It was anybody’s game into the fourth quarter, but the Oregon Ducks held off the USC Trojans 31-24 on Friday night for their second consecutive Pac-12 title. There were plenty of good performances but here are the top five in this edition of Game Balls.
Kayvon Thibodeaux
It can be hard living up to the hype when you are an intensely recruited five-star prospect but as his sophomore season has progressed, Thibodeaux has delivered. Against the Trojans on Friday he was the best player on the field, disrupting everything and making plays in the backfield. He was firing off the ball like he knew the snap count, and had some form of hurry on Slovis ten out of his 44 pass rushes.
This was a blue-chip performance by a First Team All-league level player.
Jamal Hill
Speaking of chips, Jamal Hill played like he had one on his shoulder against the Trojans. He was as fired up as we have seen him and his aggressive play paid off to the tune of two key interceptions including a sideline toe-tapper that helped seal the win.
Hill also did a nice job of tackling, limiting his man to a minimum YAC.
He was not the only defensive back who did a great job. Verone McKinley, DJ James, Nick Pickett and others had their moments to shine.
This solid back end play was hugely important. USC is a passing team and Avalos decided to take away the run and fortunately, did not have to pack the box to do so.
After three of last season’s DB starters opted out, having guys like Jamal Hill step up against a passing team is huge.
Andy Avalos
People were starting to question this year’s Oregon defense after the previous two games and rightfully so. Against OSU and Cal, they seemed relatively soft up front, the opposite of what we expect from this team.
The defense flipped a switch on Friday night.
The front group hounded the Trojans all night, and through a combination of clever blitzing and pre-snap shifting, did not have to send too many guys to move Slovis off his spot.
How stout were the Ducks up front? USC averaged 2.6 yards per rush, only 1.4 if you include sacks.
Yes, the players themselves did a great job of getting off the ball. But the defensive schemes were on point.
Interior OL
The offensive line did not play great, but they did enough to keep their quarterbacks healthy and to win the game against a very talented opponent. Looking a little deeper at the game revealed some bright spots in the offensive trenches.
Left guard TJ Bass, right guard Ryan Walk, and center Alex Forsyth kept the middle tight. 94 pass blocking snaps between them and they gave up zero hurries, sacks or hits on the quarterback. That is good interior protection.
The outside guys Steven Jones, George Moore and Sala were not bad, but they were facing the best USC linemen and had a tougher time. Three penalties and five pressures allowed from the outside group.
Anthony Brown
Boston College graduate transfer quarterback Anthony Brown has not gotten much playing time this season. In fact, Friday night was his first game snaps of the year. He did a great job.
Passing he was 3-4 with two touchdowns, nice results in limited opportunities. Granted, he was handed the ball in some cherry situations.
But that is the whole thing. It is amazing how much trust Cristobal and the staff had in him. Putting him in for goal line packages with such limited game snaps? What a recipe for ball-handling mistakes and turnovers!
But that is not what happened. He proved the coaches trust was warranted and did not make the errors that could easily have flipped the result.
