On Saturday, the USC football team will travel up to Eugene for a massive top 15 showdown with a Oregon. The Trojans are still very much alive in the Big Ten and College Football Playoff races, but will need a victory over the Ducks if they want to have any shot at either.
On a recent episode of his live show, prominent national college football analyst Josh Pate previewed the battle between the Trojans and the Ducks. Pate firmly believes that USC will need to hold Oregon’s rushing game in check in order to have a chance to win the football game.
“Big culture game,” Pate said. “USC we’re kinda trying to figure out are they . . . a team that can be physical, go on the road, win this kinda of game. We’ll see how far USC has come, because that’s really my biggest question.
“USC’s got the 63rd run defense in the country right now . . . it really gets academic if you can’t stop the run against Oregon. If they’re ripping off six, seven yards per carry—yeah, they can throw it, but doesn’t really matter. You’ve got to at least insert variance into the equation.
“If you make them throw the ball, some crazy stuff could happen.”
As part of his “Fall Don’t Lie” tour, Pate travels around the country to one of the biggest games in college football each week. This week, he will be in Eugene and will get to witness USC’s matchup with Oregon in-person.
One of the biggest areas that the Trojans have struggled with under Lincoln Riley is facing physical teams on the road. While deserves credit USC for being the more physical team against Michigan and Iowa, Riley’s program has yet to show that it is capable of doing so away from the Coliseum. Saturday will be a massive opportunity for the Trojans to change that narrative.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: National analyst believes USC will need to stop the run to beat Oregon
Reporting by Adam Bradford, Trojans Wire / Trojans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
