Saturday’s Oregon-USC game at the Coliseum turned ugly well before the final score. No. 20 Oregon jumped out to an early lead and never let go.
Backup quarterback Dylan Raiola came off the bench and threw a touchdown pass on just his second snap. USC clawed back more than once, tying the game at 27 in the fourth quarter.
Oregon answered right away and pulled away for good, winning 41-27.
The tension started building long before that late rally. A brutal hit in the second quarter changed the entire tone of the afternoon. What happened in the stands afterward became just as memorable as anything that happened on the field.
USC linebacker Desman Stephens II delivered a forearm strike to Oregon quarterback Dante Moore’s head. Moore went down and stayed motionless before being carted off by ambulance
Officials ejected Stephens for targeting on the play.
And to make matters worse, he celebrated the hit with sideline high-fives, drawing calls for a suspension.
Players from both teams shoved and squared off near midfield as Moore received medical attention. Assistant coaches rushed in to separate the scrum before it escalated further. Oregon coach Dan Lanning pointed and yelled across the field at USC coach Lincoln Riley during the standoff.
Officials eventually issued offsetting unsportsmanlike conduct penalties to both sides. While that chaos played out on the field, a separate fight broke out several rows up in the Coliseum stands.
A pair of USC fans were caught on camera throwing hands in the stands as nearby spectators scrambled out of their seats to clear space. A woman was also seen throwing her drink at one of them as she tried to pull the other away.
Check them out in the clip below:
Saturday’s incident marked the second fan fight at the Coliseum in as many home games. USC’s previous matchup against Louisiana ended with a very similar scene, when two fans in Trojans gear threw punches in the stands during a lopsided win. That fight also required other fans to step in and pull the combatants apart before stadium security arrived.
Meanwhile, USC has fallen to Oregon for the fifth straight time, extending a losing streak dating back to 2016.
Quarterback Jayden Maiava still threw for 326 yards and two touchdowns in the loss, keeping USC within reach until the final minutes. Stephens’ ejection and the fan fight both overshadowed a game USC had a real chance to win.
