Matt recently tweeted: InsideUSC InsideUSC Matt Barkley on Oregon: "I think they were better when we played them in the past." I know we over-evaluate these little comments, but I would think he'd take the time to say they will need their A-game, or this will be a battle, or something along those lines - instead of saying Oregon isn't as good as in the past. Maybe he forgot about their loss to ASU and Stanford or the fact that they have scored 39 TD's on the year, to Oregon's 57, or that they have allowed 30 TD's to Oregon's 24 or that USC's OOC schedule didn't included a single ranked opponent - and they lost to the only ranked team they played or that Utah nearly beat them. Actually, I hope he does feel Oregon has been better in the past. He'll be in for a pleasant surprise when he steps onto the field with our defense.
He might be right. I'm still not convinced that this team is better than the team that went to the NC last season. We're missing some key ingredients that made us such an amazing team last season (IE Casey Mattews, Jeff Maehl, DJ Davis, etc.)
(IE Casey Mattews, Jeff Maehl, DJ Davis, etc.) Kaddu, Clay, Heimuli, Pleasant, Boyett, DAT, Tuinei, Lokombo All opinions respected, but it's been a while since I've seen an Oregon defense playing such an all-around, solid game. Welcome to Autzen, Mr. Barkley.
If Stanford represents the second best competitor in the Pac, we seem better this year. Last year we had to come from 18 behind and if not for a crazy onside kick call, who knows how that game ends....
Last years depth was better. We had all those players mentioned minus dat. + mathews and paysinger and bair and maehl and davis and so on.
Earlier in the year, I would probably agree to that. As of right now, I think the team is just as good if not better than last years team. With all the new talent mixing in, the defense playing well, and both Thomas and James a year older and healthy. I definitely think this years team is just as good as lasts.
The Ducks didn't have De'Anthony Thomas last year. They lost Maehl, but I think it's still a significant gain. I expected your defense to be considerably worse, but so far they have surprised me and I haven't seen any dropoff.
I guess what I mean about the depth is, most of the players we have contributing a ton this year, were also here last year and were there and ready to step in, in case of injuries (which fortunately we didnt suffer as many last year) This year we dont have those players who are quite ready yet to step into a much larger role if say, Clay or Kaddu were to go down (that held more weight when there was more season to be played probably)
From today’s LA Times: “USC quarterback Matt Barkley said Saturday that Oregon was very good but that he thought that the Ducks were better when the Trojans played them in the past. “I believe Matt made that assessment without watching any film,” Kiffin said. “And so when he gets here… and starts watching this film, I’m sure he’ll have a very different opinion.”
For sure. We have a lot of freshman making a splash. In two more years we may be a very dominant team.
We haven't played them this year, so what is he talking about? Let him say that AFTER we kick his ass all over the field on Saturday.
Maybe Matt should listen to Andrew: Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck said on the topic (playing Oregon), "They were fast on film, and fast on the field. Yeah, they were fast, definitely."
Barkley should be confident. He's a great QB and he's got the best WR combo in the Pac12 to throw to on Saturday. I doubt his Trojans will win, but I think it will be a pretty close game.
