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When a team scores 51 points, they are probably going to win, but that wasn't the case for USC on Saturday night. And amazingly, after their 62-51 loss to Oregon, it is the offense and the points left on the board that the Trojans regret.
"We shot ourselves in the foot," Lane Kiffin said. "The game comes down to three offensive possessions. We kick a field goal early, we get no points on the interception and again at the end of the first half in the red zone. Obviously that could have been a big difference there … that's 18 points."
Apparently 51 points isn't enough. To be fair, against Oregon 51 points isn't enough pretty regularly and when you have Matt Barkley, Marqise Lee and Robert Woods, you expect them to make good on their opportunities. USC didn't, or at least didn't make good on them all.
That missed chances did USC in is not a surprise. The Trojans knew they would have to be nearly perfect on offense coming in, too.
"We knew it would be a shootout and I felt like we had to play perfect on offense and score on every drive," USC quarterback Matt Barkley said. "Those three drives we had that weren't productive, it came back to hurt us because we left points on the board, and that's what I'm thinking about right now."
USC is an offensive-minded team and that offense, despite putting up 51 points, wasn't as good as they could have been. That is what the Trojans are left to rue. Such is the nature of Oregon and their offense. Seemingly no amount of offense is good enough to make the Ducks.