Washington at USC Line

Written by Steve Janus

This Saturday the USC Trojans will take on the Washington Huskies in a PAC-12 showdown at LA Memorial Coliseum. The Trojans come in off an easy 42-17 win at Colorado last Friday, while the Huskies suffered a 17-34 setback against No. 8 Oregon. Washington edged out USC 32-31 last season for their second straight win in the series, but USC had won the previous six matchups.

Taking a look at the week 11 college football spreads, oddsmakers currently have the Trojans favored by 11.5-points over the Huskies with the total set at 63.5 points.

Washington:

The Huskies have struggled against the top teams this season. They are 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the PAC-12, with all three losses coming against ranked opponents. In their three losses to Nebraska, Stanford, and Oregon, Washington has been outscored by an average of 25 points a game. While USC isn’t ranked at this point in the season, their only two losses this season have came against Arizona State and Stanford.

Washington struggled to do much of anything offensively in their last game against the Ducks. Sophomore quarterback Keith Price completed 24 of 35 attempts with two touchdowns, but finish with just 143 yards and also threw two interceptions. Price has really been in a funk of late. After starting the season with 21 touchdowns to just four interceptions, he has thrown just four touchdowns to six interceptions in his last three games. He figures to have a great shot at getting back on track against a USC defense that is giving up 270.7 ypg (103rd) through the air.

Washington will also look to get junior running back Chris Polk going after he was held to just 80 yards in the loss to Oregon. It was just the second time all season that Polk finished with less than 100 yards. USC is holding opponents to an average of 106.4 ypg on the ground, but have allowed 320 in their last two games.

USC:

I was a bit surprised by how well USC played last week against Colorado. Even though USC leads the South division with a 4-2 conference record, they are ineligible to play in postseason play until next season. That didn’t stop USC from coming out and laying it to the Buffaloes on the road.

Junior quarterback Matt Barkley showed why he is considered by many to be one of the top NFL prospects in next year’s draft with a school-record six touchdown passes in the win over Colorado. Barkley completed 25 of 39 attempts for 318 yards, and those numbers would have been even better if it wasn’t for a couple drops. Barkley should be in for another big game against Washington, as the Huskies come in giving up 283 ypg (113th) through the air.

Wide outs Robert Woods and Marqise Lee had a field day against the Colorado defense. Woods had nine catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns and Lee matched him with nine catches for 124 yards and two scores.

While the passing game looked unstoppable, USC also had a pretty easy time running the football. Curtis McNeal and Amir Carlisle combined for 177 yards on 20 attempts. Washington has allowed 658 rushing yards in their last two losses to Stanford and Oregon.

Betting Trends:

Washington is 3-0-1 ATS in their last 4 games following a S.U. loss.

USC is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games following a SU win of more than 20 points.

Be sure to stop back and check out who Steve Janus has picked to win this week in college football. The expert handicapper is 15-5 over his last 20 college selections.

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