Oregon Treats USC to Halloween Trick

EUGENE, Ore. -- Fright on!

Autzen Stadium became a chamber of horrors on Halloween night for USC as the Trojans suffered their worst loss by far under Pete Carroll at the hands of Oregon, 47-20. As for the slim chance that USC, which entered Saturday No. 5 in the BCS rankings, could still advance to the BCS championship game in Pasadena, much less extend their streak of seven straight Pac-10 titles to eight, I see dead people.

Fans arrived at Autzen clad in black shirts that read "USC, R.I.P." And that was only one ominous sign. The Trojans found themselves deep in the woods, far from home, on a dark and stormy night ... facing creatures who were outfitted, incidentally, by a bright and sunny Knight (Phil). And yet, to judge from the manner in which USC attempted to defend itself from Oregon's simple yet deadly belly option, the Trojans appeared lost. Blair Witch Project-lost.

"They didn't run anything we hadn't seen," said USC safety Taylor Mays, himself the source of more nightmares than possibly any player in college football. "They busted us in the mouth, and they just kept busting us in the mouth."

It was horrifying.

In most slasher flicks it is the victim we see running. Saturday night in Eugene it was exactly the opposite. Oregon redshirt freshman tailback LaMichael James rushed for a career-high 183 yards while quarterback Jeremiah Masoli added 164. The Ducks ran for a scary yardage total of 391 yards -- 233 in the second half alone -- versus a Trojan defense that only three weeks ago was considered among the nation's best. These Ducks don't waddle.

"It was a terrible night for us," Pete Carroll said.
It was, in fact, the most horrifying evening in Carroll's eight-plus seasons at USC. The ghoul scene in Eugene spawned the worst margin of defeat (27 points), the most points allowed (47) and the most yardage surrendered (613) of the Carroll era. Prior to Saturday evening, a Carroll-coached USC team had only suffered one double-digit point loss, a 27-16 defeat at Notre Dame in 2001, his inaugural season.

All this with a defense that boasts at least two future first-round NFL draft picks, defensive end Everson Griffen and safety Mays.

"Now we're showing that we're not dominant," said Mays, whose defense allowed more points to the Ducks than it had in USC's first five games combined (40). "That's humbling."

Of course, this Halloween tale is only a ghost story from the Trojan perspective. As far as the Ducks are concerned, this was Dawn of the (Previously Left for) Dead. In their season-opener at Boise State, this same Duck offense failed to gain even one first down in the first half. First-year head coach Chip Kelly could not have endured a more miserable evening (think Carrie at her prom) in his debut. And yet somehow, only eight weeks removed from that abject defeat and the conflagration of the LeGarrette Blount punch-seen-round-the-world, Oregon is the most gratifying story of the season.

Jekyll and Hyde. Count Dracula and a bat. Lawrence Talbot and the Wolfman. These are the legendary transformations in horror film lore. Add to that list Oregon at 0-1 versus Oregon at 7-1. Not that Kelly, 45, is getting caught up in the gore. Asked if this was the biggest win of his coaching career, Kelly, who thinks fast, speaks fast and favors players who run fast, said, "I haven't been a head coach that long. It's my biggest win this week."

A New Hampshire native, Kelly has spent most of his life in New England, home of the Salem witch trials. In the first few weeks of this season, he learned what it feels like to have an angry rabble want to burn you at the stake without due process. One particularly disgruntled alum sent Kelly an invoice for his Boise State travel expenses ($439), explaining that he felt the Ducks had wasted his money. In those darkest hours, Kelly sent the man a check.

Eight weeks and seven victories later, Kelly's Ducks destroyed the monster that had been terrorizing the Pac-10 for most of this decade. "A reporter referred to (USC) as the 'Kings of the Pac-10'," Kelly said. "But I tell our players, 'We recruited you guys not to play in games like this. We recruited you guys to win games like this.'"

The Ducks did not upset USC tonight. They massacred them. "Before this night? Never," said Trojan quarterback Matt Barkley when asked if he could ever have envisioned such an emphatic defeat. "Never thought this could have happened."

Few outside of Kelly's inner circle did. But then, the school's very emblem at midfield is an inner circle. And because of Kelly's unwavering conviction in his offense, his players, and himself, Oregon has turned their early-season horror show at Boise into a stunningly triumphant season. The Ducks now have the inside track to the Pac-10 title and an outside shot at the BCS championship game. Each week, just like the Blob, they seem to grow, to become more of a lethal threat, as yet another victim succumbs to them.

"I've told my players that we're going to push them," said Kelly. "To take them to places they've never been before."

These Ducks are dangerous. Run for your lives.