No. 16 USC visits No. 6 Oregon in marquee matchup with College Football Playoff implications

Southern California will need to overcome its road woes in big games this weekend against Oregon if it hopes to secure a spot in the College Football Playoff.

Of course, the Trojans would have to win the season finale against rival UCLA, too. But there’s no arguing Saturday’s game against the No. 6 Ducks (9-1, 6-1 Big Ten, No. 7 CFP), is crucial for everything to fall into place for No. 16 USC (8-2, 6-1, No. 15 CFP).

“It’s good to be in the hunt, and it’s good to have a team like this that you believe in, and looking forward to the next one,” Trojans coach Lincoln Riley said.

USC has largely fallen short in big games on the road since joining the Big Ten. The Trojans are 2-2 away from home this season, with both losses coming to ranked teams, Illinois and Notre Dame. USC lost all three of its road games against ranked opponents last year.

The Ducks pose an additional challenge. USC hasn’t won in Eugene since 2011 and the Trojans have lost three straight to Oregon overall.

For Oregon, the stakes are also high. Lose to USC and the Ducks are out of the playoff, and the slim chances of a second straight Big Ten title — should Indiana or Ohio State dip in the final two games of the season — also vanish.

Oregon coach Dan Lanning was asked earlier this week if he enjoyed games of this magnitude and all the attention.

“The challenge is always fun. This (USC) is certainly a team that is a challenge. They play really good football,” Lanning said. “These moments are fun. Obviously, when ‘College GameDay’ is coming to come see you twice, there’s a reason. It speaks volumes about our fan base, it speaks volumes about our program and their program as well. When you get opportunities like that, that’s something you want to take advantage of.”

Oregon is coming off a 42-13 rout of Minnesota on Friday night. Dante Moore threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns and his 90% completion rate (27 of 30) was an Oregon single-game record. He’s thrown for 2,190 yards and 21 touchdowns with five interceptions this year.

USC scored 19 straight points in a 26-21 comeback win at home over Iowa on Saturday for the Trojans’ fourth straight Big Ten victory. But the win was costly with safeties Kamari Ramsey and Bishop Fitzgerald and left guard Elijah Paige all suffering injuries. Their status for Saturday’s game was not known.

“We’re gonna have to kind of do what we’ve done all year and that’s been a strength of ours. It’s been a strength of theirs.” Riley said. “I mean, you get two teams that have won as many games as these two teams have, you’re more than likely going to be pairing a lot of strengths against strengths. And that’s what this matchup is going to be like.”

Stopping Makai

USC receiver Makai Lemon averages 109 yards a game, second in the nation, and has eight touchdown catches. In all, he’s caught 71 passes for 1,090 yards, with five games of 100-plus yards.

He’s also run for two touchdowns and has seven kickoff returns for 144 yards and four punt returns for 32 yards. He ranks seventh nationally with an average of 126.9 all-purpose yards.

“I think a lot of times you see the best players are able to make an impact on special teams. He’s obviously one they utilize there. But yeah, he’s a dynamic player and that’s certainly a challenge,” Lanning said.

Offense vs. defense

In the end, it may come down to USC’s much-improved offense against Oregon’s stout defense.

The Trojans are sixth-best in total offense in the country, averaging 488.9 yards per game. The Ducks’ D allows opponents an average of 235.4 yards a game, third in the nation.

___

Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football