The USC Trojans travel to Eugene, Ore. to face the Ducks in a crucial Pac-12 matchup. The Trojans control their own destiny in the Pac-12 South and have been on a roll winning four straight conference games. The Ducks are still alive in the Pac-12 North, but they need Stanford to lose to California and a win over the Trojans to take the top spot. Oregon is coming off a close win over the Cardinals last week and has also won four straight conference games going into Saturday's showdown.
Ducks head coach Mark Helfrich will need his quarterback Vernon Adams Jr. to continue to play well after a big performance last week. Adams had an 83.3 completion percentage against Stanford's defense and threw two touchdowns with no interceptions. Oregon is averaging over 42 points a game on their current winning streak but faces a difficult challenge against the Trojans defense.
The Trojans defense is led by two exceptional linebackers in Su'a Cravens and Cameron Smith. The freshman linebacker, Smith, leads the team in tackles with 78 total tackles this season and has three interceptions. Cravens has 66 total tackles on the season and 12 tackles for a loss. The junior linebacker is the leader of the defense and will look to get after Adams, a he has 5.5 sacks on the season.
The Trojans offense has been rolling under interim head coach Clay Helton, and Cody Kessler has looked like one of the best quarterbacks in college football during their winning streak. Helton is 4-1 since taking over as the Trojans head coach, and Kessler has thrown eight touchdowns to three interceptions during that period.
Kessler will target Trojans star wide out JuJu Smith-Schuster Saturday. The sophomore wide receiver has 63 receptions on the season for 1,160 yards. Smith-Schuster has caught 24 passes for 402 yards with three touchdowns during Trojans current winning streak and will look to make plays Saturday afternoon.
This game could turn into a shootout between two offenses that can score points quickly. Both teams know what's at stake, as they are both fighting for a chance to play in the Pac-12 Championship game. The game starts at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time, and you can watch the live broadcast here. To listen to the Trojans' radio broadcast, click here, and for the Ducks' radio broadcast, go here.
