The sweet confines of Autzen Stadium have been called by many as the Ducks’ 12th man. But that 12th man won’t be able to make the trip to Los Angeles for No. 9 Oregon’s matchup with Southern California.
Although the Pacific-10 conference game has lost some of its earlier luster, the matchup is still crucial for both teams and their post-season hopes. On paper, the unranked, 3-2 Trojan’s don’t stand much of a chance against Oregon and its three-game win streak.
But top-10 national rankings have been more of a curse than a blessing this season for Pac-10 schools, especially for teams on the road. The Ducks look to break that trend.
On Sept. 23, then-No. 6 UCLA fell from the national spotlight with a 29-10 loss at Oregon. A week later, a new No. 6 team, Washington, was dealt a setback on the road in Eugene.
Now Oregon is in the Pac-10 drivers seat on the road. The Ducks make their second appearance on the road Saturday, and Duck players have something to prove.
“We’ve played real good at Autzen, and everyone is like ‘Oh, it’s just the crowd,’” senior wide receiver Marshaun Tucker said. “We have to show them that Oregon can go on the road and win some games.”
As successful as Oregon has been at home, it has been mediocre at best on the road. In the past four years, the Ducks are 10-13. At Los Angeles Coliseum, Oregon is 1-8-1 against USC through the past 25 years. In the history of the series, in which USC leads 33-13-2, Oregon has only won four times at the Coliseum.

“Playing on the road always concerns me,” Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti said. “I would rather play every game at home, but we have to go on the road in order to compete in this conference, you have to prove that you can win on the road.”
Oregon’s lone miscue this season came on the road in Madison, Wis. Then-No. 5 Wisconsin narrowly defeated Oregon 27-23 at Camp Randall Stadium in a loss that burned Oregon players.
“I think about [the Wisconsin] game and it just kills me,” senior defensive end Jason Nikolao said. “We should have won that game. We missed a couple of tackles and let them get a couple of breaks that they shouldn’t have gotten.”
The Ducks did not seem their normal selves in Madison, as crowd noise contributed to confusion and miscues.
“As soon as we lost that fame, the team just hurt a whole lot,” Nikolao said. “Everybody just regrouped and said ‘We’re going to try and never feel that way ever again.’”
“I do think that we learned some things from the Wisconsin game about what we have to do to win on the road,” Bellotti said. “You can’t have a breakdown or lapse in any aspect; offense, defense or special teams, which we contributed in all of those areas to our demise at Wisconsin.”
Oregon will face a much less menacing crowd in Los Angeles, where USC’s Coliseum has seen many empty seats and an embarrassing 31-15 loss to Arizona.

Although USC ranks third in the Pacific-10 conference in average attendance at 57,013 fans per game, that figure is deceiving. With a capacity of 92,000, Memorial Coliseum averages 34,986 empty seats per game, including a lackluster 49,342 on hand for last week’s loss to the Wildcats.
Added to the mix is Oregon’s connection with Southern California. More than half of the Oregon team — 52 Ducks in all, claim California as their home state. That means that more Oregon fans will be able to make the trip to the Coliseum.
“I want as many people down there as we can get down there,” Nikolao said. “We need all the people we can, all those extra cheers to keep us motivated and keep playing. It’s our 12th man on the field.”
“This group of kids proved they could win on the road last year.” Bellotti added. “I’m not worried about that, but I think every year you have to re-establish the ability to win at home and on the road, the mindset that it takes.”