Los Angeles, CA- The highly anticipated matchup between No.20 Oregon and No. 12 USC took a scary turn when star quarterback Dante Moore took a hit while sliding from linebacker Desman Stephens.
Moore laid on the ground for several minutes before being carted off the field and taken to an ambulance. Nebraska transfer Dylan Raiola replaced Moore and passed for 289 yards and two touchdowns in a 41-27 win over the Trojans Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
“Seeing him like that shook the whole team,” Raiola said. “But at the same time, we knew we were going to fight for him.”
USC quarterback Jayden Maiava threw for 326 yards and two touchdowns but the defense couldn’t find an answer for the Ducks’ offense who scored on seven of nine drives.
“Came down to a couple of plays, like games with two really good teams typically come down to,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said. “We made a few too many errors there in the end, especially when we got momentum there in the fourth quarter, and they did a good job (to) capitalize on them.”
After the Trojans missed a field goal on the opening drive, Oregon drove down the field and connected on a 30-yard field goal to give the Ducks a 3-0 lead in the first quarter.
USC opened the second quarter with a 4-play, 50-yard drive that Maiava capped with 31-yard touchdown pass to true freshman Kayden Dixon-Wyatt for a 7-3 lead.
Riola replaced Moore and threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Evan Stewart to give the Ducks a 10-7 lead with 9:04 remaining in the second quarter.
USC and Oregon exchanged field goals to end the first half with Oregon taking a 13-10 lead. The Ducks took an early second half lead after running back Deirre Hill Jr scored from a yard out to give Oregon a 20-10 lead.
Maiava answered for the Trojans with a 1-yard touchdown run to cut the lead 20-17 with 8:33 l;eft in the third quarter. Oregon came right back as Hill scored on a 4-yard run for a 27-17 lead.
USC added a field goal to cut the Oregon lead 27-20 at the end of the third quarter. The Trojans defense forced its first punt of the game and capitalized with a 7-play, 75-yard drive that ended on a Maiava 11-yard touchdown pass to Tanook Hines. USC evened the score 27-27 with 12:41 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Oregon took a 34-27 lead after Riola hit Dakorien Moore with a 29-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter. With two minutes left in the game, Oregon running back Jordan Davison scored from two yards out to put the game away.
USC will look to rebound from the loss when they host Washington next Saturday, Oct. 3rd.