EUGENE, Ore. — Matt Barkley threw for 323 yards and four touchdowns and No. 18 USC held off No. 4 Oregon 38-35 on Saturday night when Alejandro Maldonado missed a 37-yard field goal to tie the game with five seconds left.
Trailing 24-7 in the third quarter, Oregon mounted a furious comeback and narrowed it to 38-35 with 7:05 left in the fourth quarter. Barkley led his team to the Oregon 15, but Marc Tyler fumbled and the ball was recovered by the Ducks with 2:54 to go.
Oregon marched down the field but Maldondado’s kick, which was brought five yards closer because of a USC penalty, went wide left.
The loss snaps a 21-game winning streak for the Ducks (9-2, 7-1 Pac-12) at Autzen Stadium, which was the longest in the nation. It also stopped Oregon’s winning streak in conference games at 19.
Robert Woods, who was held out of some practices this week with ankle and shoulder injuries, caught seven passes for 53 yards and two scores. With the victory, USC (9-2, 6-2) kept the Ducks from clinching a spot in the inaugural Pac-12 championship game.
The loss had greater implications for Oregon after No. 2 Oklahoma State lost to Iowa State 37-31 on Friday night, which is sure to shake up the BCS standings. The Ducks had jumped to fourth in those rankings after a decisive 53-30 victory over then- No. 3 Stanford last week.
But against USC, they were playing catch up from the start.
The Trojans scored first on Barkley’s 59-yard touchdown pass to Marqise Lee in the first quarter, then added Barkley’s 12-yard scoring pass to Woods early in the second to go up 14-0.
The Ducks didn’t look like themselves until an efficient scoring drive midway through the second quarter. Darron Thomas hit true freshman Colt Lyerla with a 35-yard pass before striking fellow frosh De’Anthony Thomas with a 29-yarder for the touchdown. The seven-play drive covered 88 yards in just 2:15.
But USC answered with Barkley’s 4-yard touchdown pass to Woods. The TD, Barkley’s 73rd, moved him past Carson Palmer for second on the Trojans’ career touchdown list.
It was USC’s first victory in the state of Oregon since 2005.
