Oregon State Opponent Preview: USC

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With the 2021 season on the horizon, BeaversEdge.com is introducing all 12 of Oregon State's opponents over the course of summer.

Today, we dive into the Pac-12 opener, a road matchup against the USC Trojans...

MORE: Pac-12 Media Day Notebook | WATCH: Jonathan Smith Press Conference

Date: Saturday, September 25th

Time: TBD

Location: LA Memorial Coliseum; Los Angeles, Calif.

TV: Pac-12 Networks

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Oregon State 2020 Record: 2-5 (2-5 Pac-12)

USC 2020 Record: 5-1 (5-1 Pac-12)

In the pandemic-shortened, conference-only 2020 campaign, the USC Trojans won the Pac-12 South with a 5-0 record in the regular season.

That included wins over Arizona State, Arizona, Utah, Washington State, and UCLA before ultimately falling to Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship Game.

While the end of the season was a disappointment for the Trojans, reaching the Pac-12 title game is closer to what their program expects on a year-to-year basis, so all considering, the 2020 season was mostly a success.

Heading into the 2021 season, it'll be interesting to see how USC handles expecations as they're projected to take the south crown again. Getting over the hump will be USC's primary goal as they'll be looking to get back to a marquee bowl game...

Best Win: @ Utah (33-17) on Nov. 21st

Worst Loss: vs Oregon in Pac-12 Championship Game (31-24)

After being picked to win the south division and finish second overall in the conference by the Pac-12 Media in the preseason, it's going to be interesting to see if USC will live up to those expectations in the regular season.

The Trojans return a ton of talent from last years' squad that won the south and lost to Oregon in the conference championship game and there's a real chance they might be able to claim the crown this season.

Head coach Clay Helton certainly has a lot of pressure to perform with the Trojans returning the likes of Kedon Slovis at quarterback as he has the potential to be the best quarterback in the conference. He's back after leading the conference in touchdowns (17), yards per game (320) and completion % (67) a season ago...

Defensively, the Trojans figure to be a factor as they return a solid amount of playmakers including defensive lineman Nick Figueroa and linebacker Drake Jackson. Jackson has been an All Pac-12 selection the past two years and will be in line to be the Trojans' defensive leader once again.

All in all, I expect USC to be quite good this season as they'll be playing for Helton's job. I truly think it's a bit of a Pac-12 Championship or bust for this group and the team will either live up to the expectations or fall short.

I'm thinking the former is more likely, but like every year, you never know what to expect from the Trojans...

Key Returnees: QB Kedon Slovis - RB Vavae Malepeai - WR Drake London - DL Nick Figueroa - LB Drake Jackson - DB Isaiah Pola-Mao

Season Projection: 10-2

Heading into this conference opener against the Trojans, the Beavers will certainly have their work cut out for them.

Having not played the Trojans since 2018 (a 38-21 USC win), it'll be exciting to see how the 2021 Beavers stack up against the presumed Pac-12 south champion.

While I think there's a really good chance the Beavers could enter this contest 3-0, it's worth keeping in mind that the LA Memorial Coliseum hasn't been kind to Oregon State.

The Beavers last won in L.A. in 1960 (a 14-0 OSU win) and hasn't knocked off the Men of Troy since the likes of Mike Riley was roaming the sidelines back in 2010.

With all that said, every year is new and what happened in the past doesn't matter, but I expect this to be a tough matchup for the Beavs. I think they'll play well and perhaps even keep themselves in it for most of the contest, but I expect USC's talent to win out here.

USC 34, Oregon State 21

Week 3 vs Idaho

Week 2 vs Hawaii

Week 1 vs Purdue

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