Nobody could have imagined this season or its ending.
Oregon lost its last two regular season games, had its season finale canceled, hasn’t played a home game for almost a month and yet the Ducks found a way to get it done.
The Ducks jumped out to an early 14-0 lead and then held on for dear life in the fourth quarter to upend No. 13 USC 31-24 in the Los Angeles Coliseum Friday night.
Oregon will now represent the Pac-12 in the Fiesta Bowl Jan. 2.
Normally the Pac-12 champs would go to the Rose Bowl, but that game is one of the semifinals for the College Football Playoffs, sliding the Ducks over to the game held in Phoenix.
As per usual this season, the game came down to the wire.
Both Oregon and USC has had their share of nail-biters with the Trojans being able to pull out all five of their games, before tonight.
USC’s last realistic hope to tie the game and possibly force overtime came when they took possession on their own 37-yard line with 4:43 left.
The Trojans managed to drive down to the Oregon 38 when the Duck defense forced Kevon Slovis out of the pocket where he then threw an interception to Jamal Hill.
At first glance, it looked like Hill tipped the ball to himself and by the time he gained control, he was out of bounds. But on further review, Hill’s tiptoe was on the grass when he had the ball and the call on the field was reversed.
Oregon was able to hold the ball for the next 2:26 before punting to the Trojans with just 23 seconds remaining and no timeouts.
It wasn’t nearly enough time for USC to sustain any kind of drive and the game ended when Slovis was in the grasp.
In the grasp was where Slovis spent much of his night.
The Oregon defense finally managed to get a pass rush on an opposing quarterback. The Ducks were credited with three sacks, but the sophomore signal called was under duress all night long with Oregon’s different blitz packages.
Slovis was also picked off three times, twice by Hill. Overall, the USC quarterback finished the game 28-of-52 for 320 yards.
“Jamal Hill is one of the best defenders in the Pac-12 and we see that every day in practice,” Oregon Tyler Shough said.
One of the reasons Hill and DeDe Lenoir, who managed to pick Slovis off in the first quarter, was able to grab those interceptions was because the defensive line played their best game of the season, by far.
Kayvon Thibodeaux was a beast and proved nearly unblockable one-on-one. He was in the USC backfield almost as much has the Trojans running backs. His efforts garnered him the Player of the Game honors.
“We knew this had to be a physical game and that we had to play our kind of football in order to win,” Ducks coach Mario Cristobal said. “Whoever handled this pandemic the best was going to be the ones that hold up that trophy.”
Oregon showed right away that it meant business.
The Ducks intercepted Slovis’ second pass attempt of the night and quickly made the Trojans pay when Anthony Brown found Jaylen Redd for a touvhdown just over a minute into the game to make it 7-0.
Brown, a transfer from Boston College, had not seen any action this season before tonight. He was used mainly on short yardage situations and more times than not, Brown was successful.
That wouldn’t be Brown’s last touchdown throw.
The Ducks made it 14-0 when Shough found Hunter Kampmoyer with 7:14 remaining in the first quarter. Oregon seriously threatened to make this a blowout, but USC hung in there.
Slovis finally found some time to throw towards the end of the first quarter when he hit receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown on a 47-yard touchdown thanks to an Oregon defender falling to the turf.
But on the next drive, Oregon moved down the field and Shough found DJ Johnson on a misdirection, short pass, and all Johnson had to do was to job 16 yards for the score to make it 21-7.
USC answered, however, when Markese Stepp punched it in from one-yard out to make it 21-14 with 4:47 left before halftime.
USC could have tied the game up or at least kicked a field goal before the break when Shough threw an interception deep in Duck territory.
But USC kicker Parker Lewis pushed a 41-yard attempt right keeping the score where is was at 21-14.
Oregon took the second half kickoff and killed off nearly half the quarter with a 14-play, 83-yard drive that took 7:40 off the clock. Travis Dye’s four-yard touchdown run capped it off and the Ducks were in serious control of the game, leading 28-14.
The two teams traded field goals and with 10 minutes to go, the Ducks held a 31-17 advantage. USC made it into a one-possession game when the Trojans turned in a 12-play, 60-yard touchdown drive with a four-yard pass to Bru McCoy.
It was nail-biting time as Oregon quickly gave the ball right back to USC and the Trojans were driving until Hill came up with the play of his life.
Nearly four minutes of game time late, the green and yellow confetti was flying and the Ducks could fly home as champions.
POST GAME; OREGON HEAD COACH MARIO CRISTOBAL DISCUSSES THE WIN