EUGENE, Ore. - The Oregon Ducks hosted the USC Trojans at Autzen stadium in a battle between Pac 10 conference front-runners.
USC scored first in on a field goal by Jordan Congdon, but the Ducks came back to take a 24-17 halftime, thanks to quarterback Jeremiah Masoli, who passed for one score and ran for another. Andre Cresnshaw also scored on a one-yard run for the Ducks.
The winner may still have to deal with Arizona as a topsy-turvy season on the West Coast unfolds.
The 23rd-ranked Wildcats have joined the 10th-ranked Ducks and No. 4 Trojans in The Associated Press Top 25. They're the only three teams that command their own destiny in the conference race.
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UO students dressed on Saturday night in all black. One fan even got an officially license from the university for the "Autzen Stadium - where teams go to R.I.P" shirts, that feature a Grim Reaper giving the "O" sign.
Respect for the Pac-10 is coming from an unlikely place -- the Bowl Championship Series computers. The BCS has not always been kind to the Pac-10, but two of its six computers rank the conference ahead of the Southeastern, which tops the other ratings.
The long-held perception that the Pac-10 is USC and the 9 Dwarves apparently is fading.
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Oregon (6-1, 4-0 Pac-10), USC (6-1, 3-1) and Arizona (5-2, 3-1) have thrust themselves into contention against demanding schedules. The NCAA ranks Arizona's cumulative schedule -- past and future opponents -- third in the nation, while Oregon's is ninth and USC's is 26th.
But the Ducks defense got some bad news as sophomore linebacker Josh Kaddu is on crutches.
Coach Chip Kelly says Kaddu will miss at least a month with a foot injury suffered against the Huskies. The earliest he will return is the Civil War.
