USC–Oregon Just Got WAY More Interesting After Boise State

0:00This is Belie, one network, every topic, everywhere. USC may have just gotten the best possible warning about Oregon, because Boise State did not beat the ducks or anything like that, but it did show exactly where Lincoln Riley's offense can make them uncomfortable. And that's what I, John Rhodes, here on the Big Ten Huddled Presented by Fandall, I'm talking about in this episode. Now, I want to be careful with this because Oregon is still a really good team. I'm not trying to say they aren't. Dante Moore threw for 378 yards, three touchdowns, Oregon finished with almost 500 yards of offense and nearly eight yards per play. This is not an Oregon's fraudulent video that BLAC take. And it'd be a wrong take because Boise State is one of the better, if not the best, group of five teams in the country. The real story is that Boise State showed us something much more useful for USC. You do not have to dominate Oregon's defense to make this a four quarter game. Boise threw for only 181 yards, ran for only 93 and finished with 275 total yards. And with

1:05less than nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, that game was tied 27 to 27. That should get USC's attention because USC may have the exact kind of offense that can turn the cracks that Boise found into much bigger problems. Three weeks from now, Oregon comes to the Coliseum. And I think the question around that game has already changed because before this weekend, it was easy to look at Oregon and say USC would have to play almost perfect football to beat the number two team in the nation. And I'm not sure that's true anymore. USC still has to play really well. Don't get me wrong. But the matchup offensively looks a lot more interesting than it did a week ago. And there's another part of this that I think is being priced out, you know, too cautiously. And that's fandall having Jada Mayava at 1900 plus 1900 to win the Heisman. And I think the market here is still too low on him, especially after you see what he did in the first two games, right? Against San Jose State, Mayava was pretty

2:07conservative, but opened it up 25 of 29 for 286 yards, two touchdowns and zero in exceptions. And then against Fresno State, he went 23 of 25 for 349 yards, three touchdowns. And again, no interceptions through two games. Mayava is 48 of 54. That is just under 89% completion percentage 635 passing yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions. Look, I'm not giving him the Heisman in September or anything like that. San Jose State and Fresno State are not Oregon. But if we're talking about who has actually looked like one of the best quarterbacks in college football so far, Mayava has played his way into that conversation with already in that conversation after last season. And that matters against Oregon for one big reason. USC does not need Oregon's defense to be bad. USC just needs Oregon's defense to give Mayava the same kind of high leverage opportunities that Boise State got because Boise showed us the first proof points. Oregon can give up touchdowns through the air, even

3:09when the opposing passing game is not consistently moving the ball. Maddox Madsen is nowhere near Jada Mayava, but he still completed 15 passes in his Oregon for 181 yards. Yet three of those completions went for touchdowns. Boise hit a 13 yard touchdown in the first quarter, a 38 yard touchdown in the second, and another touchdown in the third. That's how you get to 27 points without piling up 500 yards. And some of those were really good throws. And some of those were also throws that Jada Mayava would have made because Maddox Madsen did not make them. Now put USC's personnel into that equation. Trent Mosley just went for 104 yards and two touchdowns against Fresno State, including a 68 yard score. The week before he had 118 yards against San Ozei State. Katie and Dixon Wyatt is another one. He had six catches for 102 yards against Fresno State. Corey Sims gave USC 45 yards on two catches to new kinds. We saw him. He caught a touchdown. You cannot treat this like USC has won receiver you a race and then the offense gets stuck. If Oregon decides it

4:13has to take Mosley away, well, Mayava is shown he's comfortable going to Kandix and Wyatt or to new kinds. Remember else it might be if Oregon plays softer, USC has been efficient enough to stay on schedule. If Oregon gets aggressive and leaves somebody isolated, USC is shown they can create explosives and make them pay for it. So this is the proof that I'm talking about here, right? Number one, USC has more ways to attack the weaknesses of Oregon that Boise made visible. But here's where it gets more interesting. The second thing USC may have have going for it is their efficiency. The easiest way to lose to Oregon is to waste possessions. Three and out, miss a throw on third down, take a sad get behind the chains, punt it back to Dante more and suddenly a close game becomes a two score game, right? Mayava has not been playing that kind of football against Fresno State. USC averaged 8.1 yards per play. Mayava averaged almost 14 yards per pass attempt. USC had 412 passing

5:16yards as a team and controlled the ball for 39 minutes. That's important because this matchup might not be about whether USC can stop every explosive Oregon creates. Oregon has has to has too much offensive talent for that. The better question is whether USC can keep answering back. Can you turn an Oregon touchdown into a long USC drive that ends with seven? Can you punish a busted coverage? Can you avoid giving Oregon cheap extra possessions? Boise State did do that and I would say if Boise State could do that, then USC could do that too. So far USC's offenses looked like it's built to do that. They look like the best offense or if not one of the best offenses in the country. And then there is a there's a proof number three in here that Oregon may actually force USC to lean into the thing it does best. Boise did not run the ball. Well, the Broncos averaged only 2.6 yards per carry. Oregon's defensive front did its job there. So I would not go into

6:17September 26 thinking USC needs to line up and run straight at him and Oregon to prove everything. They definitely need to run the ball, right? They have to be consistent there. But you know, so USC does need need to do that some. The Trojans have enough of a run game to keep Oregon honest, right? Weim in Jordan ran for 67 yards and 11 carries against Fresno State. USC ran for 164 yards against San Jose State. But the identity of this matchup should be my ava attacking space. Make Oregon defend the entire field. Make the linebackers communicate. Make the safety choose between which underneath or where they're going to help out underneath and protecting against mostly over the top. Keep using multiple receivers so Oregon cannot simply tilt the coverage toward one guy all afternoon. That's why I like this matchup for USC after watching Oregon against Boise more than I did before Saturday. Not because Oregon looked terrible. Again, I'm not saying that. I'm not saying Oregon's bad. They did not. Oregon gave up only 274 yards. Still, they but and they still won. Dante more

7:19through for 378 yards. Jordan, Davidson average 7.5 yards per carry. There's absolutely a version of this game that Oregon's offense becomes the best unit on the field and USC spends four quarters trying to chase it around. But Boise removed that idea that Oregon is someone, you know, is some machine that USC has no answer for. That idea is not correct, especially after watching Oregon versus Boise. So this is where I lived. I think USC may have the perfect offensive profile to give Oregon serious problems. Notice what I did not say. I did not say USC's definitely beating Oregon, right? I did not say Oregon's defense is bad and I did not say beating Fresno, say proves USC is ready to beat the number two team in the country and everything like that. What I am seeing is the matchup makes sense, especially for USC. USC has a quarterback playing absurdly efficient football. It has multiple receivers who can create explosive plays. It has a lot and has enough balance that Oregon cannot ignore

8:23the run. And Lincoln Riley's best path in this game is obvious. Keep putting stress on Oregon's coverage. Boise State kept Oregon uncomfortable for until the final minutes with 274 yards. What happens if USC gets 300? 350? 400, right? What happens if my office complete in 70 or 75% of his passes instead of Boise completely, you know, completing barely half of its passes? What happens if mostly hits the one explosive, Dixon Wyatt wins underneath and USC turns red zone chances into touchdowns? Those are not fantasy scenarios anymore. USC has already put versions of all three on tape and that gives us the test for the next few weeks. Do not just watch USC's final score against Oregon. Watch my office efficiency. Watch how many receivers are involved. Watch the protection. Watch whether USC can stay ahead of the chains without needing explosive plays to

9:24rescue bad drives because those are things that keep showing up. September 26 becomes fascinating because of those things. Now I'd love to tell you that to watch for all these things that Oregon does and stuff like that, especially against Oklahoma State. We just saw Oklahoma State lose the Tulsa, so I don't feel super confident in that. USC does not need to become different off and off and so against Oregon. That's the biggest thing I took away from this weekend. The Trojans may already be building the offense they need. Oregon is going to score. It's going to, they're both going to score. I think so. Oregon's going to make explosive plays. Dante Moore is going to create problems. He's going to find the open receivers. Fine. That's going to happen. The question is whether Oregon can keep USC from doing the exact same thing. After watching what Boise State did in the moment that mattered and then looking the way my Alva and these USC receivers are playing, I'm not nearly as convinced that Oregon can win or that Oregon will win. Sorry. Of course I can. No, I'm not circling September 26 as an

10:25automatic USC win, but I'm absolutely done treating it like an automatic USC loss. I think some people were treating it like that before and I don't think they should have been. If my Alva keeps playing like this, Oregon may find out very quickly that USC is not just capable of hanging around. This offense might be built to attack them exactly the right way. If you're a USC fan, tell me this in the comments after what you saw this week and how confident are you that the Trojans can beat Oregon at the Coliseum. Drop it in the comments. Like, subscribe here to the Big Ten Huddled. We appreciate you being here. Have a good one. We'll see you next time.