The Pac-12 Thread....

Now Trucker,

To be completely accurate, you should be saying, "I hope USC is back".  Oregon beat you down before the sanctions, remember that?

I will readily admit that you completely handled the Ducks in Autzen last year.  But, Oregon's #1 pass rusher wasn't playing, and the Ducks had two freshman CB's.  This combined with the best game that Barkley has ever had, and you had your best shot ever.  You should be so lucky this year.

Oregon is much improved on defense, and actually fields a better defense than USC will put on the field this year.  Oregon had a more productive offense than USC last year, the year before that, the year before that, and the year before that.  I don't necessarily accept that pattern will change this year.

Oregon is stronger at RB and has a better running game.  USC has Barkley.  Both teams can score and we will have to wait and see what the real production from both of these offenses turn out to be.

You should be afraid, very afraid, Oregon will expose you as not having returned to the past glory you Trojans so desperately long for.

And, what is with Farmer?  He can't fend off a bug, and he thinks he can escape Boyett?  I don't think so.  Lee and Woods still have plenty of time in the hot summer of LA to get into trouble and be suspended for the season.

The Ducks and Trojans had better get to their 1st game against each other undefeated, and then, "The games to remember are played in November".

Meanwhile, leading up to the contest, Oregon will try to teach the waterboy to play the QB position.  I wonder if DAT can throw?

Between you and OlyDuck, I get some first class belly-laughs. Oh My.


Selective history is fine. If Oregon's defense is better than USC's I'm hop-along Cassidy and tugboat Annie. By the end of last season, in compartive games, how many points did the Buins score against us in their house, how many against the Ducks in yours?....Yawn....


Respect? Yes. Fear? NOT. it would take wholesale suspensions to make Oregon the favorites and last time I checked, your kiddies had more trouble staying out of trouble than our fine young men. (how's that for unbiased, trash talk?) By the way, I don't believe our DC is a tad better than yours, as well. just saying.......


David, news bulletin, resumes don't win football games. The Trojans is as long as anyone's. I won't rub it in when the Beavers bush-whack you in the "civil war"....

The thing about the defenses is that it is hard to just go off of simple rankings Oregon faced like 250 more plays than USC did.  So Yeah USC gave up less total yards.  and yeah oregon had more tackles for loss and sacks, they had more chances. 

some of the numbers (USC-Oregon)
total D USC 54th Oregon 67th. adv USC
plays 826-1077
yards per play 5.44-5.07 adv Oregon
TD 37-43 adv USC
Run D 18th-54th adv USC
plays 369-548 
yards per play 3.62-3.65 adv barely USC
TD 17-14 adv Oregon
passing D 102-88 adv Oregon
plays 427-529
yards per attempt 6.91-6.54 adv Oregon
INT 9-17 adv Oregon
TD 17-25 adv USC
Sacks 12-14  adv Oregon
Tackles for loss 5.25- 6.71 adv Oregon
Turnovers gained 17-29 adv Oregon

speaking of selective history, what only the end of the season counts?
Washington only scored 17 on both teams
Oregons D shut out Colorado but USC gave up 17 at the end of the season
Stanford put up 48 on USC compared to 30 on oregon but just to be fair it was only 34 in regulation(thats still more)

OlyDuck, OK, lets see it in print, (for posterity) are you saying Oregon's defense will be better than USC's this season?

Im saying that they were and will be more comparable than you make them out to be.

David! I just said that USC's defense would be better than the Ducks. I made no more qualitive statment than that. Close? OK. maybe, we'll see.


Our secondary was a bit thin and the LBs were all rookies last season. We may be off on the line for the first few games, but a fair amount of experience rotating plays last year. Over-all, the defense is going to better grooved into the Tampa two and should be stronger over-all. I don't believe it's a "great" defense, definitely a good one with a great scheme and DC.


Hey, Oregon could win em both. It's early and I have my rose coloured glasses on. Besides, it's fun....     

If Oregon's defense is better than USC's I'm hop-along Cassidy and tugboat Annie

This makes it seem like you find the idea of Oregon's defense being better than USC's completely unthinkable.

Oregon and USC are 1-1 the last 2 games. 2-2 the last 4. 5-5 the last 10.

Last 10 years huh? Okay.

National Championships: USC 2 Oregon 0
Rose Bowl Championships: USC 4 Oregon 1
Shall I look up overall records? 

This makes it seem like you find the idea of Oregon's defense being better than USC's completely unthinkable.

Not at all. See, it's kind of a level thing:

There is unthinkable.

Then, there is completely unthinkable.

Then there is completely, utterly, ridiculously unthinkable.

And then, there is Oregon having a better defense than USC!!

just about 10 years ago is when Carroll came in and USC fans like to talk about USC being "dominant"

You dont have to tell me that Oregon was crap prior to mid 90s everyone knows this

Oh a level thing. kind of like how its pretty hard to believe USC will have a better offense than Oregon as well considering Oregon has led the Pac in offense 5 of the last 6 and the one they didnt wasnt led by USC and Oregon was still second in the pac?

OlyDuck, You might "out yard'  or "out TD" the Trojans this year. It will be due to putting 2013's QB in in the third or fourth quarter to get him vetted up for the following season.


The Trojan offense will be better next season than yours, a new QB at the helm, new RB, it will take time for it to all work. By the time we have our get together it will be close....Maybe.  

OlyDuck, besides, your too young to know who TugBoat Annie and Hop-Along Cassidy is.....

These Lovers quarrels sure are fun for the rest of the conference.

I'll put something in writing for everyone- Utah will have the best defense in the Conference.

Oly, you said some things earlier that I couldn't agree with more. Defense has to be based more than just on yardage. Who ever made the stat 'Total Defense' was a moron. Shouldn't total defense be a composite stat based upon many factors? If team A plays more games, has more plays run against them, yet has less points scored on them, shouldn't that matter?

Stats that should matter:
Yards per Play
Scoring
Yards per Rushing attempt
Yards per Passing attempt
Completion percentage
Turnovers forced

FYI 2011 Leaders

Yards per Play: 1. Utah  2. Oregon  3. Cal  4. USC
Scoring: 1. Utah  2. Stanford  3. USC  4. Cal
Yards per rush  1. Stanford  2. Utah  3. USC  4. Oregon
Yards per pass 1. Oregon 2. Utah, Cal, UCLA (tied)
Completion %  1. Utah  2. Cal  3. Oregon  4. Stanford
Turnovers 1. Utah 2. ASU  3. Oregon  4. UW, OSU, Cal tied

"Total D"  1. Cal  2. Stanford  3. Utah  4. USC  Really? C'mon. Really? Utah ranked 1 or two in about every other defensive catagory, but because their offense was so bad the opposing teams had more chances to get yards? Someone has to fix the Total D stat.

While I'm venting the Total offense stat is bogus too. Utah's offense was TERRIBLE last year. They were #109 in the nation in total yardage. But does that mean they were the 109th worst offense? They still scored over 25 points a game. Could it mean that when the defense gives you the ball at midfield on average that it's harder to get as many yards per drive? Who do I write? Terrible stat. Total yardage yes. Total offense? No.

Well, I guess UTAH just laid out that USC will be the 2nd best defense in the Southern Division......I'm feeling him on this.

I'm not convinced the Tampax II defense is effective in college football.  I know it was subpar on the NFL level.

In my opinion the Trojan defense survived last year by the freshman linebackers playing over their heads.  The DB's and D-line is not that intimidating.  USC has good players, but it isn't close to having Chip Banks and Ronnie Lott roaming around out there. 

Remember the Trojans of 1980?  Marcus Allen.  Oregon and USC tied 7-7 that year.  USC was twice the size of Oregon in every respect.  Oregon had Vince Goldsmith and Joe Figures on that team, but Marcus still ran for a lot of yards.  Strange thing that day, it looked as if Allen was being contained, yet still rang up over 150.  I remember that game like it was yesterday, it was the first time I saw USC in person, I took the LSAT early that morning, and we had two kegs on ice for the after party back at the apt complex.  Fun times.

But, we must get back to 2012 where the Ducks are the flagship of modern football for the PAC. The 2012 Oregon defense is going to be the best in the Conference this year.  You heard it here first on the PAC 12 thread.

Now, couple that with the PAC's best offense.........And, Oregon is off to play in their 2nd NC game.  But, this time, they bring home the glass football.