Overall: 54 - 29
Despite more yards on offense and half the number of penalties, there was one aspect of the game that USC could not win: turnovers. There were other little issues, but turnovers killed USC.
Oregon...what happened?
Rivalry week is always the hardest to predict. Most people think Notre Dame will win easily at the Coliseum against USC, but ND is playing only its fourth game of the season at an opponent's field, and two of those games were against teams with losing records. USC is much better than those two teams. USC's scored no less than 27 and no more than 51 points at home, while ND has averaged just 24 points at an opponent's field. No Barkley, no problem; Wittek had looked really good in Spring and Fall practices with a quick release, a fast ball, tight spirals and is mobile enough to improvise and escape. Notre Dame will obviously try to stop the run first, to force Wittek to win the game; he has the ability to throw to streaking receivers, and if trusted to do so -- why not, when you have nothing left to lose -- he should do well.
Oregon, Oregon State, Stanford and UCLA have a lot of reasons to play well. All four are ranked; winning could result in an at-large BCS invite, a PAC-12 Championship game, or keeping their BCS NC hopes alive.
This week, Ducks are cheering for both Los Angeles teams: If USC beats ND and UCLA beats Stanford, then Oregon will go to the PAC-12 Championship and possibly leapfrog ND in the national standings. Leave it to the last week of the regular season, for the best games!
| Week 13 | |||
| Visitor | Home | ||
| Utah | 24 | Colorado | 17 |
| Washington | 24 | Washington State | 23 |
| Arizona State | 32 | Arizona | 35 |
| Oregon | 49 | Oregon State | 38 |
| Stanford | 32 | UCLA | 35 |
| Notre Dame | 24 | USC | 35 |
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