USC vs. Arizona Total Prediction
In one of the final games of the Week 5 college football slate, the USC Trojans will visit the Arizona Wildcats at 10:30 p.m. ET. Given the struggles of both offenses, will the final score fall just under the betting total?
Game Snapshot
201 USC Trojans at 202 Arizona Wildcats
10:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, September 29, 2018
Arizona Stadium, Tucson, Arizona
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Trojans are 3-point favorites to beat the Wildcats. The total, meanwhile, sits at 61 points. As of this writing, 65% of the public betting tickets wagered on this matchup are on the Trojans.
USC Trojans
USC freshman QB JT Daniels passed for 241 yards and three scores on 17-of-26 passing in a 39-36 victory over Washington State on Friday. After struggling against Texas, Daniels was much better against Washington State. There were a few throws that got away from him, but there were just as many that showed why he was considered one of the top prep quarterbacks in the country. He once again connected with former high school teammate Amon-Ra St. Brown for a score, and he also connected with Michael Pittman on a long score where Pittman did most of the work. Daniels is going to frustrate — he should be a senior in high school, after all — but there’s obviously big talent in the 6-foot-3, 210-pound signal-caller. The Trojans will take on Arizona next Saturday.
Arizona Wildcats
Arizona sophomore QB Khalil Tate completed 9-of-17 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns, while being credited with negative rushing yardage in Saturday’s 35-14 win over Oregon State. One of the more puzzling developments this season is the almost complete lack of any kind of rushing output from Tate. The sophomore signal-caller ended Saturday’s game credited with -9 yards rushing, and his season-long tally on the ground through four games is just 32 yards. Remember, Tate ripped it up for 1,411 yards and 12 touchdowns rushing last year. We’ll see if he can get things revved up at home against USC next weekend, but with the way this offense is being run, we’re not holding our breaths.
Betting Trends
USC
The over is 9-3 in the Trojans’ last 12 games overall.
Arizona
The under is 4-1 in the Wildcats’ last five games played in the month of September.
Prediction
How Kevin Sumlin turned Khalil Tate into a non-factor in the running game is beyond me. But it has benefited those willing to take the under in Arizona games because the oddsmakers continue to set the totals high. In the Wildcats’ first four games, the under cashed three times. It should hit again on Saturday night, as USC remains a work in progress on offense but continues to play well defensively. This total is set too high.
College Football Prediction: USC/Arizona under 61