2009 NCAAFB Betting Preview: San Jose State at USC Trends & Injuries

Last Updated on September 5, 2009 12:00 pm by drew

San Jose St. at USC Odds

It isn’t often that USC enters a college football season with doubts about their talent, but the Trojans have clear questions to answer as they host

San Jose
State on Saturday at 3:30PM ET.

Bet San Jose State at USC

The No. 4 ranked Trojans take the field at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum with a true freshman quarterback in Matt Barkley. Barkley is the first ever true freshman to start for USC, but he will have some talent to rely on around him. The Trojans have three running backs returning that rushed for over 600 yards, led by Stafon Johnson, who gained 705 yards on the ground with nine touchdowns in 2008. Joe McKnight is also back after racking up 905 all-purpose yards. Damian Williams will be the top target for Barkley, as Williams caught 58 passes for 869 yards in 2008. USC only brings back three starters on defense, but the unit will be led by All-American safety Taylor Mays, who opted to stay with USC for his senior season as opposed to enter the draft after his junior year.

San Jose
State is coming off a 6-6 season in the WAC, and the Spartans bring back 15 starters from that team. Defensively,

San Jose State ranked 21^st in the nation in 2008, allowing just 21.6 points per-game. The Spartans are led by brothers Duke Ihenacho and Carl Ihenacho. Duke was an All-WAC linebacker with five interceptions, but is moving to safety this season, while Carl was eighth in the nation in tackles for loss with 18.5 in 2008 at defensive end. The Spartans struggled offensively in 2008, averaging just 18.7 points per-game with only 283 yards of total offense per-contest.

Oddsmakers from online sports book SPORTSBOOK.com have made USC 34-point home favorites over

San Jose
State on Saturday afternoon. The over/under total for this game has been established at 48.

Betting Trends
All games in this series since 1992

SAN JOSE ST is 2-0 against the spread versus USC since 1992

USC is 3-0 straight up against

SAN JOSE ST since 1992

1 of 1 games in this series have gone UNDER THE TOTAL since 1992
Key Player Injuries

SAN JOSE ST

No significant injuries.

USC

No significant injuries.

College Football Week 1:

San Jose
State at USC Odds & Over/Under Totals:

San Jose
State Spartans +34 Over 48 (OFF)

USC Trojans -34 Under 48 (OFF)

Bet San Jose State at USC

Posted: 9/5/09 12:00PM ET