2020 Pac-12 Football Championship Game

{{Infobox NCAA football yearly game

| game_name = Pac-12 Football Championship Game

| title_sponsor =

| subheader = Conference championship

| image =

| caption =

| date_game_played = December 18

| year_game_played = 2020

| football_season = 2020

| stadium = Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

| city = Los Angeles, CA

| home_school = University of Southern California

| home_name_short = USC

| home_nickname = Trojans

| home_record = 5–0

| home_rank_AP = 13

| home_rank_CFP = 13

| home_rank_coaches = 13

| home_coach = Clay Helton

| home_1q = 7

| home_2q = 7

| home_3q = 3

| home_4q = 7

| visitor_school = University of Oregon

| visitor_name_short = Oregon

| visitor_nickname = Ducks

| visitor_record = 3–2

| visitor_rank_AP =

| visitor_rank_coaches =

| visitor_rank_CFP =

| visitor_coach = Mario Cristobal

| visitor_1q = 14

| visitor_2q = 7

| visitor_3q = 7

| visitor_4q = 3

| MVP = Kayvon Thibodeaux, Oregon

| odds = USC by 3

| anthem =

| referee = Chris Coyte

| halftime =

| Final =

| Winner =

| attendance = N/A (Behind closed doors)

| us_network = Fox
ESPN Radio

| us_announcers = Fox: Joe Davis (play-by-play) and Mark Helfrich (analyst)
ESPN Radio: Sean Kelley (play-by-play) and Barrett Jones (analyst)

| ratings =

| intl_network =

| intl_announcers =

}}

The 2020 Pac-12 Football Championship Game (branded as the Pac-12 Football Championship Game presented by 76 for sponsorship reasons){{Cite web|title=Pac-12 extends and expands major sponsorship with 76®|url=https://pac-12.com/article/2020/01/13/pac-12-extends-and-expands-major-sponsorship-76r|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200121185558/https://pac-12.com/article/2020/01/13/pac-12-extends-and-expands-major-sponsorship-76r|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 21, 2020|website=pac-12.com|quote=Today the Pac-12 and 76® announced a multi-year extension of the Conference's football title game presenting sponsorship. With the announcement, the leading retail gas brand will continue as presenting sponsor of the Pac-12 Football Championship Game through the 2023 event.}} was a college football game played on Friday, December 18, 2020, at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California, to determine the 2020 champion of the Pac-12 Conference.{{cite web|url=https://pac-12.com/article/2020/12/12/washington-face-usc-2020-pac-12-football-championship-game-presented-76|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213031647/https://pac-12.com/article/2020/12/12/washington-face-usc-2020-pac-12-football-championship-game-presented-76|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 13, 2020|title=Washington to face USC in 2020 Pac-12 Football Championship Game, presented by 76|publisher=Pac-12 Conference|access-date=December 12, 2020|quote=The Conference title game will take place as a home-hosted model this season with USC earning the home game for United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.}} The game featured the North division's then second place Oregon and the South division champions USC, and is the conference's tenth championship game. Washington, the North division champion, was unable to participate due to having insufficient players available.

This game was originally to be held at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada, as part of a new two-year deal. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the game was pulled from Las Vegas,{{Cite web|last=Seeman|first=Matthew|date=July 31, 2020|title=Pac-12 pulls 2020 football championship out of Las Vegas|url=https://news3lv.com/news/local/pac-12-pulls-2020-football-championship-out-of-las-vegas-with-reorganized-schedule|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802051842/https://news3lv.com/news/local/pac-12-pulls-2020-football-championship-out-of-las-vegas-with-reorganized-schedule |archive-date=2020-08-02 |access-date=August 1, 2020|website=News 3 Las Vegas|publisher=Sinclair Broadcast Group}} and was instead hosted at the home stadium of USC.

Teams

The 2020 Pac–12 Football Championship Game featured the Oregon Ducks, then second place in the North Division, and the USC Trojans, South Division champions. Oregon and USC had met 61 times previously before this game, with USC holding a 38–21–1 advantage in the series.{{cite web |title=Oregon Football 2019 Game Notes - Game 9 - at USC |url=https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sites/uoregon.sidearmsports.com/documents/2019/10/30/Game_Notes_GM9_USC.pdf |publisher=University of Oregon |access-date=December 14, 2020}} The two teams did not meet during the 2020 regular season.

=Oregon=

Oregon was selected to represent the North Division after division winner Washington did not have the minimum number of scholarship players available to participate in the game due to the COVID-19 pandemic.{{cite news|url=https://pac-12.com/article/2020/12/14/pac-12-statement-washington-usc-pac-12-football-championship-game|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201214192038/https://pac-12.com/article/2020/12/14/pac-12-statement-washington-usc-pac-12-football-championship-game|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 14, 2020|title=Pac-12 statement on Washington at USC Pac-12 Football Championship Game|publisher=Pac 12 Conference|date=December 14, 2020|accessdate=December 14, 2020|quote=This decision was made under the Pac-12’s football game cancellation policy and Football Championship Game policy due to Washington neither having the minimum 53 scholarship student-athletes available for the game nor the minimum number of scholarship student-athletes at a position group, in each case as a result of a number of positive football student-athlete COVID-19 cases and resulting isolation of additional football student-athletes under contact tracing protocols.}} The week before, Washington had to cancel its game against Oregon for the same reason.{{Cite web|url=https://pac-12.com/article/2020/12/10/pac-12-statement-regarding-washington-oregon-football-game|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125224036/https://pac-12.com/article/2020/12/10/pac-12-statement-regarding-washington-oregon-football-game|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 25, 2021|title=Pac-12 statement regarding Washington at Oregon football game|website=pac-12.com|quote=After consultation with Washington, the Pac-12 Conference announced the game involving Washington at Oregon scheduled for Saturday, December 12 has been cancelled. This decision was made under the Pac-12’s football game cancellation policy due to Washington not having the minimum number of scholarship student-athletes available for the game due to a number of positive football student-athlete COVID-19 cases and resulting isolation of additional football student-athletes under contact tracing protocols. Under Conference policy, the game will be declared a no contest.}} This marks Oregon's fourth overall appearance in the Pac-12 championship game, having won in all three of their prior appearances. The Ducks are the defending Pac-12 champions, having defeated Utah in the 2019 title game. Oregon enters the contest with a 3–2 record.

=USC=

USC secured its spot in the game with its December 13 win over UCLA.{{cite news |url=https://usctrojans.com/news/2020/12/12/usc-ripsit-blog-6-points-usc-43-ucla-38.aspx |title=6-Points: USC 43, UCLA 38 |date=December 12, 2020 |accessdate=December 12, 2020}} This is USC's third appearance in the championship game, having last appeared the 2017 game. USC entered the game with an 5–0 record in the regular season and in Pac-12 play. The Trojans were designated as the home team, based on their better overall record.

Game summary

{{Americanfootballbox

|titlestyle= {{CollegePrimaryStyle|Pac-12 Conference|color=white}}; text-align:center;

|state=autocollapse

|bg=#fff

|bg2=#eee

|title=2020 Pac-12 Football Championship Game presented by 76

|date=Friday, December 18, 2020

|time=8:00 p.m. EST (5:00 p.m. PST)

|road= Oregon

|R1=14|R2=7|R3=7|R4=3

|home=No. 13 USC

|H1=7|H2=7|H3=3|H4=7

|stadium= Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum • Los Angeles, CA

|attendance=N/A (Behind closed doors)

|weather=Temperature: {{convert|63|°F|°C}} • Wind: NW at {{convert|6|mph|km/h}} • Weather: Sunny, Clear, Humidity at 51%

|referee= Chris Coyte

|TV=Fox

|TVAnnouncers= Joe Davis (play-by-play) and Mark Helfrich (analyst)

|reference=

|scoring=

;First quarter

(13:49) ORE – Jaylon Redd 2 yard pass from Anthony Brown, Henry Katleman kick (Drive: 3 plays, 9 yards, 0:46; Oregon 7–0)
(7:14) ORE – Hunter Kampmoyer 14 yard pass from Tyler Shough, Henry Katleman kick (Drive: 3 plays, 32 yards, 1:25; Oregon 14–0)
(0:50) USC – Amon-Ra St. Brown 47 yard pass from Kedon Slovis, Parker Lewis kick (Drive: 7 plays, 87 yards, 2:46; Oregon 14–7)

;Second quarter

(9:45) ORE – DJ Johnson 16 yard pass from Tyler Shough, Henry Katleman kick (Drive: 4 plays, 41 yards, 1:53; Oregon 21–7)
(4:35) USC – Markese Stepp 1 yard rush, Parker Lewis kick (Drive: 12 plays, 80 yards, 5:04; Oregon 21–14)

;Third quarter

(7:20) ORE – Travis Dye 4 yard pass from Tyler Shough, Henry Katleman kick (Drive: 14 plays, 83 yards, 7:40; Oregon 28–14)
(2:28) USC – Parker Lewis 21 yard field goal (Drive: 12 plays, 76 yards, 4:44; Oregon 28–17)

;Fourth quarter

(10:26) ORE – Henry Katleman 40 yard field goal (Drive: 11 plays, 58 yards, 6:00; Oregon 31–17)
(6:16) USC – Bru McCoy 4 yard pass from Kedon Slovis, Parker Lewis kick (Drive: 12 plays, 60 yards, 4:02; Oregon 31–24)

}}

=Statistics=

{{AmFootballGameStatistics

| Float = left

| Visitor = Oregon Ducks

| VisitorDisplay = ORE

| Home = USC Trojans

| HomeDisplay = USC

| VisFirsts = 16

| VisPlaysYds = 60–243

| VisRushing = 41–135

| VisPassYds = 108

| VisPassing = 11–19–1

| VisTOP = 30:46

| HomeFirsts = 25

| HomePlaysYds = 80–358

| HomeRushing = 28–38

| HomePassYds = 320

| HomePassing = 28–52–3

| HomeTOP = 29:14

}}

{{AmFootballGameTopPlayers

| Float = right

| Visitor = Oregon Ducks

| VisitorDisplay = Oregon

| Home = USC Trojans

| HomeDisplay = USC

| VisPasser = Tyler Shough

| VisPassStats = 8/15, 91 yards 2 TD, 1 INT

| VisRusher = Travis Dye

| VisRushStats = 11 carries, 55 yards

| VisReceiver = DJ Johnson

| VisReceivingStats = 2 receptions, 27 yards, 1 TD

| HomePasser = Kedon Slovis

| HomePassStats = 28/52, 320 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT

| HomeRusher = Stephen Carr

| HomeRushStats = 12 carries, 40 yards

| HomeReceiver = Bru McCoy

| HomeReceivingStats = 6 receptions, 76 yards, 1 TD

}}

References

External links

[http://stats.statbroadcast.com/statmonitr/?id=323964 Game statistics] at statbroadcast.com

Championship

Category:Pac-12 Football Championship Game

Category:Oregon Ducks football games

Category:USC Trojans football games

Pac-12 Football

Category:Events at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum