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Faculty Soccer
Week 13
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Lincoln Riley’s No. 15 USC Trojans look to maintain their Faculty Soccer Playoff hopes alive as they tackle Dan Lanning’s No. 7 Oregon Geese at Autzen Stadium.
Comply with stay for the most recent updates and perception from The Athletic’s school soccer workers.
Take a look at this week’s live coverage schedule on The Athletic
It’s been a wierd journey to the function of Geese beginning quarterback for Dante Moore. The Detroit native was a longtime Oregon commit earlier than the departure of offensive coordinator Kenny Dillingham to Arizona State, adopted by a powerful late push from then-UCLA coach Chip Kelly noticed Moore flip his dedication to the Bruins simply earlier than early signing day in 2023.
Moore ended up successful the beginning job as a real freshman however struggled within the function, dropping the job late within the season and coming into the switch portal quickly after. He reunited with Oregon however sat out all of final yr whereas Dillon Gabriel led the Geese, earlier than taking on in 2025 following Gabriel’s departure to the NFL.
Moore might not be a celebrity, however he’s finished a powerful job working a gifted Oregon offense this season. He enters at the moment’s recreation with 2,190 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, 5 interceptions and a 73-percent completion fee.
Makai Lemon was an uber-athletic four-star recruit popping out of close by Los Alamitos (Calif.) Excessive College, initially dedicated to Oklahoma earlier than following coach Lincoln Riley and highschool quarterback Malachi Nelson to the Trojans. In truth, Lemon was considerably overshadowed in his personal recruiting class by Nelson, who some retailers ranked because the No. 1 total prospect within the Class of 2023, even forward of Arch Manning.
Quick ahead almost three years, and Nelson is now a backup at UTEP, his third staff in three years after transferring out of USC following the 2023 season. Lemon, in the meantime, is broadly thought of among the finest broad receivers in all of school soccer. He leads the Energy 4 with 1,090 receiving yards together with eight landing receptions, exhibiting a knack for crisp route-running and displaying unimaginable vary to catch passes in one-on-one matchups.
And Lemon is coming off maybe his greatest efficiency of the season, the place he recorded 10 catches, 153 receiving yards and a landing within the pouring rain towards a stout Iowa protection final week.
Whereas at the moment’s recreation may have main on-field implications within the Massive Ten, there’s additionally loads of off-field drama brewing as USC and Michigan have successfully blocked (for now) a private equity deal with UC Investments that may have influxed $2.4 billion into the convention. The deal, championed by Massive Ten commissioner Tony Petitti, is now paused indefinitely.
The off-field drama is a symptom of a larger issue in the Big Ten, our Stewart Mandel writes — the convention is simply too huge for its personal good.
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John E.: Hate this recreation … my two favourite groups. Geese 44-36. Each groups can move, Lemon is unstoppable, and “it by no means rains in Autzen” at the least not this Saturday.
The Geese’ protection has been sturdy all through this season, and that is smart contemplating head coach Dan Lanning’s defensive background. In Oregon’s 9-1 begin, solely two opponents have scored at the least 20 factors (Penn State with 24 and Indiana with 30).
In seven of the Geese’ different eight video games, they’ve held their opponents to 14 factors or fewer, and the opposite one (Iowa) reached 16.
That’s spectacular stuff.
Dan Lanning is 44-7 in his fourth season as Oregon’s head coach, and the Geese gained double-digit video games in his first three seasons (10, 12 and 13). Oregon appears to be like like it’s headed towards one other double-digit-win season this yr with a 9-1 document with two video games left (USC at the moment, Washington subsequent Saturday).
Lincoln Riley is 34-16 in his fourth season as the top coach at USC after going 55-10 in 5 seasons at Oklahoma.
He has 5 double-digit-win seasons as a head coach, however solely a kind of got here at USC, and that was in his first season. After ending 7-6 final yr, nevertheless, the Trojans have responded with an 8-2 season this yr.
The Trojans are 8-2 total and 6-1 within the Massive Ten, they usually have been flying beneath the radar a bit since dropping at Notre Dame in October. The Trojans’ different loss was at Illinois, and their two losses have come by 12 whole factors.
So USC shouldn’t be out of the Massive Ten race and even the Faculty Soccer Playoff race. If the Trojans win at the moment and beat UCLA subsequent week, they may have a very good case for being within the Playoff for the primary time.
The Geese are 9-1 total and 6-1 within the Massive Ten, with their lone loss coming to Indiana in early October. However that loss did happen at Autzen Stadium.
Oregon has responded properly since then, successful its previous 4 video games by a mean of 23 factors. That stretch features a two-point, hard-fought win on the street towards a ranked Iowa squad.
If Oregon can win at the moment and beat Washington subsequent week, it’s in terrific form for a Faculty Soccer Playoff spot.
Right this moment is the final full Saturday of the 2025 school soccer season. There are two weeks left within the common season, however the closing week is Thanksgiving weekend, when many of the schedule is break up between Friday and Saturday.
Sadly, the Week 13 slate options a variety of lopsided matchups. No. 1 Ohio State, No. 4 Georgia and No. 9 Notre Dame are all favored by greater than 30 factors whereas No. 3 Texas A&M and No. 10 Alabama are taking up FCS groups.
There are a number of key matchups, although, starting with No. 15 USC going to No. 7 Oregon for a recreation that might resolve a Faculty Soccer Playoff spot. The Geese are favored by 9.5 factors on BetMGM, exhibiting confidence stays in Oregon regardless of USC having three strong wins in a row: at Nebraska, towards Northwestern (by 21) and vs. Iowa. At 9-1, Oregon can be ok with making the CFP with a win, whereas USC has two losses and is hoping to construct its resume round a win in Eugene.
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Autzen Stadium landed at No. 10 on The Athletic’s latest college football stadium rankings, which we launched final month. Right here’s what our Cameron Teague Robinson needed to say in regards to the venue:
📝 “I walked round Autzen Stadium twice after I went to go to final October — positive, I couldn’t discover the media entrance, but in addition as a result of I used to be so enthralled by the surroundings. The tailgating scene outdoors is particular, and you then get inside and every little thing takes your breath away. From the scholars sprinting into the stadium the second the 90-minutes-until-kickoff mark hits to the sight of all the bowl-shaped stadium filling as much as the surroundings of the bushes and mountains behind it.
“There are a variety of scenic stadiums, however a fall night at Autzen Stadium is likely one of the most stunning sights in school soccer. And that's to not point out how loud it’s in the course of the recreation, punching nicely above its 54,000-seat weight. The open-air press field made it so I might barely hear my coworker subsequent to me discuss.”
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It appears to be like like Ohio State and Indiana have finished sufficient to earn spots within the Faculty Soccer Playoff. However will there be a 3rd Massive Ten staff within the 12-team area? In that case, who will that be?
Right this moment's recreation in Eugene, Ore., could go an extended approach to answering each of these questions. Each groups have another recreation after at the moment (Oregon vs. Washington and USC vs. UCLA), so, sure, there’s extra work to do.
However whichever staff wins this Massive Ten showdown might take an enormous step towards the Playoff.
One week after Iowa was shocked at house by Oregon, the Hawkeyes traveled to Los Angeles and obtained a present from the weather, as a rainstorm belted Southern California and threatened to restrict USC’s high-flying offense.
And it checked out first as if the mixture of the climate and Iowa’s physicality would show an excessive amount of for the Trojans to beat. USC fell behind 21-7 within the first half, the kind of lead that often proves insurmountable towards the Hawkeyes' protection. As an alternative, nevertheless, USC completed the sport on a 19-0 run for a massive 26-21 victory. The Trojans’ much-maligned protection held agency, giving time for quarterback Jayden Maiava (23-for-32, 254 passing yards, one landing) and celebrity broad receivers Makai Lemon (10 catches, 153 receiving yards, one landing) and Ja’Kobi Lane (seven catches, 65 yards) to energy the comeback.
“Tradition win proper there, man, if there ever was one,” coach Lincoln Riley mentioned after the sport.
USC improved to 8-2 with the win to stay within the Faculty Soccer Playoff race — for now.
Sandwiched between an exhilarating last-minute win at Iowa two weeks in the past and at the moment’s pivotal matchup towards USC was a quintessential entice recreation for Oregon — a sleepy Friday evening contest towards an unheralded Minnesota staff that entered having already clinched bowl eligibility at 6-3.
Many packages would have fallen into that entice, however not the Geese, who jumped out to a 14-0 first-quarter lead and by no means appeared again in a 42-13 drubbing. Oregon quarterback Dante Moore was correct all evening lengthy, going 27-for-30 passing with 306 yards and two touchdowns by way of the air. Oregon improved to 9-1 with the win and may safe Lanning’s third straight season of at the least 10 wins with a victory tonight.
We need to hear your ideas on something associated to tonight’s recreation! Electronic mail us at stay@theathletic.com, and we’ll characteristic our favourite submissions in our stay protection of the Geese and Trojans.
Tell us your ideas on this enormous Massive Ten showdown.
The Trojans final performed the Geese two years in the past, within the closing yr of the Pac-12. That recreation additionally befell in Eugene, and it’s the solely earlier assembly between present head coaches Lincoln Riley of USC and Dan Lanning of Oregon.
Lanning and the Geese prevailed 36-27 due to 412 passing yards and 4 landing throws from Bo Nix, who outplayed reigning Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams (291 passing yards, one landing move) within the victory.
Not like the case with most of their new opponents within the expanded Massive Ten, these two have loads of familiarity with one another due to their historical past as rivals within the outdated Pac-12.
USC leads the all-time collection towards Oregon 38-23-2, courting again to a 34-0 Geese win in 1915. Oregon has gained seven of the previous 9 matchups between the 2 packages, courting again to Chip Kelly’s promotion to Geese head coach earlier than the 2009 season.
USC’s final victory over Oregon got here in 2016 as Sam Darnold led the Trojans to a 45-20 win over the Geese, who have been beginning a freshman quarterback named Justin Herbert, in Los Angeles. The Trojans final gained in Eugene in 2011, a 38-35 thriller during which Oregon missed a last-second area purpose that may have compelled extra time.
The faculty soccer season continues at the moment, highlighted by tonight’s Oregon-USC showdown. However there’s loads extra to learn at The Athletic.
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Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Ore., one of the crucial scenic (and, for its measurement, loudest) school soccer stadiums within the nation, will host tonight's recreation.
The venue, which is simply north of Oregon’s campus, opened in 1967. It has hosted Oregon Geese soccer video games ever since. Autzen at the moment has 54,000 seats, and each certainly one of them is anticipated to be crammed at the moment.
