Trojans begin difficult homestretch

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor


JOHN NADEL

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - Southern California has held the ultimate homefield advantage the past five years, winning 30 straight games at the Los Angeles Coliseum. That advantage figures to be severely tested the next three weekends, starting Saturday night against No. 21 Oregon.
Should No. 7 USC (7-1, 5-1 Pac-10) extend its winning streak at home to 33 and add a road victory over crosstown rival UCLA, the worst case scenario for the Trojans would be a date in the Rose Bowl game on New Year's Day.
A berth in the national championship game remains a possibility. Louisville's loss to Rutgers on Thursday night gave one-loss teams like USC, Florida, Texas, Auburn, California and Notre Dame added hope that they might finish second in the final BCS standings.
"We are fired up about this. It is time to come and play at the Coliseum and get the end of this season underway with a great opportunity to be here," said coach Pete Carroll, whose USC teams are 17-0 in November.
Should the Trojans beat the Ducks, their game against No. 8 Cal next Saturday night would almost surely determine the Pac-10 championship. USC then entertains No. 9 Notre Dame on Nov. 25 before its annual matchup with UCLA on Dec. 2 at the Rose Bowl.
"This week, it's all about Oregon," USC wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett said. "We never overlook any team; we never look past anybody."
Oregon (7-2, 4-2) is averaging 36.3 points per game - tied with Cal for the Pac-10 lead and sixth in the country. The Ducks will be playing at the Coliseum for the first time since 2000 - the year before Carroll took over as USC's coach.
Thirty-one players on the Oregon roster are from Southern California. Coach Mike Bellotti planned a visit to the Coliseum on Friday night to address any awe the local players might have.
"I think it is just a question of controlling their excitement a little bit," he said. "Many of them have been there and watched a game, played a game or something, but we have never been there as a team. There is not one person on our team that has been there as a Duck, so we just want to go and take a look."
Oregon has won two straight since road losses to Cal and Washington State last month, and Bellotti believes the Ducks are playing their best football of the season.
"We've done a great job the past couple of games," he said. "We are playing good defense and good offense and we are running the ball as good as we have ever done. Certainly against USC, we are going to have to be balanced."
Dennis Dixon has completed 61.5 percent of his passes for 1,803 yards and 11 touchdowns with nine interceptions. His favorite target is Jaison Williams, who has 56 receptions for 858 yards. Jonathan Stewart is Oregon's leading rusher with 798 yards on 134 carries.
"They have balance, but the feature of this offense is really the spread out runs that they have and the dynamic nature of their quarterback production involved with that," Carroll said. "(Dixon) is averaging 40 yards a game, and he has plus yardage per carry, which is unusual for quarterbacks. He is a big factor."
USC rebounded from a 33-31 loss at Oregon State two weeks ago for a 42-0 triumph at Stanford, giving the Trojans 52 wins in their last 55 games.
"They lost one game where they turned the ball over four times, and we know that when you turn the ball over you can lose to anybody," Bellotti said. "They are very balanced offensively and very physical and fast defensively."
John David Booty has completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 1,966 yards and 19 touchdowns with five interceptions, and Chauncey Washington (555 yards on 117 carries) and freshman Emmanuel Moody (457 yards on 78 carries) give the Trojans a solid 1-2 punch at tailback.
"We're trying to still stay in this Pac-10 race," Oregon tight end Dante Rosario said. "The Pac-10 is a funny league. It seems like teams can lose on any Saturday. The games we've lost this year have been on the road and they've been big games and we haven't lived up to the potential of what we wanted to accomplish in those games.
"This is a big opportunity. We know SC is a good team, a BCS team."
 
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