The City of Angeles will host two of the PAC-12 Conference’s best when the (23) Utah Utes travel south to dance with the (13) USC Trojans this weekend. The game is scheduled to go off on Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m. EST and can be watched on your ABC affiliate. Coming into this inner-conference showdown, line-setters have the Trojans as a gaudy -13 point favorite. They also have this match-up’s over/under penciled in at 52.5.
Utah is heading into the Coliseum off a rare 20-23 home defeat to the Cardinal from Stanford. Once again, the loss of starting quarterback Tyler Huntley played a huge role, as the Utes only could muster 382 yards of total offense. The steady as she goes defense that Utah fields did their part but it wasn’t enough to capture a victory at home.
The USC Trojans rebounded from their upset defeat to the Washington State Cougars rather nicely. Last week, they took out their frustrations on the PAC-12’s weakest link, the Oregon State Beavers. In that game, the Trojans racked up over 500 yards of total offense and found themselves up 28-3 heading into the fourth quarter. As a result, they let up on the gas a little and cruised to a 38-10 victory.
(23) Utah Utes (4-1)
The Utah Utes great defense didn’t have an answer for the amazing running skills of Stanford’s Bryce Love. Then again, nobody in the country can lay claim to that. It was the Utes lethargic offense that couldn’t get things going throughout the evening. Fortunately, they did manage to finish off their last drive of the night with under two minutes to go to give underdog bettors their cover.
In that game, quarterback Troy Williams was hoping to ease into his familiar role under-center. Williams had lost his job in the summer to Tyler Huntley but was forced into action because of an injury to Huntley two weeks ago. Well, things didn’t go quite as planned and the offense paid for it. Williams completed just over 50 percent of his passes for 238 yards with one touchdown and two picks. That simply will not cut the mustard if they hope to go into USC and come out with an upset victory.
Amazingly, Utah has really struggled to find a way to move the ball consistently on the ground. It certainly did help when Tyler Huntley went down for the count, he was their leading rusher. Now, the Utes will look to tailback Zach Moss to make up for the loss of production. Last week, Moss wasn’t bad as he rushed for 79 yards on 15 carries and a score. Troy Williams pitched in with another 24 yards on nine carries. Currently, the Utes are 70th in the country, running for 160 yards per game.
The passing game has also struggled in their starting quarterback’s absence. Consequently, so has the Utah receiving corps. Especially, wideout Darrin Carrington II who was on pace to be one of the most productive pass catchers in the nation. Even with the loss, Carrington II has reeled in 37 balls for 584 yards and five touchdown grabs. On the other side, teammate Samson Nacua has pitched in with 20 catches for 184 yards and one more score.
The Utah defense has been the rock of this school’s team for quite some time. Again, this seems to be the case in 2017. The Utes are solid against the run, holding teams to only 108 yards on the ground (21st). The Utah secondary has also been playing some good football. As of this article, they sit 41st in the country, allowing 205 yards through the air.
(13) USC Trojans (5-1)
With the underachieving efforts of their Heisman hopeful quarterback and the overtime squeaker at home against the Longhorns, USC has to feel lucky to be sitting at 5-1. So far, they still are in a good position to reach a huge bowl game if not the playoffs because their one loss to Washington State is starting to look better every weekend.
Whether or not they continue to find ways to win games, quarterback Sam Darnold has to improve or they won’t get the victories needed to challenge for a national title. In 2017, Darnold has completed 64.8 percent of his tosses for over 1,700 yards. Those numbers are pretty good but his 12 touchdowns to nine picks ratio are very disconcerting. Only time will tell if the sophomore jinx will claim Sam Darnold as another victim.
The USC running game took a hit when they lost the services of Stephan Carr in Pullman. Still, the Trojans are loaded at the running back position and should be just fine handing the rock off to Donald Jones. Actually, Jones leads the team in rushing with 529 yards on 85 attempts and seven trips to glory. He also only has five catches but they have been good for 100 yards and a score.
There are little questions about who Sam Darnold’s number one target is. That kid would be the wide receiver, Deontay Burnett. So far, Burnett has caught 41 passes for 527 yards and six touchdowns. To the Trojans dismay, the 6’o, 170-pound junior is injured but listed as probable for this contest with a toe injury.
Defensively, the Trojans have not been all that and a bag of chips this seasons. Yes, the injury bug has taken a good sized bite out of them but it is what it is. Heading into this clash, USC ranks 58th in the country, giving up 377 total yards of offense. Their secondary is really their weak-link, surrendering 234 yards a game (84th).
Prediction
The experts that decide these lines sure confuse me sometimes. This one here is no exception to that. Oddsmakers came out with the Trojans as a heavy 13 point favorite and the public hasn’t responded either way. Well, let me respond by saying that there is no conceivable way that I’m going to pick against the Utes as a 13 dog. I don’t care if they’re in California, Florida, or Brazil for that matter. Give me Utah and that’ll be that.
The over/under is sitting at 52.5 which is down a point from when it came out on Monday. With the Utes struggling offensively and the average play of Sam Darnold, I can’t foresee playing this over. So for that reason and the fact that an under in PAC-12 play scares me to death, I’m shying away from this total altogether. #moneytreesgrow @EriktheHun
Trends
The Utes are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 road games.
The Utes are 5-1-1 ATS in their last 7 conference games.
The Under is 7-1 in the Utes last 8 games overall.
The Trojans are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall.
The Trojans are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games on grass.
The Under is 7-3 in the Trojans last 10 home games.
The Home team is 6-0 ATS in their last 6 meetings.
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