Week four of the college football season delivered yet again, with wild, last-second upsets in the Big Ten, season-changing wins for programs like Mississippi State and Florida, and high-profile matchups of big-name teams.
Texas A&M-LSU reinforced that the Aggies were wildly overrated, Ole Miss’ defense collapsed after the emotional, energetic win over the Tigers the prior weekend, and Iowa pulled off a miracle in yet another bizarre finish at Michigan Stadium.
But one of the most important matchups of the week was in Los Angeles, with the Oregon Ducks coming off a disappointing start to their season and the USC Trojans looking to make a statement at home in their quest to reach the College Football Playoff.
OREGON DUCKS QB DANTE MOORE CARTED OFF THE FIELD AFTER A VICIOUS HIT TO THE HEAD AGAINST USC
A statement was certainly made, but it wasn’t by USC. Oregon, a team that was effectively dominated by Oklahoma State a few weeks ago, lost starting quarterback Dante Moore after a brutal, inexcusable hit from an SC linebacker. They fell behind early, had to rely on backup Dylan Raiola, faced questions on their defensive line, and still pulled away in the fourth quarter to save their season with a 41-27 win.
For USC, which brought in the number one recruiting class in the country, hired highly respected former TCU head coach Gary Patterson to run their defense, and brought back one of the top quarterbacks in the country in Jayden Maiava, it was more of the same under head coach Lincoln Riley. And Ducks’ head coach Dan Lanning took the opportunity after the game to remind them of it.
In his postgame news conference, Lanning praised the team’s response after Moore’s devastating, scary injury. He spoke about how prepared Raiola was for the moment, and said his decision-making was impressive after coming off the bench. He explained how his process has changed over time, which led to taking three points right before halftime instead of pushing for a touchdown. At the end of his remarks though, Lanning brought up his record against USC and what he believes it should mean for top LA area players.
“Three wins against these guys,” he said. “I guess if you’re interested in winning football games and you’re from this area, you should go to Oregon. If you want to go to a Chris Brown concert, you should go here.”
Ouch. And of course, fair play to Lanning. His team went on the road and deservedly won a game against a tough opponent after their star quarterback suffered a serious injury. Interestingly though, the Oregon social media team never posted the final score of the Oklahoma State game, which was 39-31 Cowboys and should have been far worse.
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OK State had 554 yards on offense while Oregon had just 281. The Ducks allowed 25 first downs and picked up only 12. The Cowboys dominated with nearly 37 minutes of possession while Oregon had just 23 minutes. Moore was 14/29, while the Oregon rushing attack averaged three yards per carry and allowed almost six. Analytics-driven “adjusted” scoring margin based on the statistics and efficiency by both teams was 18 points.
Winning the USC game was a necessary step to save the season, and Oregon established that they’re still capable of playing a high-level offensive game, even without Moore. They’ve also been a decisively better program than USC in recent years. But they’ve also had little to show for it. In last year’s College Football Playoff semifinal, they were obliterated by Indiana 56-22. As the top overall seed in the playoff bracket in 2024-2025, they were down 34-8 to Ohio State at halftime on their way to yet another blowout loss.
If anything, given their immense NIL resources and consistently elite high school and transfer portal recruiting classes, Oregon has underperformed in big games under Lanning.
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Speaking of underperforming, the result also firmly cemented Lincoln Riley’s place on the coaching hot seat. Riley and the USC brand and media department were adamant that this year would be different. “The time is now,” they said. Well, after three underwhelming performances against San Jose State, Louisiana and Rutgers, this was an opportunity to show that things really would be different in 2026.
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They were the same. USC spent heavily to bring in top defensive recruits like Jakheem Stewart and Luke Wafle. They invested in state-of-the-art facilities to increase rest, recovery, and strength and conditioning. The hire of Gary Patterson was supposed to bring toughness and schematic quality to their defense. And somehow, they look worse than they did in 2025.
Over the last two games, the Trojans defense has allowed 964 yards to the opposition. That touted defensive line has generated just one sack, none against Oregon. Rutgers, literally Rutgers, averaged 6.7 yards per play and 7.9 yards per pass attempt. The Ducks had 7.4 and 10.5 respectively. Investments on the line are great and all, unless your defensive backs and linebackers can’t cover.
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Riley’s offense has been a top-five unit by most analytics-based rankings, but as we’ve seen time and time again, defense wins championships. And USC’s defense is far, far, far from championship quality. Which is why Riley’s seat is surface of the sun hot after yet another disappointing loss in a big game.
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In five seasons in LA, Riley’s on his third defensive coordinator. And while there was improvement under the now-departed D’Anton Lynn, they’ve never been a top-10 or even top-15 unit. The common denominator? Riley. If the program is going to make significant investments in NIL, facilities, and support staff, there needs to be results. And while there will be opportunities to turn the season around in coming weeks, there’s little reason to expect it to.
The result was a microcosm of Riley’s tenure. Missed opportunities on offense, poorly timed penalties, inexcusable defensive lapses on pivotal third and fourth downs, and flashes of brilliance that hint at tantalizing possibilities. That never materialize.
USC still has games against Ohio State, Indiana, Penn State, Wisconsin, and a resurgent UCLA on the schedule. If the defense is as bad as it looks, this season could get ugly in a hurry. And the Trojans could be staring down yet another program reset sooner rather than later.
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