Oregon strikes early, holds off No. 13 USC to win Pac-12 title
Ducks’ two QBS deliver; late interception pivotal
LOS ANGELES — Anthony Brown threw two touchdown passes in his Oregon debut, safety Jamal Hill made an interception with 2:47 to play, and the Ducks won their second straight Pac-12 title with a 31-24 victory over No. 13 Southern California in the championship game Friday.
Tyler Shough also threw two TD passes for the Ducks (4-2), who didn’t win the North Division yet still claimed the Pac-12’s New Year’s Six bowl berth with their lone victory in the past month.
Oregon was up 31-17 with less than 10 minutes left, but Bru Mccoy caught a TD pass on fourth down for the Trojans (5-1) before they got the ball back with 4:43 left. USC reached midfield in search of a fourth-quarter comeback win for the fourth time in its six-game season, but Kedon Slovis threw the first fourth-quarter interception of his career.
Hill made an acrobatic play to hang on to the poorly thrown ball, and Oregon’s offense ran all but 23 seconds off the clock. USC reached the Oregon 49, but the Ducks’ pass rush prevented Slovis from getting off a Hail Mary.
Jaylon Redd, Hunter Kampmoyer, D.J. Johnson and Travis Dye caught TD passes for the Ducks, who got into the title game after consecutive losses only because Washington had to drop out Monday because of COVID-19 issues.
Oregon seized the chance to continue its domination of the Trojans on the way to the school’s sixth Pac-12 title in 12 years, including two straight under coach Mario Cristobal. The North Division has won nine of the 10 editions of this title game, including a record four by Oregon.
Slovis passed for 320 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions for the Trojans, whose perfect season ended with their fourth loss in their past five meetings with Oregon.
USC fell behind 14-0 in the opening minutes after two interceptions from
Slovis led to TD drives by the Ducks — and, unlike every other game this season, the Trojans never caught up.
The Ducks stunned almost everyone in the mostly empty Coliseum by replacing Shough occasionally with Brown, a senior graduate transfer from Boston College who hadn’t recorded any statistics for Oregon this season. Offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead substituted Brown at various points in various drives throughout the game, and Brown made a series of big plays.
Brown’s first throw for the Ducks was a TD pass to Redd on Oregon’s opening drive. He threw another scoring pass to Dye in the third quarter, finishing 3 of 4 for 17 yards.
■ Ball State 38, No. 23 Buffalo 28: At Detroit, Drew Plitt threw three TD passes and ran for a score in the first half for the Cardinals (6-1), who won their first Mid-american Conference title since 1996. Jaret Patterson, who had run for 1,025 yards in five games for the Bulls (5-1), managed 47 yards on 18 carries.
■ Alabama-birmingham 22, Marshall 13: At Huntington, W.VA., Trea Shropshire had five catches for 180 yards, including a 71-yard fourth-quarter TD, and Spencer Brown ran for 149 yards for the Blazers (6-3), who won their second Conference USA title in the past three years. Grant Wells threw for two TDS for the Thundering Herd (7-2).
■ Nebraska 28, Rutgers
21: At Piscataway, N.J., Adrian Martinez threw for 255 yards and a TD and ran for 157 yards and two scores for the Cornhuskers (3-5, 3-5 Big Ten), who overcame four turnovers. Safety Christian Izien had two interceptions and two fumble recoveries for the Scarlet Knights (3-6, 3-6).