USC holds off rally by No. 4 Oregon

EUGENE, Ore. -- Matt Barkley threw for 323 yards and four touchdowns and USC held off No. 4 Oregon, 38-35, last night when Alejandro Maldonado missed a 37-yard field goal to tie the game with five seconds left.

Trailing 24-7 in the third quarter, Oregon mounted a furious comeback and narrowed it to 38-35 with 7:05 left in the fourth quarter. Barkley led his team to the Oregon 15, but Marc Tyler fumbled and the ball was recovered by the Ducks with 2:54 to go.

Oregon marched down field but Maldonado's kick, brought 5 yards closer because of a USC penalty, went wide left.

The loss snapped a 21-game winning streak for the Ducks (9-2, 7-1 Pac-12) at Autzen Stadium, which was the longest in the nation. It also stopped Oregon's winning streak in conference games at 19.

Robert Woods, who was held out of some practices this week with ankle and shoulder injuries, caught seven passes for 53 yards and two scores. With the victory, USC (9-2, 6-2) kept the Ducks from clinching a spot in the inaugural Pac-12 championship game and knocked them out of a chance at the national championship.

The Trojans opened the second half with Andre Heidari's 26-yard field goal to make it 24-7, but Oregon again showed a flash of its usual speedy offense with a quick drive capped by Kenjon Barner's 10-yard touchdown run.

The Ducks, known for their second-half adjustments, couldn't slow USC's momentum and the Trojans scored on the subsequent series with Marc Tyler's 3-yard run. Barkley added a 5-yard scoring pass to Randall Telfer to make it 38-14.

De'Anthony Thomas narrowed it again for the Ducks with a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, and the Autzen Stadium crowd got back into the game with 3:28 left in the third quarter.

Oregon scored on James' 1-yard run, and the two-point conversion was ruled good after review to make it 38-35.

Darron Thomas threw for 265 yards and a touchdown for the Ducks. Barner ran for 123 yards and two scores. -- AP