This game was not close. It wasn’t close midway through the second quarter. It wasn’t close at halftime. It wasn’t close in the third quarter. It wasn’t close in the fourth quarter.
As soon as Oregon grabbed a 24-10 lead over UCLA midway through the second quarter, it never led by fewer than 11 points. It led by at least 15 for nearly all of the game’s final 35 minutes. This was a comprehensive victory by the Ducks, who threw the ball and ran the ball exactly the way they hoped. They did whatever they wanted. They dominated on fourth down. They controlled this game and left no doubt about the final outcome.
Let’s make sense of this result and what it means for USC on various levels: