USC coach Pete Carroll knew Oregon’s offense under new coordinator Gary Crowton would provide some problems for his defense. The Ducks, led by quarterback Kellen Clemens, spread the field, used misdirection and proved to be difficult to handle, at least for a little while. Oregon held a 13-0 lead against the nation’s top-ranked team for much of the first half.
Then, something clicked, and USC shut down the Ducks, knocking Clemens out of the game and rolling to a 45-13 victory.
This week, the Arizona State offense the Trojans must prepare for is a little more standard than Oregon’s, but a lot harder to stop.
“They’ve had their way with the throwing game and the running game,” Carroll said. “Sam Keller’s just been killing it.”
Indeed, Keller might be the single most scary player USC will deal with this season when the No. 1 Trojans (3-0) and No. 14 Sun Devils (3-1) meet Saturday in Tempe.
Keller, replacing the graduated Andrew Walter this year, is seventh in the nation in passing efficiency (175.5) and fifth in total offense (356.5 yards-per-game average). He leads the Pacific-10 Conference with 1,443 yards passing on nearly 60 percent accuracy, 16 touchdowns (just two interceptions) and 360.8 yards a game.
“He hasn’t done anything that isn’t impressive,” Carroll said. “He moves well. He’s received great protection. He’s really confident throwing the ball down field. He doesn’t have to see a guy wide open, he’ll just stick it in there for him.”
Besides Keller, ASU is getting outstanding play by freshman running back Keegan Herring, who is averaging 106 yards a game and 7.7 yards a carry. That makes for a balance that Carroll says presents the biggest problem.
“They aren’t just satisfied with throwing it,” Carroll said.
Of course, Arizona State has some issues to deal with as well.
The Trojans average 59.3 points a game and feature the most balanced, dangerous offense in the country. Sun Devils coach Dirk Koetter doesn’t believe the pressure of playing such a big game will get to his players, though ASU has only played a top-ranked team three times ever. Last season, ASU and USC met with 5-0 records and the Trojans buried the Sun Devils 45-7.
Koetter joked if he had two wishes, it would be that USC stars Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush weren’t able to play Saturday. But that being unlikely, he found two keys in dealing with the Trojans.
“Number one is we can’t turn the ball over,” Koetter said. “If you turn the ball over against USC you have no chance. Number two is we have to do a good job of tackling in space because they can take the simplest of plays, whether it be Bush, the receivers, the tight ends, and go the distance.”
QB changes at Oregon: Oregon coach Mike Bellotti said sophomore Dennis Dixon would begin sharing time with Clemens at quarterback. Dixon relieved the injured Clemens last week and showed enough that Bellotti believes he’s ready to handle some of the load.
“He came in and gave us a spark,” Bellotti said. “He has a different speed level than anyone on our team at the quarterback position. …I see him playing more often. We need to be able to keep Kellen fresh.”
Clemens has been sharp, completing 62.6 percent of his passes for 1,123 yards, nine touchdowns and no interceptions. Dixon completed six of seven passes for 29 yards and also ran for a team-high 21 yards.
Ducks prepared for Stanford challenge: While Oregon has to deal with the disappointment of blowing a lead against USC, Stanford has had two weeks to allow the embarrassment of losing to Division I-AA UC Davis to fester. The Cardinal had a bye week last week, allowing quarterback Trent Edwards to get healthy, and Bellotti said he knows that it will be a different Stanford team Oregon sees this week.
“When you look at the score on a piece of paper, you say Stanford lost to Davis and we got beat very badly on the scoreboard to USC,” said Bellotti, a UC Davis graduate. “I don’t know that either is reflective of what will happen this weekend. I’m very aware of the potential ability of Stanford. They can play better than they played.”
Pain in Tucson: The death of Arizona women’s basketball player Shawntinice Polk on Monday has affected the entire athletic department, including the football team, according to coach Mike Stoops.
“She was very close with probably 12 to 15 of our juniors and seniors,” Stoops said. “It was a tough blow to our program, no question.”
Polk, a two-time all-Pac-10 selection, collapsed and died Monday. The cause of death is unknown.
Forsett picking up the slack: California coach Jeff Tedford said he’s fortunate that Justin Forsett’s first college choice didn’t pan out. Forsett originally was going to play at Notre Dame, but at the last moment, the Irish decided to give a scholarship to a different running back. Cal jumped at Forsett, and luckily so.
Forsett, filling in for the injured Marshawn Lynch, is second in the Pac-10, averaging 127.8 yards a game and 8.2 yards a carry. He will go back to a second-string role when Lynch returns, possibly this week, but Tedford said you can be sure he will still get plenty of carries.
“He is playing the way we expected,” Tedford said. “We’re very fortunate he slipped through the cracks.”
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