Oregon running back Onterrio Smith got a call from former Duck Rashad Bauman on Saturday morning, and Bauman, as he is prone to do, said exactly what was on his mind. He also said what was on all the Ducks’ minds.
“You better not lose your second in a row, because that hasn’t happened around here in a long time,” Bauman told the junior running back.
On Saturday, Smith and the Ducks defied Bauman’s advice and lost their second straight contest, this one a 44-33 defeat at the hands of the No. 15 Southern California Trojans. Oregon led 19-14 at halftime, but USC stormed back in front of a record 56,754 fans at Autzen Stadium.
“You can’t expect to win if you only play a half of football,” Oregon linebacker Kevin Mitchell said.
The Ducks moved to 6-2 on the season, 2-2 in the Pacific-10 Conference, but didn’t drop far in the polls; Oregon was 16th in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches’ Poll and 19th in the Associated Press poll, both released Sunday. USC improved its record to 4-1 in the Pac-10 and jumped to 11th in both polls.
The Ducks said they came out of halftime fired up, but the Trojans were the ones who made all the plays. USC senior quarterback Carson Palmer threw two touchdowns in the third quarter and one early in the fourth, and running back Justin Fargas ran for another score as the Trojans went on a 30-0 run in the second half to put the game away.

“There’s nothing better than coming in here and beating these guys,” Palmer said. “Their fans are out of control, and to shut them up and watch them walk up the stands — just the lack of class those guys have every time they beat us, the fans and the players. For us to be classy about our win and walk out and shake their hands and tell them ‘good game’ and ‘good luck’ — it just felt good.”
Oregon’s secondary, which gave up a Pacific-10 Conference-record 536 passing yards in the Ducks’ loss to Arizona State last week, gave up another 448 to Palmer and the Trojans, a USC record for passing yards.
“It was close in the first half, but we’ll have to look at what happened in that third quarter,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said.
At the half, the game had all the earmarks of the thrilling USC-Oregon contests of recent years. Oregon kicker Jared Siegel knocked in four field goals, including a 48-yarder, as the Ducks overcame Palmer touchdowns of eight and 35 yards. Oregon’s only touchdown came on a bomb from Jason Fife to Keenan Howry, a 54-yard pass that put Oregon ahead 10-7.
The Ducks were also making big defensive plays, blocking a field goal attempt, notching two sacks and coming up with a momentum-shifting interception in the endzone.
But after halftime, the tables turned. Drastically.
“In the third quarter, they made all the plays, and we didn’t make any,” linebacker David Moretti said.
Palmer opened up the second-half scoring with a 31-yard touchdown pass to Kareem Kelly, but the extra point was blocked to make the score 20-19 with 11:36 remaining in the period. Less than five minutes later, Fargas ran in from 15 yards, and Palmer hit Mike Williams on a 15-yard slant with 3:01 left to make the score 34-19.
By the time Palmer hit Malaefou MacKenzie for an eight-yard score early in the fourth quarter, many fans were already heading for the exits.
Oregon’s offense sputtered in the second half, which didn’t help the defensive effort. Smith was held to 79 yards rushing, his lowest total of the year and the first time in eight games that he was held under 100 yards. Fife also struggled, completing only 20 of his 45 pass attempts.
“We didn’t find our rhythm right off, and that’s what killed us,” Fife said of the offense.
Smith went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season midway through the third quarter. He now has 1,031 rushing yards this season. Howry set a Pac-10 record with his 43rd-straight game with a catch, and USC’s Kelly tied that record.
The Ducks will be at home again next week to take on the Stanford Cardinal, the only team to beat Oregon last year.