USC Trojans thanks Oregon Ducks for beating Utah Utes

The USC Trojans needed a break to have a shot at winning the Pac-12 South. They thank the Oregon Ducks for helping the Trojans in the Pac-12 South race.

The USC Trojans have become an outstanding football team for head coach Clay Helton in the second half of the 2016 college football season. Though they handled the previously unbeaten Washington Huskies in Seattle last week, the Trojans did have to dig themselves out of a 1-3 hole this season.

USC lost three of its first four games to the Alabama Crimson Tide, the Stanford Cardinal, and the Utah Utes. While USC may not have a realistic shot at the 2017 College Football Playoff, the Trojans’ chances of winning the Pac-12 got a lot better thanks to an unlikely source.

The Oregon Ducks were able to shock No. 12 Utah in Salt Lake City on Saturday afternoon on a game-winning touchdown pass from Justin Herbert to Darren Carrington. USC’s official Twitter account thanked the Ducks for beating the Utes to give the Trojans a shot at the Pac-12 South division crown.

This loss for the Utes was their third Pac-12 loss of the year, falling to the California Golden Bears, Washington, and now Oregon. The Pac-12 North really hates the Utes in 2016. USC has only two Pac-12 losses on the year.

Should USC beat the crosstown rival UCLA Bruins, as well as the Colorado Buffaloes lose to the Washington State Cougars, it would be the Trojans that would clinch the Pac-12 South. USC would finish 7-2 in Pac-12 play, with the Trojans’ final regular season game against the independent Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

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USC does not control its own destiny in the Pac-12 South, but it would should the Buffaloes stumble at home to the Cougars on Saturday evening. To think Helton was on the hot seat. He is now on the verge of winning the Pac-12 South in back-to-back seasons.