Oregon 62, USC 51
LOS ANGELES -- Oregon tailback Kenjon Barner put on a Heisman-worthy performance Saturday night, scoring five touchdowns and rushing for a school record 324 yards as the No. 4 Ducks blew past No. 17 USC 62-51 before 93,607 fans at The Coliseum.
The teams combined for 1,357 yards, but the Ducks were the superior team as Barner's running kept USC off-balance for much of the game.
Barner wasn't the only one to be part of five touchdowns as USC quarterback Matt Barkley threw for five scores and 489 yards in the losing cause.
Barner's 5-yard touchdown run with 9:15 left gave the Ducks a 55-38 lead that they did not relinquish.
After three quarters, Barner already had 250 yards, a USC opponent record. The Ducks had 737 yards, far eclipsing the USC opponent record of 623 yards set by Notre Dame in 1946. Oregon's 61 points also were the most the Trojans have allowed in a game.
USC tailback Silas Redd cut Oregon's lead to 34-31 on a 2-yard run with 9:59 left in the third quarter, the closest the Trojans got since it was 7-3 in the first quarter. Oregon struck back with a 10-yard run from Barner to make it 41-31, but Marqise Lee returned the ensuing kickoff 84 yards to the Oregon 16-yard line and Redd scored on a 2-yard run to cut Oregon's lead to 41-38.
Lee had an outstanding game in both receiving (12 catches for 164 yards and two touchdowns) and kickoff returns (9 for 234 yards).
Oregon took only 65 seconds to start the scoring as Mariota coolly took the team 75 yards in five plays, culminating in a 16-yard touchdown pass to De'Anthony Thomas.
USC responded with a 39-yard field goal by Andre Heidari after an apparent 44-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor was ruled incomplete after a video review.
But Oregon ignored that score and went another 75 yards in just more than three minutes, with Mariota throwing a 21-yard touchdown pass to Josh Huff and a 14-yard advantage.
USC drove inside Oregon's 10-yard line on the next possession, but the Ducks' Ifo Ekpre-Olomu intercepted the pass in the end zone.
The Ducks then toyed again with USC's defense as Barner made a terrific 27-yard touchdown run on third-and-5. Barner zigzagged through the Trojans' defense like no tailback has this season.
Just when it looked like a blowout, Barkley found a wide-open Lee for a 75-yard touchdown pass that made it 21-10 with 14:36 left in the first half.
That did not faze the Ducks, who merely went 87 yards with ease as Barner scored on a 5-yard touchdown.
But Barkley found Robert Woods on an 8-yard touchdown pass and it suddenly was 27-17 with 5:59 left. Oregon then took 50 seconds to score another touchdown before Barkley found Nelson Agholor for a 76-yard touchdown pass.
