Starting Lineup
vs. Arizona (Dec 6, 2009)
Offense
LTCharles Brown#71
LGButch Lewis#68
CJeff Byers#53
RGButch Lewis#68
RTTyron Smith#70
TEAnthony McCoy#86
SERonald Johnson#8
FLDamian Williams#18
TBJoe McKnight#4
FBStanley Havili#31
QBMatt Barkley#7
Defense
LEArmond Armstead#94
DTJurrell Casey#91
NTChristian Tupou#44
REEverson Griffen#93
SLBDevon Kennard#42
MLBChris Galippo#54
WLBMalcolm Smith#6
CBJosh Pinkard#36
CBKevin Thomas#15
SSWill Harris#26
FSTaylor Mays#2
Special Teams
PRDamian Williams#18
KORRonald Johnson#8
KJordan Congdon#38
PJacob Harfman#48


The Schedule Blitz

2010 Game Schedule
9/2@ Hawaii
9/11vs. Virginia
9/18@ Minnesota
9/25@ Washington State
10/2vs. Washington
10/9@ Stanford
10/16vs. California
10/30vs. Oregon
11/6vs. Arizona State
11/13@ Arizona
11/20@ Oregon State
11/27vs. Notre Dame
12/4@ UCLA



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USC's Road to the National Championship: vs. Oregon
2008-10-04 08:39:08

The Trojans have this article series on the brink of extinction (for this season atleast), thanks to a Pac-10 opening loss to Oregon State last week.

That loss has USC sitting in a precarious position. Mel Kiper Jr., who I consider to be someone actually worthy of the title "Football Expert", was on ESPN this week and he got asked, ofcourse, his thoughts on the #1 team in the college football...

"In a late season, end of the year game, where everything is on the line...I'll take USC any day of the week." - Mel Kiper Jr.

Me and you see eye-to-eye, Mel. But the fact remains, USC is 2-1, 0-1 in conference play and a freshman tailback reaked havok right through the middle of our highly regarded defense last week. The Trojans better watch out again because #20 Oregon is in town this weekend. So let's dive right into a preview of this '08 Ducks team, which, exhale, doesn't have the likes of Dennis Dixon or Jonathan Stewart anymore.

Oregon Ducks - Offense

At quarterback, Jeremiah Masoli is expected to play and start most of the game. He's a smallish JC transfer who was thrust into the spotlight early in the season, following a laundry-list of injuries to the position. Youngsters Darron Thomas and Chris Harper could also see some snaps if Masoli struggles. Athletically, Masoli's strength is running the ball. He certainly won't wow you with his arm, and hasn't been asked to yet.

Despite the QB troubles, Mike Belotti's offense has been business as usual so far this season. RB's Jeremiah Johnson and LeGarrette Blount have helped the Ducks average 48+ points, and 500+ yards offensively. Johnson is the lightning, and Blount is the thunder in the running game. They'll be handed the ball out of Oregon's shotgun 3-WR formation, almost exclusively.

As you can probably remember from last year; draws, sneaks, misdirection, zone-reads, and execution are the name of the game for the Ducks. To no surprise then, they don't have a game-changing wide receiver to speak of. Jaison Williams, who went to school in west-LA, is probably the closest thing. However, he's been criticized for dropping too many passes. TE Ed Dickson might be a player to watch out for.

Oregon Ducks - Defense

Not a lot has changed over the course of the year on defense for the Ducks. Patrick Chung, strong-safety, is their best player and will roam the field, looking for errant Sanchez passes. He's also a good run-stopper, and that seems to be the emphasis of this defense.

The corners play confident, but lack the talent in my opinion, to justify the way they play. I see this as an opening for Mark and the receivers. Big plays can be had, especially on 1st and 2nd down. 3rd down usually means 7 or 8 drop will drop into coverage for the Ducks, a danger area for the passing attack.

Linebackers are probably the weak spot for Oregon. That leaves a void in the middle for Anthony McCoy and Blake Ayles to take advantage of. Neither of those guys have seen enough balls thrown their way.

One other note on this defense; They are more of a blitzing team than Oregon State was. This is not breaking news to Steve Sarkisian and the offensive coaching staff. I'll be curious to see how they've altered the protection schemes, hot routes, and play calls for those situations.

Oregon Ducks - Special Teams

Neither punter Josh Syria, nor Matt Evensen, are spectacular but they are both solid and part of one of the better special teams units in the Pac-10.

Patrick Chung, #15, will probably handle the kickoff duties. He's electric and that'll be another fun battle to watch, vs. our great coverage unit.

Overall, this game is a huge opportunity for both teams. Many believe that Oregon will be the Trojans' toughest remaining test. This may well be true. Partly because of that, I expect a big bounce-back after last week, especially at home in the Coliseum.

Two more not to be under-estimated tidbits about this game. 1) Oregon is ranked, and 2) The game is on ABC in primetime. It's extremely important in my eyes that, if Miami is the end goal, USC begins to regain some of their national credibility. A win tonight should give them exactly that.

As usual, hop onto USC Blitz for the live blog around 7:45 PM EST/4:45 PST. Today's picks are up next. Fight on Trojans!

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View Comments

RonUSC12 said..."JJ scares me. reminds me of jacquizz rodgers from last week "

DukeB said..."I sent an email to Pete Fiutak, columnist at collegefootballnews.com after the Ohio State game making the case for why Oregon State was the most dangerous game we had left. I won't bore you with all the whys 'cuz most of you know a trap game when you see it. That being said Sark made the biggest blunders in my opinion. He kept going to McKnight when it was clear OSU was geared to stop him. Johnson was getting almost 7 yds per carry. A steady does of Johnson and Bradford would have give Mark some time and our receivers some room. Remember in the 2nd Qtr we were driving down 14-0. On 3rd and 7 we went to the McKnight as McFadden which OSU had killed the first time we tried it. This was a call reminiscent of the 4th and 1 call at the start of last years Oregon game. Remember that? The looniest call I have ever seen. Anyway, when we got a turnover on the foolish McKnight call it totally ruined our momentum. Bradford was right to complain about not getting any carries in the OSU game. Penn St beat OSU up thru the middle....we did when we tried it, but we only tried it 6 times. Yeah, our guys didn't play well, but we would have won with better play calling in my humble opinion. All that being said I am confident we will prevail today.....but I would trade Sark to Oakland for Kiffen."

Dave (USCBlitz.com) said..."I didn't understand that play-call either. I think we'll see a little less McKnight today"


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