The No. 10 Oregon Ducks continue to march toward Saturday’s showdown with the No. 4 USC Trojans. As the week has progressed, the location of ESPN College GameDay has been revealed (the Casanova Center parking lot) and plans for fans to wear all black have been set.
 
It’s an exciting time around campus, especially with the onset of Halloween, and the Ducks are excited to get a couple of guys back into the day-to-day mix as well. Offensive lineman Mark Asper, who was in a boot following Tuesday’s practice, was out of the protective shell and practicing with the first team like usual.
 
“Mark came back today. We’ll talk it over and see how it goes, but he looked good,” head coach Chip Kelly said.
 
The health of the offensive line has been relatively good coming into the week. C.E. Kaiser had a bruised shin a few weeks ago, but Kelly is confident in his seven-man rotation, which is the starters plus Nick Cody and Darrion Weems.
 
Meanwhile at the quarterback position, two storylines emerged from Wednesday’s practice. Junior Jeremiah Masoli discussed the USC defense and his knee and his overall grade. Then redshirt quarterback Darron Thomas was taking reps with the scout team.
 
“We’re just trying to get Darron as many reps as he can so he doesn’t go stagnant,” Kelly said. “He knows what we’re doing … it’s just reps for Darron to develop him. We’re trying to redshirt him and we don’t want to waste him.”
The quarterback was still sporting his protective brace on his right knee, but he said it’s fine and expects to continue to make good progress. He gave his knee a solid “B” as well, but he was more concerned with how the defense of the Trojans would line up on Saturday. He said they don’t do a lot of disguising their coverages, but instead just expect to overpower you.
 
“They don’t really disguise too much,” Masoli said. “They do a couple on some blitzes, but for the most part they just line up and show what they’re playing and how they’re going to beat you.”
 
Defensive coordinator Nick Aliotti said that although USC won’t do a lot of misdirection, the Ducks will try to deceive freshman quarterback Matt Barkley. He said the more they can confuse him, the easier it will be to dictate the terms of the Trojan offense.
 
“Disguising coverages, changing up coverages, keeping the pressure on him: those are the keys,” Aliotti said. “If we can make them throw when we want them to throw, we have a chance.”
 
Either way, the Ducks are ready for whatever the Trojans throw at them Saturday night under the lights. The hype is definitely mounting, but Masoli and the Ducks wouldn’t have it any other way.
 
“It’s always an attractive thing to come here and beat USC,” Masoli said. “They’re known as the Pac-10 champs. It’s one of the perks that you get to have when you come here and we’re looking forward to it.”
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