Stanford vs. USC Total Pick
Can No. 6 USC find enough offense when it takes on No. 14 Stanford to hit the over when these two collide on Saturday at 8:30PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, USC is favored at home in this game, as the Trojans are getting odds of -6 points against Stanford. The over/under total for the contest is listed at 55 points. Stanford has won the last three meetings with USC and the two have hit the over in two of those three meetings. Saturday’s game takes place from the L.A. Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. The game will air live on FOX.
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Stanford got its season started with a 62-7 win over Rice on the road, going over the 50.5-point total. That game was actually two weeks ago, so the Cardinal have been able to rest up and prepare for USC for a bit longer. Stanford racked up 656 total yards in that win while allowing just 241 yards to Rice. The defense also forced a pair of turnovers in the win. Keller Chryst looked good in his return from injury. He threw for 253 yards on 14-of-24 passing with two scores. Bryce Love rushed for 180 yards on just 13 carries and also had a score while Cameron Scarlett added three rushing touchdowns.
USC started the 2017 season at home last week with a 49-31 win over West Michigan. The Trojans went over the 58.5-point total. The game was actually tied entering the fourth quarter, but USC managed 28 points in the final period. The Trojans finished the game with 521 yards of offense while allowing 357 yards to the Broncos. Sam Darnold threw for 289 yards on 23 of 33 passing, but didn’t have a touchdown pass and threw a pair of interceptions. Ronald Jones II rushed for 159 yards and three touchdowns to lead the USC offense while Deontay Burnett had seven receptions for 142 yards.
The over seems tempting, as the total seems low for this game, but I am going to go with the trends and take the under. USC is 5-2 with the under in its last 7 home games and 21-7-1 with the under in its last 29 conference games. Stanford is 8-3 with the under in its last 11 September contests as well. I think Stanford’s defense will be able to limit the USC offense while the Cardinal likely won’t move the ball with such ease against USC this week. Look for these Pac-12 rivals to play in a grinder.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL PREDICTION: STANFORD/USC UNDER 55