USC's upside-down schedule makes Oregon a trap game

LOS ANGELES >> Pete Carroll accomplished many things at USC and one of them was owning November with a 28-1 record.

If USC coach Clay Helton wants to turn this season into something more than quarterback Sam Darnold’s fantastic freshman season, he needs a November similar to Carroll.

It’s not unthinkable with three teams on USC’s remaining schedule (Oregon, UCLA, Notre Dame) currently sporting mediocre 3-5 records. The only tough game appears to be at No. 4-ranked Washington, which is 8-0.

This week, USC (5-3, 4-2) is trying hard to ignore the Huskies with Oregon coming to the Coliseum on Saturday.

“I haven’t even thought about (playing at Washington),” wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster said Tuesday. “I took a visit there and it was pretty cool.”

USC’s schedule is upside down. In the past, Oregon would be the huge game and Washington an after thought.

But Saturday’s game will be only the second time since 1998 USC has played an Oregon team not ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 poll. USC’s lost four of its past five games with the Ducks but around the program there’s still little buzz about this week being a chance to atone for recent failures.

Oregon (3-5, 1-4) is that bad. That is why USC is so intent on forgetting Washington.

“It’s not hard at all,” USC center Nico Falah said. “We’re focused on Oregon.”

USC is favored by 17 points and doesn’t want to lose to a double-digit underdog. That was a specialty of Steve Sarkisian, who lost four times when the Trojans were favored by 10 points or more. The most notorious was his final game, a 17-12 loss to Washington last season.

But few expect Oregon, despite the emergence of freshman quarterback Justin Herbert, to repeat the Huskies’ big upset.

This is the other danger for USC: It is almost in a no-way situation against teams like Cal and Oregon. A win is almost status quo while a loss is devastating.

Oregon’s defense is probably as bad as California’s last week. This is part of the dilemma for USC right now. As it believes it is improving, the bad Pac-12 opponents are doing little for the Trojans on the field or off when it comes to the rankings.

That inevitably leads to a host of questions about Washington. Tailback Ronald Jones gained a career-high 223 yards against Cal, but there was natural skepticism because the defense he shredded.

Advertisement

“Most definitely (I can do it against Washington),” Jones said.

Even Jones knows it will take a big game against Huskies before he can fully say he is back to last year’s form.

At least the sophomore is honest. While USC coaches pretended there was no difference between Jones last season and this season, the tailback said he could not figure out what happened the past 12 months.

“I asked myself the same question,” Jones said. “At first I thought it was (cutting my dreadlocks).”

Jones figures to be as prominent Saturday because Justin Davis (ankle) is not expected to play while Aca’Cedric Ware (knee, ankle) is questionable. Everyone might actually get to see Jones carry the running game for once by himself. But Jones played it cool Tuesday. “I’m just running the ball,” Jones said.