USC lands Travis Dye and the Pac-12 gets a little spicy

There doesn’t seem to be hard feelings, but that doesn’t mean the storyline is going to be any less fascinating.

The right thing is to wish good luck to Travis Dye. 

He played four years at Oregon, won a lot of football games and only four Ducks in history have rushed for more yards.

“As many of you know, Erin and I got engaged over Christmas and we’re ready to start our life in California together,” Dye wrote in a post on Instagram Friday. “I’m going back home to play my final year of college football.” 

Dye’s in his early 20s and grew up an hour east of Los Angeles in Corona. It makes sense that he’s ready for some sort of change, especially after the departure of the coaching staff he played his entire career under. NIL is a thing. 

Again, wish him luck. 

But…

Hot damn, we got a budding rivalry on our hands. Pac-12 commissioner George Kliavkoff should be thrilled. 

The reality is, for the last four years Oregon has had a nearly untested run as the most relevant team in the conference.1 This happened because:

1. Oregon was mostly good and

2. Washington and USC have been mostly average-to-bad. 

C.J. Verdell’s six-yard touchdown in overtime against Washington in 2018 was the last time the Huskies had a pulse nationally, and Oregon’s repeated beatings of USC on the recruiting trail were followed with big wins at the Coliseum in 2019 and 2020. 

The Ducks carried the conference flag well during the Cristobal years, and they did it mostly without a rival — though things could get occasionally spicy when the Instagram lives started rolling. But the Pac-12 still hasn’t been to the Playoff since 2016. The conference’s last bowl win came from an offense that used Justin Herbert’s legs like they were his best asset.

So yes, Travis Dye to USC makes things interesting.

Despite never getting No. 1-back carries until the second half of his final season at Oregon, Dye put up dynamic numbers over the last two years and could very well turn into the home run-threat back that can become a star in Hollywood. The Trojans certainly weren’t shy in laying that part on thick with their graphic announcing the transfer. 

I imagine that could look jarring for some Oregon fans. 

From loyal I-5 Corridor subscriber, Alec E.:

I don’t believe Dye is making this move to spite Oregon. Or you, Alec. He’s accomplished too much in green2 for that to really be questioned. But for a fifth year, he wasn’t going to be guaranteed carries and I imagine it would be tough for any human to not want to show their former team what could have been. At the same time, you better believe Byron Cardwell, Seven McGee and Sean Dollars woke up this morning firmly believing their time is now. And somewhere out there Verdell is still lurking.3 

The Ducks and Trojans aren’t scheduled to play this year and frankly it’s going to take some work for both teams to meet in a potential Pac-12 championship game in December. USC went 4-8 last year and fired Clay Helton midseason. The Ducks made it to the conference title game, got housed by Utah, lost their coach and much of their defense. 

But the Ducks still have four years of Mario Cristobal recruiting classes to sit back on. The Trojans’ entire fortunes could turn around if they land Oklahoma transfer QB Caleb Williams. It’s not outlandish to think Dye gets to play his former team 10 months from now.

That Pac-12 should be in a pretty good place if that happens.

— Tyson Alger