Ready for some football? 4 big days ahead on the field
● College league title games start Friday.
EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon’s football reign in the Pac-12 is still not over.
The Ducks (3-2) have replaced Washington as the North Division representative in the conference championship game against the No. 13 Southern California Trojans on Friday at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
The Huskies (3-1), who won the division with a higher winning percentage after canceling last week’s game against Oregon due to positive COVID-19 tests, were still unable to play this week.
“These opportunities are hard to come by,” Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said Monday night after the announcement was made. “Not that we had an entire offseason. We didn’t. Not that we had a full camp. We certainly did not. But at the end of the season you always want to be playing for a championship. We want to be in that conversation. We find ourselves in that situation. In a crazy manner, obviously.”
On the eve of the game, the school’s board of trustees unanimously approved a new, six-year, $27.3 million contract for Cristobal.
“I am humbled and honored to be part of the best college football program in the country,” he said in a statement.
Oregon defeated USC 56-24 last season at the Coliseum en route to winning the 2019 Pac-12 championship.
The Trojans (5-0) pulled off a dramatic 43-38 comeback win over rival UCLA last Saturday at the Rose Bowl after clinching the South Division following Colorado’s loss to Utah. The Ducks’ last win was 38-35 over Chip Kelly’s Bruins (3-3) on Nov. 21.
But USC likely will be without leading rusher Vavae Malepeai. Coach Clay Helton said Wednesday that Malepeai, a senior tailback who has rushed for 238 yards and three TDs this season, sprained a ligament in his knee during the UCLA game. “Vavae is probably not playing in this game,” Helton said. “He has not practiced this week.”
USC has relied heavily on Kedon Slovis and its passing game in coordinator Graham Harrell’s version of the Air Raid offense, leaving the Trojans last in the Pac-12 with just 109.2 yards rushing per game. Oregon’s rushing defense is only ninth in the Pac-12, giving up an average 184.2 yards.
Still, Tailback U is quite deep at the position, and Helton expects sophomore Markese Stepp and senior Stephen Carr to take more prominent roles. Stepp has 140 yards and two TDs in four games, and the 235-pound runner provides an approximation of Malepeai’s physical style.
“I think Markese is on the verge of exploding,” Helton said. “I know he’s looking forward to it. ... I think he’s right on the verge of doing something special, and we need him to.”