LOS ANGELES — LaMichael James rushed for 239 yards and three touchdowns, Darron Thomas threw three of his four scoring passes to Jeff Maehl, and No. 2 Oregon roared back from a second-half deficit with a 53-32 victory over Southern California Saturday night.
Thomas passed for 288 yards and Maehl had eight catches for a career-high 145 yards for the high-powered Ducks (8-0, 4-0), who racked up 599 total yards.
Oregon still trailed in the third quarter for just the second time all season after USC scored two touchdowns in 2 1/2 minutes to take a 32-29 lead, butJames led the Ducks to 24 consecutive points to close their first win at the Coliseum since 2000.
Matt Barkley passed for 263 yards and Marc Tyler rushed for two scores for the Trojans (5-3, 2-3), who used trickery and big defensive plays to stay competitive until the third quarter.
The role reversal atop the Pac-10 is essentially complete with this victory for the Ducks, who toiled for much of the past decade in the shadow of USC’s seven consecutive conference titles. Oregon shoved its way into the Rose Bowl last season after a 27-point win over USC on Halloween night, and these speedy Ducks finally outran the probation-afflicted Trojans in the rematch.
Sports, Pages 38 on 10/31/2010