Quack Fix: Reviewing USC, Week 10 in College Football

Happy Daylight Savings, everyone!

Football Roundup

• It was nice while it lasted. Oregon (3-6, 1-5) struggled to find any type of offensive rhythm against USC (6-3, 5-2), falling on the road Saturday, 45-20. The Ducks compiled just 288 yards, marking the first time they didn’t reach the 300 mark since 2009. Meanwhile, USC tailback Ronald Jones II ran all over the Ducks with 171 yards on the ground for four touchdowns. At this point, Oregon would have to run the table just to become bowl eligible.
• Looking at next week’s opponent, Stanford (6-3, 4-3) coupled its run game with its stingy defense to overpower Oregon State (2-7, 1-5), 26-15. Running back Christian McCaffrey rushed for a season-high 199 yards and a TD, as the Cardinal held an opponent to 15 points or less for the seventh time this season.
• Around the rest of the Pac-12… Colorado-UCLA brought outs its inner Joanne The Scammer (messy, yes!!), but when all was said and done, the No. 21 Buffaloes (7-2, 6-0) remained atop the Pac-12 South with a 20-10 win over UCLA (3-6, 1-5) on Thursday… No. 25 Washington State (7-2, 6-0) rolled to its seventh straight win Saturday, routing Arizona (2-7, 0-6), 69-7. Mike Leach’s Air Raid offense seems to be in full effect, as Luke Falk threw for 311 yards and four TDs… No. 5 Washington (9-0, 6-0) showed just how bitter it was about being ranked below one-loss Texas A&M in the Playoff rankings, taking down Cal (4-5, 2-4), 66-27. QB Jake Browning broke a school record for most TD passes in a season (34) after completing 19 of 28 passes for 378 yards and six TDs, one of which was an absolute gem.

• Across the country… No. 1 Alabama wore down No. 15 LSU in an old-school battle to stay undefeated with a 10-0 win… No. 6 Ohio State steamrolled No. 9 Nebraska for a statement win, 62-3, setting up perhaps the season’s most anticipated game against No. 2 Michigan on Nov. 26 — mark your calendars!… Thankfully, Nebraska QB Tommy Armstrong is OK after a scary fall… Deondre Francois’ 19-yard TD pass to Travis Rudolph with 3:09 remaining lifted No. 19 Florida State over NC State, 24-20.

• TCU found redemption, rolling over No. 13 Baylor, 62-22… Continuing with the upsets, Mississippi State topped No. 7 Texas A&M, 35-28... Everything’s bigger in Texas, including the TDs that aren’t TDs that turn into TDs, apparently. Texas-Texas Tech reached new levels of weird, as the Longhorns outlasted the Red Raiders, 45-37, for their first road win of the season, despite this crazy touchdown/non-touchdown:

All Things Ducks

• No. 20 women’s volleyball (16-6, 9-4) finished 2-0 this week with a 3-1 win versus Arizona State on Sunday and a 3-0 win at No. 8 Washington on Friday. The Ducks downed the Huskies in straight sets, 25-21, 25-8, 25-22, to move into a tie for first in the conference.
• Women’s soccer (8-10-2, 2-8-1) went 0-1-1 this week with a 1-1, double-overtime draw at Washington State on Sunday and a 1-0 loss versus Oregon State on Friday. Sophomore midfielder Bayley Bruner scored the Ducks’ lone goal, giving the team 26 on the season, the most since 2010 (29).
• Women’s tennis finished 26-1 at the Georgia State Invitational at Piedmont Park this week, sweeping doubles play and falling only once in singles match-ups with a 17-1 mark.
• Men’s tennis competed in the Easley Memorial Classic on Friday, going 5-3 in singles and 2-0 in doubles. Doubles duo Simon Stevens and Akhiro Tanaka beat their Northern Arizona opponents, 8-2, while Ethan Young-Smith and Ty Gentry topped their UNLV adversaries, 8-5.
• Men’s golf, a fourth seed in the East Lake Cup, knocked off first-seeded Vanderbilt, 3-2, to advance to the championship match, where the Ducks fell 3-2 to third-seeded Illinois on Wednesday.

Before I say goodbye, say hello to HI-LIGHTS!