Petite who caught the ball but had it knocked out on the hit. Cody Kessler was dialed in and picked up a first down on the next play to extend the drive. A penalty would give USC another first down and three plays later Kessler would find Darius Rogers in the end zone, tying the game at 7.
Charles Nelson would give Oregon good field position getting the ball to the 48 yard line on his return. One play later Evan Bayliss would score on a pass from Vernon Adams. It was a 52 yard strike. USC would come right back.
Following a ten play drive, Cody Kessler would find Tyler Petite in the end zone again tying the game at 14. Oregon would look to answer and Charles Nelson would get the ball to the 17 yard line where Vernon Adams would again take charge.
Royce Freeman would make his presence known with a 14 yard gain on second down off the pass from Adams to start the drive. Darren Carrington would drop the pass on 3rd down and Oregon would punt for the first time. Adoree Jackson would be on the receiving end for the Trojans who fumbled the ball. It was recovered by USC who would start at the 23 yard line.
Kessler would find Schuster for a first down and a 16 yard gain to start the drive with just under ten minutes to go in the second quarter. Intentional grounding would make it 3rd and 16 as the Oregon Faithful made some noise for the Defense and Kessler would complete the pass to Justin Davis. It would be 4th and 5. USC would punt. Oregon would see Bralon Addison catch the return but he was interfered with. USC also saw their kicker ran into resulting in offsetting penalties. The Trojans would re-kick and the 12 yard line is where Oregon began their next drive following a fair catch from Addison.
Nov 21, 2015; Eugene, OR, USA; Oregon Ducks offensive lineman Evan Voeller (79) lifts wide receiver Darren Carrington (7) following a touchdown against the USC Trojans at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports
Dwayne Stanford and Royce Freeman would power the Oregon Ducks to the USC 37 yard line on back to back plays. Darren Carrington would find the end zone on the next play as the quick strike Oregon Offense contined to roll. It was a five play drive capped off by a 37 yard play from Adams to Carrington for the score.
Cody Kessler would be sacked by Joe Walker and DeForest Bucker on the next drive, end it and giving the ball back to Oregon. Bralon Addison would get the ball at the 23 yard line. USC would be hit with a facemask penalty on Special teams as the Ducks would take over. It would not take long following a catch down the sideline looking into the sun by Royce Freeman, Oregon would score as Kani Benoit brought in a 30 yard touchdown pass from Vernon Adams with 2:39 left in the half. On the next Drive Kessler would be sacked for the second time in the game by Jalen Jelks leading to a stop from Cornerback Arrion Springs and a Trojans punt.
With 18 seconds left Oregon would get the ball back and Royce Freeman would rip off 32 yards followed by a pass to Bralon Addison got the ball to the 20 yard line. The Ducks kicked a field goal with 6 seconds left in the half. Aiden Schneider would hit a 37 yard field goal extending the Ducks lead with 1 second left to 31-14. The Ducks would enter halftime playing their best half since the Rose Bowl last season against Florida State.
The second half would see Oregon with the ball first and the run game would get going with Royce Freeman picking up another 100 yard game this season. A touchdown pass from Vernon Adams, his fifth on the day, would find Dwayne Stanford in the end zone giving the Ducks a 38-14 lead on the USC Trojans. It was beginning to look like a long afternoon for the Pac-12 South leaders.
USC would fight back and put a score on the board after working their way down the field. Ronald Jones would walk into the end zone off a block from Smith-Schuster off the edge. The Ducks still led 38-21. Oregon would look to keep up the pace from the first half and would look to the running game.
Vernon Adams would start the drive himself with an 11 yard gain, but the drive would ultimately end with a punt. USC would take over from their own 29 with a chance to get back into the game. Kessler would overthrow his intended target Stephen Mitchell on first down. USC would get an unnecessary roughness penalty on 4th and 1 making it 4th and 16 and an obvious punt for the Trojans. Charles Nelson would watch the wall bounce in front of him and be touched down at the 7 yard line where Vernon Adams and the Oregon Ducks would take over.
Nov 21, 2015; Eugene, OR, USA; Oregon Ducks quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. (3) runs the ball against the USC Trojans at Autzen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Scott Olmos-USA TODAY Sports
Vernon Adams would be sacked twice on the drive back to the two yard line on third down. The punt would be taken by Adoree Jackson into the end zone for a touchdown off a 41 yard punt return pulling the Trojans within 10. Oregon would need to take back the momentum as the Trojans put up 14 unanswered points to start the second half. Oregon would go no where on the next drive as the Ducks would punt back to USC. Adoree Jackson this time would take a fair catch at the 20 yard line as the third quarter came to an end.
USC would get down the field but be stopped with a momentum shifting play in favor of the home team as Arrion Springs sacked Cody Kessler who fumbled the ball. DeForest Buckner recovered and the Ducks would take over. One offensive play gave Oregon a 45-28 lead and his sixth touchdown pass of the game. With the pass, Adams has tied the school record for touchdowns in a game. It was not the Trojans day.
A pass interference penalty and a late hit penalty on the next Oregon Drive gave all the momentum back to the home team as the Trojans gave up valuable real estate and Oregon was at the USC 18 yard line. Three plays later Oregon would settle for three points from Aiden Schneider. A 22 yard field goal was good extending the Oregon Ducks lead to 20 points, 48-28. That would be the final score.
Next: Oregon Ducks Handle Savannah State
Vernon Adams racked up over 400 yards of Offense and six touchdowns. He had more scores than incompletions(5) and passed the ball to six different Wide Receivers. This team will enter the final game of the regular season with confidence. Royce Freeman had another 100+ yard game on the ground and Bralon Addison had 100 yards through the air and a touchdown. Oregon racked up 576 yards of offense on USC.
All Eyes Toward Saturday Night and Pac-12 After Dark
Now, all attention turns to tonight. Cal visits Stanford and if the Golden Bears can pull off the upset(7:30pm PT, ESPN), Oregon with a win next week will take the Pac-12 North. After the game, DeForest Buckner broke out a ‘Go Bears’ and added that we should all be fans of Cal tonight. The win marks the fifth straight for the Oregon Ducks. USC and UCLA will battle for the Pac-12 South crown next weekend following the Bruins win at Utah.