Saturday evening’s College Football Playoff first round game between James Madison and Oregon was not particularly close. The heavily favored Ducks jumped out to a big lead early and never looked back, cruising to a 51-34 win.
However, there is one aspect of the game that should be rather concerning for USC fans. Notably, while the Dukes got blown out, they were able to do one thing against Oregon that the Trojans were not: run the football.
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James Madison finished the game with 35 carries for 186 yards and two touchdowns. That is an average of 5.3 yards per rush. USC, on the other hand, rushed for just 52 yards rushing on 28 attempts against Oregon, an average of 1.9 yards per carry.
Obviously, one game is not a huge sample size. For most of the 2025 season, USC has ran the ball very well. But when they went up against talented defensive lines like Oregon and Notre Dame, the Trojans were largely unable to do so.
At the end of the day, the Dukes never had a shot to take down the Ducks. But the fact that James Madison, a team with practically zero four and five-star talent, was able to run the ball against Oregon’s defensive front far better than USC was is certainly a concern.
The good news for the Trojans is that their offensive line this year was extremely young. With the vast majority of the unit coming back next season, along with running backs Waymond Jordan and King Miller, USC hopes to be able to run the ball significantly better when Oregon comes to the Coliseum next season.
This article originally appeared on Trojans Wire: James Madison-Oregon game raises concern for USC football
