Good Luck Ducks, Week 4: California Bound

The Ducks open conference play in LA.

After being left for dead just two weeks into the season (ha!), Oregon took out their frustrations on a Portland State team in disarray, scoring more points (84) than they had in over a century. I suspect that the coaches were more pleased with the shutout than anything else, and that the squad was able to escape any additional serious injuries must have been the icing on top.

USC is up next on the docket as the Ducks enter the real part of their season schedule. Oregon comes in to the old Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as an underdog, a rare thing in the Dan Lanning era. (I should note here that I stay far far away from sports betting, and while I've seen reports both saying that Oregon was favored and that the "line" has since shifted to USC, I'm going with the fact that USC is ranked higher AND are playing at home. Let's also just not get into the whole thing about how rankings are worthless now...) While USC still hasn't been totally relevant since the days of Reggie Bush and Vince Young, they do look like they might have some things going for them in 2026. 

The Trojans are kind of a grifter's team, not only in the sense that they were a big name way back in the day (uhhh O.J. Simpson? I guess?) but also that they had a head coach "on the rise" who used a storied program like Oklahoma as a stepping stone to go to LA to a mediocre school to rest on a pile of cash or something. Also, something something Caleb Williams. While not all of that worked out as planned, I'm sure, they are in a good position as of today with a 4-0 record and their sights set on breaking a streak against an Oregon team chock full of a lot of question marks. As usual in September, I have no idea what will happen, but I'm hoping things stay the course.

Notes:

• It's the first prime time game of the year. With (generally speaking) a week to prepare for these games, I don't think start times are as big of a deal to the participants as they are to the watchers like you and me, but I feel like in some respects the Ducks are going to be a little more comfortable playing in an early evening game on their coast than some of those pesky early starts.
• Opponent fun fact: With condom jokes, terrible human mascots, O.J. and Reggie Bush... it's hard to come up with anything else "fun" here. I mean, it's not like the Trojans won the war.
• Opponent history: Here's where USC prevails so far. They are 38-24-2 versus Oregon all-time, although the Ducks have won the last 4.
• Game time is 4:30 PM PDT on NBC in Los Angeles. Go Ducks!