It’s Facebook official — ish. With the spotlight on the Trojans, Duck fans are hoping to crash the party.
That is, if the event “Oregon Takes Over College Game Day” lives up to its guest list.
According to the Pit Crew’s event, more than 1050 Duck football fans will be ready in Los Angeles on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 6 a.m. for the ESPN pre-game show before No. 1 Oregon’s clash with No. 24 USC.
Pit Crew created the event with the challenge of having the most away team fans at an ESPN College Game Day show — ever.
“Sure, there are a few fans in the front row wearing their team’s shirt, jersey or hat. But I’m talking about a full blown Duck invasion on the Coliseum … The national audience does not know how well Duck fans travel. Let’s show them. We’ve been hearing about how this is USC’s bowl game, and the Matt Barkley tweet. Let’s show them that this is a big game for us as well,” the event description said.
The Ducks (7-0, 4-0 Pacific-10 Conference) have historically fared poorly in the Coliseum. And USC (5-2, 2-2 Pac-10) is 23-6-1 on its home turf against Oregon, last losing in 2000.
The Trojans may also benefit from their newfound identity as conference spoiler. Banned from bowl games for two years by the NCAA, a sixth win this season will amount to nothing more than pride.
Nevertheless, sanctions, scholarships and a coaching change have overshadowed the fact that USC has a very good — and very talented — football team.
“It’s just comical to me that there’s this misnomer that these guys are this struggling unit,” Oregon offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich said.
Sophomore quarterback Matt Barkley leads the Pac-10 in efficiency and has completed 65.4 percent of his passes. The Newport Beach, Calif., native is a Davey O’Brien award semifinalist and a likely Heisman candidate.
“One thing that I noticed about him is he’s really poised,” Ducks linebacker Boseko Lokombo said. “He has a really quick release. He’s good at going through his progressions and he’s got a cannon.”
USC’s defense ranks just 87th in total defense (402.57 yards per game) and 60th in scoring defense (24.29 points per game) but has several points working in its favor.
The Trojans are young — just three seniors occupy spots on their defensive two-deep. They have standout athletes, many considered potential NFL players, at every position. And first-year defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin, a former NFL coordinator, is still schooling them on his Tampa 2 scheme, a defensive system that utilizes the tremendous skill USC has at the linebacker and safety positions.
The Trojans’ last two weeks have been positive, with a 48-14 blowout win over Cal and a bye week to prepare for the Ducks. Oregon’s zone-read spread-option offense is a cause for concern, with last year’s 47-20 loss in Eugene on Halloween not yet forgotten.
“The Tampa 2 isn’t exactly what you shut down the triple option with,” Kiffin told the Los Angeles Times this week. “That’s for a whole different deal.”
“They are so explosive,” USC head coach Lane Kiffin told ESPN.com’s Ted Miller this week. “The style they play is like something we haven’t seen. Or probably anybody’s ever seen.”
After posting a dominant offense performance in a 60-13 win over UCLA in front of a national audience last Thursday, Helfrich is looking to simply pick up where the Ducks left off.
“We’re always kind of chasing perfect — it’s something we always talk about,” he said. “Our guys have taken to that. (Darron) just needs to keep doing what he’s doing. Taking care of the ball is huge. We can’t give them a free possession. When we get in the red zone, we need touchdowns.”
No top-ranked team has visited the Coliseum since 1988, but Oregon is 6-1 all time when facing a lower-ranked USC squad. The most recent of those wins came in 2007, in Eugene.
One of the two teams — both featuring dynamic offenses and better-than-advertised defenses — will see its party crashed on Sunday night.
[email protected]