USC delivered a devastating blow before halftime Saturday, knocking Oregon quarterback Dante Moore out of the game with a dirty hit.
Pulling together in support of their injured teammate amid an increasingly chippy atmosphere at the Coliseum, the Ducks found an inspired counter.
And they might have just leveled the Trojans’ hopes for a special season in the process.
With backup quarterback Dylan Raiola directing an offense that became nearly unstoppable in the second half, No. 20 Oregon pulled away for a 41-27 victory over No. 12 USC before a season-high crowd of 75,500 that thinned considerably in the final minutes.
“It’s a disappointed locker room,” USC coach Lincoln Riley said after his latest failure in a prove-it moment.
Raiola upstaged USC starting quarterback Jayden Maiava by leading his team on drives that produced 34 points in a little more than one half. Missed tackles, poor coverage in the secondary and a terribly timed roughing-the-passer penalty on defensive tackle Jide Abasiri doomed the Trojans’ defense.
“We had all the momentum in the world,” Riley said, “but you can’t do that against good teams and good offenses with talented, skilled players like they had.”
After the Trojans pulled into a tie early in the fourth quarter, rocking a home crowd that Riley called as rowdy as he’s heard in his five seasons with the team, Raiola connected with Dakorien Moore in the front corner of the end zone for a 29-yard touchdown against late-closing cornerback Elbert Hill IV.
Struggling to stop the Ducks, the Trojans went for it on fourth down near midfield on their next drive. But Maiava’s pass intended for Zacharyus Williams was broken up, resulting in a turnover on downs with 7:15 left.
Riley said the analytics suggested the Trojans should go for it in that situation.
“I felt very strongly about it as well,” he said. “You’ve got to try to extend the game. We’re going to need a stop there one way or another. And with the number of possessions left, the amount of time left, we felt like it was the right thing and had what we wanted. We just didn’t make the play.”
Oregon then converted its own fourth down near midfield to burn precious clock and keep its drive going. When Jordan Davison took a pitch and got pushed by teammates into the end zone on a 2-yard run with 1:55 left, the Ducks (3-1 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) were well on their way to a fifth consecutive victory over the Trojans (4-1, 1-1).
This was supposed to represent a breakthrough for Riley, showing that he was worth the massive investment — not to mention tremendous patience — after four frustrating seasons that ended short of the College Football Playoff.
Instead, it compounded the perception that Riley can’t match Oregon counterpart Dan Lanning, who has now won all three head-to-head matchups.
It also raised questions about the state of Riley’s team, a defense that gave up 504 yards and the way his players comported themselves amid the injury to Moore late in the second quarter.
With Moore breaking away from the pass rush and running past the USC 15-yard line, he tried to give himself up with a slide.
But he took a jarring forearm to the head from Trojans linebacker Desman Stephens II, setting off a chaotic scene on the field.
As Moore lay motionless and multiple flags were thrown, there was plenty of jawing and some shoving between players, with assistant coaches getting in the middle of a heated scrum. Making matters worse, Stephens could be seen gloating on the sideline with teammates who joined him in celebrating the big hit.
“It’ s a disgusting play,” Lanning said. “You don’t want to see it happen. It’s disappointing that it happened out there.”
Riley said he did not see Stephens celebrating and allowed him to remain on the sideline for the second half after his ejection for targeting because he was part of the team.
Amid the chaos that erupted after Stephens’ hit, both teams were called for offsetting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.
After a lengthy delay, Moore was placed on a stretcher, carted off the field and placed into an ambulance at the bottom of the tunnel amid applause from the horrified crowd. Lanning said after the game that Moore had regained movement in his body.
“I hope Dante is OK,” Riley said. “You never want to see that with any opponent, no matter how competitive the game is. These are all people at the end of the day, on both sides, so I wish him a speedy recovery.”
Maiava walked across the field to check on his counterpart while he was surrounded by medical personnel.
“I mean,” Maiava said, “you just hate to see it.”
Moore’s departure brought in Raiola — the same quarterback whose 2025 season ended last November while playing for Nebraska when he suffered a right ankle injury against the Trojans.
Raiola’s first pass Saturday went for a 3-yard touchdown, pushing the Ducks into a 10-7 lead.
He finished the game completing 19 of 25 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns. Maiava completed 23 of 42 passes for 326 yards and two touchdowns along with an interception in the end zone with four seconds to go.
With games against Penn State, Ohio State, Indiana and surging UCLA left on their schedule, this was a setback that left the Trojans with little margin for further stumbles before the end of September.
Riley said his team needed to learn how to finish in big moments. How does it go about doing that?
“I’m going to get past this one, get my ass up in the morning and go back to work and get ready to go suffer more with these guys,” he said. “And again, you guys will say whatever you want to say outside. That’s your job. I get it. I respect it. I know we have a damn good football team in here, and we’re going to keep going.”
Amid the hush of the Coliseum, perhaps the chant that filled the place in the final seconds said it all.
“Let’s go Ducks!”
