There's a new stud duck in the Pac-10
‘Fall of Troy’ talk a bit off, but USC has company as West's best program
 Steve Dykes / Getty Images Oregon quarterback Jeremiah Masoli celebrates the No. 10 Ducks' 47-20 victory over No. 4 USC on Saturday night. |
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EUGENE, Ore. - The sign, in black ink on yellow cardboard, bobbed in Autzen Stadium's Section 41 as the Oregon band belted out another refrain of "Thriller." Its message, for sure, doesn't reflect the reality of college football on this particular date: Oct. 31, 2009.
But by the end of Oregon 47, Southern California 20 on Saturday night, it wasn't far from the truth.
"Welcome to the Fall of Troy" the sign read, and it's mistake was in the details. The stunning beatdown Ducks fans witnessed didn't so much prove that the wounded Trojans are destined for the Holiday Bowl, and then a string of 5-7 records. It proved that Oregon ranks as the nation's new hot program. And soon, it might rank among the nation's elite.
"The polls are still probably going to be Florida and Alabama," Ducks safety T. J. Ward said. "We feel like we're right there with anybody."
In the here and now, the rout puts Oregon on track for an outright Pac-10 championship and establishes it as the one-loss team best set to sneak into the BCS national championship game. In other words, Ducks fans, a postseason in Pasadena looks mighty likely.
But the night, and really this whole weekend, stands out as a celebration of where Oregon football is. Its offense, which rang up 391 rushing yards and 613 overall on the Trojans, is the nation's best north of Austin, Texas. Its stadium, complete with students clad in special black "Fright Night" T-shirts, features half the capacity of some of its big-conference peers but brings as much volume as any venue.
And don't forget the charismatic coach. With the sun still in the sky Saturday morning, Kelly donned the Oregon mascot's duck head and rolled through ESPN's live pregame show.
"I had trouble seeing," Kelly said later. "And it smelled."
As the sun set Saturday night, his top pupils — quarterback Jeremiah Masoli and running back LaMichael James — were whipping a Pete Carroll-coached defense like it's never been whipped before.
Forty-seven points? Most allowed by Southern California under Carroll. The 27-point margin? Most lopsided loss in Carroll's nine years. The rushing yards? Best performance against the Trojans since Texas A&M in the 1977 Bluebonnet Bowl.
"It was a real mess for us," Carroll said. "Oregon did everything they wanted to do."
As Carroll reflects, he'll realize he might be saying that more in coming years. Kelly said that just five of the Ducks' top 44 players are seniors. They always have recruited well coast-to-coast, and this sort of energy and result will only bolster those efforts.
Even if the sign forecasting Southern California's demise is wrong, and the Trojans continue on as a Top 10-worthy program each year, they finally could have company within their own conference. And they'll have competition for the title of "Coolest football program in the West."
Saturday, the coaches and players said all the right things about focusing on Stanford next week, taking the necessary steps toward a conference title. Always, though, there's the thought of lapping Southern California and becoming the Pac-10 Conference benchmark.
"We're going to try to push them," Kelly said of his own players, "and take them to places they've never been before."
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