USC at Washington State

Written by Steve Janus

This Saturday the 20th-ranked USC Trojans will go on the road for the third time in four games to take on the Washington State Cougars, as both teams kick off the Pac-10 portion of their 2010 schedule. The Trojans are coming off a 32-21 win at Minnesota, while the Cougars stumble into the game this weekend off a 35-21 loss at Southern Methodist. If you are thinking about betting on the game this weekend, the current college football odds have the Trojans favored by 21.5-points over the Cougars on the road.

USC (3-0): The Trojans haven’t exactly looked like the USC of years past, as they have won their first three games of the season by a combined 27-points against teams they would normally beat by 20-points a piece. Last week I really expected USC to go on the road and easily take care of business against a Minnesota team that loss the previous week to South Dakota, but instead it was another close fought game. The Trojans held a 14-13 lead with just under five minutes to go in the third quarter, as Minnesota just scored on a 31-yards touchdown pass, but Robert Woods took the ensuing kick off 97 yards and the Trojans poured on two more fourth quarter touchdowns to secure the win.

Quarterback Matt Barkley threw for 192 yards with two touchdowns, but also threw his first two interceptions of the year. The Trojans did most of their damage on the ground, as Allen Bradford led the way with 131 yards and a touchdown on just 12 carries, and CJ Gable, Mark Tyler, and Dillon Baxter combined for 93 yards, including a nice three yard touchdown run by Tyler in the first quarter.

Washington State (1-2): The Cougars are simply not a very good football team this year, and in my opinion will be extremely lucky if they win another game this season. Last week at Southern Methodist the Cougars gave up big play after big play, as all four of Southern Methodist’s touchdowns came on plays of 10 or more yards. The offense continued to struggle to get the ground game going, as they had just 66 yards rushing against the Mustangs.

Quarterback Jeff Tuel played well in the loss, throwing for 284 yards and two touchdowns on 18 of 33 passing, but until the Cougars are able to move the ball on the ground, the offense is going to have a hard time keeping up with the rest of the teams in the Pac-10.

Looking at the Odds: No question the Trojans should win this game, but their inability to blow out lessor opponents this season has me taking the Cougars to cover the 21.5-point spread. Last year Washington State played USC surprisingly well on the road, losing 27-6, and I think we see a very similar result this weekend, as my final score prediction is USC 31, Washington State 13.

Comments

Got something to say?