The (9) USC Trojans and the (15) Stanford Cardinal will duke it out in the PAC-12 Championship Friday night at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The game is slated to get underway on Friday, December 1st at 8 p.m. EST and can be followed on ESPN. As of today, odds gurus have the Trojans as a -4 point favorite. Currently, this contest’s total is now at 58.5 points.
The Stanford Cardinal posted a 7-2 record in Pac-12 play and reeled in a 38-20 victory over the Fighting Irish a week ago. As a result, Stanford finished the regular season with an overall record of 9-3 and secured a place in the championship finale. They will look to avenge a 24-42 loss that they suffered to USC in the second week of the season.
The USC Trojans’ journey led them here after they finished 8-1 in conference play. Last week, the Trojans beat their in-state rivals the UCLA Bruins 28-23 to finish the year with an overall record of 10-2. The win was USC’s fourth in a row and six in their last seven matches.
When these two schools met up in Week 2, the Trojans racked-up 623 yards of offense. That figured included 307 yards via their excellent ground attack. They also amassed 28 first downs to the Cardinal’s 16 and held the ball for 10 minutes longer.
(15) Stanford Cardinal (9-3)
The 15th-ranked Stanford Cardinal enter this Pac-12 title game on the heels of a three-game winning streak. Two of those contests included the likes of the ninth-ranked Washington Huskies and eighth-ranked Notre Dame. In those games, Stanford got back to what they do best and pounded the rock for all four quarters.
Starting signal-caller K.J. Costello hasn’t put up big numbers this year because the Cardinal are a run-heavy outfit. Overall, he has completed 100 passes for just under 1,200 yards with nine touchdowns and only two picks. However, he did split duties with Keller Chryst in a few games so those numbers would have improved with the missing games in the mix. Costello also did not play in the loss that they suffered to USC at the beginning of the year.
The Stanford Cardinal powerful rushing attack is led by the dynamic tailback Bryce Love. The junior running back had an amazing season, going well over the century mark in all but one game this year. In 2017, Love toted the rock for 1,848 passing yards on 215 attempts. He also has found his way to pay-dirt on 16 different occasions. Against the Trojans in September, the talented athlete rushed for 160 yards and a score.
The Cardinal’s best pass-catcher is junior wideout JJ Arcega-Whiteside. Although he was not asked to carry the offense, Arcega-Whiteside finished the regular season with 633 receiving yards with six trips to the back of the end zone. Undoubtedly, Stanford will focus on their running game but they will look to him when they try to take advantage of a subpar Trojan back half.
The defensive unit finished the season strong for head coach Davis shaw. All totaled, the squad only surrendered about 20 points per game in 2017. Their red zone defense was the reason for their success because they did find ways to give up some yardage between the twenties. The front seven allowed schools to run for 170 yards per game (70th) and the secondary gave way to 220 more (64th).
(9) USC Trojans (10-2)
The 9th-ranked USC Trojans head into the Pac-12 Title game riding a four-game winning streak. Star quarterback Sam Darnold had a decent season, accumulating 3,462 passing yards with 24 touchdowns and 12 picks. Fortunately, the Heisman hopeful cut down on his interceptions as the season progressed. Darnold served up only three in his last six contests after throwing six picks in his first three games. The future NFL quarterback failed to throw for a score against the UCLA Bruins last week.
The Trojans also feature a strong running game to keep their offense balanced. The rushing attack is led tailback Ronald Jones II. The junior runner has scampered for over 100 yards in four straight games and has amassed a total of 1,346 yards with 16 touchdowns. Against the Cardinal, Jones II rushed for 116 yards and two trips to the end zone.
Three USC wide receivers handle the duties when the Trojans look to move the chains through the air. They are led by Deontay Burnett. The stellar wideout has performed well in 2017, catching 73 balls for 966 yards and nine touchdowns. Teammates Tyler Vaughns and Steven Mitchell have also pitched in with another 87 grabs for 1,124 yards and eight more scores.
Defensively, the Trojans have had their fair share of problems stopping the pass. The secondary finished 104th in the country, allowing 251 yards a game. The front half has done a little better by holding teams to 159 yards on the ground (57th). In all, the unit surrenders about 26 points per game and 410 total yards to opposing offenses.
Prediction
Las Vegas has the Trojans as a four-point favorite because of their ability to move the ball through the air and over the ground. Stanford can’t claim that because they are much more dependant on their vaunted ground game to matriculate the ball down the field. I expect this game to be pretty close throughout because Bryce Love has the ability to keep the USC offense on the sidelines. A more than a field goal spread scares me a bit here so I’m suggesting that my readers stay away from this spread. Unless of course, your thinking about laying some of your money on the underdog.
What I like about this game is the over 58.5. I do realize that this is a championship game and that it might take some time for the offenses to settle in. Nevertheless, I think that the bend but don’t break defense of the Cardinal won’t be enough to keep the Trojans from scoring in the low 30’s here. With that being said, I believe the Stanford offense has found some balance in the passing game and that should be enough to keep the Trojan defense guessing. Bryce Love and Sam Darnold should be at their best for this finale and that should be enough to push this over in a close affair late in the fourth quarter. Take the over 58.5 and cheer for the offenses in this Pac-12 Title game. @EriktheHun
Gp to BetDSI Sportsbook to make a play in this championship game.
Trends
The Cardinal are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 neutral site games.
The Over is 5-1 in the Cardinal last 6 neutral site games.
The Trojans are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 neutral site games.
The Over is 4-1-1 in the Trojans last 6 neutral site games.
Over is 16-7 in the last 23 meetings.
