{"id":66052,"date":"2025-11-23T04:25:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T04:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/66052\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T04:25:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T04:25:10","slug":"uscs-college-football-playoff-hopes-shattered-in-loss-to-oregon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/66052\/","title":{"rendered":"USC’s College Football Playoff hopes shattered in loss to Oregon"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

EUGENE, Ore.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The last time he made it here, to the doorstep of the College Football Playoff<\/a>, Lincoln Riley<\/a> could only watch as USC<\/a>\u2019s hopes slipped away with a single hamstring tweak. Without its Heisman-winning quarterback healthy, USC fell painfully short<\/a>, left to wonder over frustrating seasons that followed what might have been.<\/p>\n

It would take Riley nearly three years \u2014 and plenty of ups and downs in between \u2014 to return to that same place with USC, only to have the door slammed shut once again, this time in a 42-27 loss<\/a> to No. 7 Oregon.<\/p>\n

With its playoff hopes dashed by a third defeat, barring an unlikely sequence of events, USC (9-3) appears to be heading to a second-tier bowl game, while the Ducks are one of three Big Ten teams likely to host a home playoff matchup. That\u2019s an especially bitter pill to swallow, considering the progress Riley has trumpeted this season, four years into his tenure at USC.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is USC \u2014 the standard here is incredibly high,\u201d Riley said. \u201cWe\u2019ve won a bunch of games this year. The ones we haven\u2019t won, we\u2019re right there.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a familiar refrain from Riley, who has lost all five of his games against top-10 teams as USC\u2019s coach. But the Trojans\u2019 losses this season each left little doubt about how and why they\u2019d fallen short. At Illinois, it was penalties and costly mistakes<\/a>. At Notre Dame, a bone-headed play call and ill-timed turnovers did them in<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Against Oregon (10-1), it was more of the same lapses in discipline. Except this time, the back-breaking mistakes came largely on special teams. The most glaring of which Riley would look back on as the turning point Saturday.<\/p>\n

It was just a few minutes into the second quarter. Tied 14-14, USC sputtered short of midfield. So the Trojans punted away to Oregon\u2019s Malik Benson.<\/p>\n

The punt flew on a line drive to Benson, who found the edge and flew past USC\u2019s last line of defense, 85 yards untouched into the end zone. The return\u2019s affect would only reverberate from there.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, it was a huge, huge play in the game,\u201d Riley said. \u201cYou definitely don\u2019t want to give them something like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\" <\/p>\n

You certainly wouldn\u2019t want to let those missteps snowball either. But that\u2019s precisely what happened as quarterback Jayden Maiava<\/a> faced heavy pressure on a third down on USC\u2019s ensuing possession and threw a prayer into traffic. Oregon intercepted the pass.<\/p>\n

USC\u2019s defense would hold initially, and Oregon sent a field-goal attempt off the goalpost. Had the Trojans taken over from there, what followed could have altered the path of USC\u2019s season \u2014 and the college football season writ large.<\/p>\n

But in trying to block the field goal, linebacker Desman Stephens<\/a> leaped over the Ducks\u2019 line and was flagged for a 15-yard penalty. Riley said that Stephens \u201cjust kind of panicked a little bit.\u201d Three plays later, Oregon punched in a touchdown to take a lead it would never relinquish.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re playing good enough right now that we\u2019re a sequence like that [away] from beating anybody,\u201d Riley said. \u201cThat\u2019s just how it feels.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"USC <\/p>\n

USC wide receiver Makai Lemon attempts to hurdle Oregon defensive backs Dillon Thieneman (31) and Jadon Canady, right, during the first half Saturday.<\/p>\n

(Lydia Ely \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

The series of special teams mistakes ultimately sunk USC, yet it was hardly the only error the Trojans made in that aspect of the game. USC also missed a field goal, kicked a kickoff out of bounds and was called for catch interference.<\/p>\n

Other mistakes made matters worse. The Trojans were called for eight penalties for 103 yards, the fourth time this season they\u2019ve been penalized that much.<\/p>\n

The Trojans\u2019 defense certainly didn\u2019t help matters, in spite of assurances that it had ironed out its issues over three standout, second-half performances. Against Oregon, though, that progress was tough to spot, as USC gave up 436 yards, just shy of a season-worst mark.<\/p>\n

The loss wasn\u2019t for a lack of effort from its passing attack. After a questionable performance on the road in each of USC\u2019s first four trips, Maiava hit big throws to keep the Trojans alive. Seven of his 25 completions went for 15 yards or more. He finished with 306 yards and three touchdowns, while freshman Tanook Hines<\/a> (141) and fellow wideout Ja\u2019Kobi Lane<\/a> (108) turned in standout performances.<\/p>\n

With its rushing attack unable to move the ball, the passing game was all that really worked for USC.<\/p>\n

\"USC <\/p>\n

USC quarterback Jayden Maiava looks toward the scoreboard in the second half of a 42-27 loss to Oregon on Saturday.<\/p>\n

(Lydia Ely \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

King Miller had been stellar in the five weeks since being thrust into the lead role in USC\u2019s backfield. But the Trojan walk-on was totally neutralized by Oregon\u2019s stout defensive front. He rushed for just 30 yards, the longest of his 15 carries going for just five yards. The Trojans managed just 52 yards on the ground total, their fewest since a November 2023 loss to UCLA.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t run the ball nearly as well as we have or nearly as well as we expected to,\u201d Riley said.<\/p>\n

After USC coaches reiterated all week the importance of starting fast, USC did make an immediate statement. On its first drive, USC marched down the field, and Maiava found Makai Lemon on an eight-yard swing pass that he took into the end zone.<\/p>\n

But while USC\u2019s running game struggled, Oregon faced little resistance, racking up 179 rushing yards and three scores.<\/p>\n

At the start of the second quarter, Maiava found Lemon again on a swing pass in the backfield, only for Lemon to throw the ball on a double pass. Waiting for the pass was Hines, who leaped for an acrobatic 24-yard touchdown in traffic.<\/p>\n

The fireworks didn\u2019t stop there. But the special teams gaffes would change the tenor of the game, as Oregon opened up a 28-14 lead by halftime.<\/p>\n

Just before the half, USC drove to the 10-yard line with seconds remaining, only for kicker Ryon Sayeri to clank a 27-yard field goal attempt off the goalpost.<\/p>\n

A third-quarter interception from Kennedy Urlacher, one of two USC reserves starting at safety, gave the Trojans some life. But there would be no stalwart second-half stand from USC\u2019s defense, like it managed the last three weeks. Nor could its electric offense climb back in time.<\/p>\n

As the final seconds ticked away, there was only the realization that, once again, its hopes of a special season had been dashed right on the doorstep.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EUGENE, Ore.\u00a0\u2014\u00a0The last time he made it here, to the doorstep of the College Football Playoff, Lincoln Riley…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":66053,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[11155,13000,17949,48,52,51,8844,47,50,49,3289,39393,28998,18158,18035,545,780,23138,3533,430,1539],"class_list":["post-66052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-defense","tag-down","tag-first-drive","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-last-time","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-loss","tag-maiava","tag-makai-lemon","tag-no","tag-offense","tag-oregon","tag-touchdown","tag-trojans","tag-usc","tag-week","tag-yard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66052\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66053"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}