USC vs. Washington State Spread Pick
On Friday night, the USC Trojans will be in a revenge spot after losing to the Washington State Cougars in Pullman, a game that knocked them out of the College Football Playoff Discussion. Listed as a slight home favorite, will the Trojans end the Cougars’ current unbeaten streak?
Game Snapshot
309 Washington State Cougars at 310 USC Trojans
10:30 p.m. ET, Friday, September 21
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Trojans are 3.5-point favorites to beat the Cougars. The total, meanwhile, sits at 53 points. As of this writing, 54% of the public betting tickets wagered on this matchup are on the Cougars.
Washington State Cougars
Graduate transfer quarterback Gardner Minshew didn’t start playing with his Washington State teammates until fall drills, but you wouldn’t know it from his production. Minshew threw for 470 yards and two touchdowns as Washington State beat Eastern Washington 59-24 on Saturday night to avenge a 2016 loss to its FCS neighbor.
“We have a bunch of new receivers and a new quarterback,” Washington State coach Mike Leach said. “All of it is tuning into one another.”
USC Trojans
USC running back Aca’Cedric Ware let loose after the 37-14 loss at Texas on Saturday, lamenting poor practice habits and a lack of offensive leadership in consecutive blowout losses.
“The one thing that I’ve learned in 24 years of coaching is your kids are going to react how you react,” USC head coach Clay Helton said. “If you don’t show leadership, if you don’t show that, ‘Hey, we understand exactly what the situation is. We understand the issues. Here’s how to fix them. Now let’s go get our jaw set and let’s go do it.’ If you don’t provide that leadership, they are not going to do it.”
Betting Trends
Washington State
The Cougars are 3-7 against the spread in their last 10 road games.
USC
The Trojans have failed to cover in their last six games played in September.
Prediction
I like the Trojans in this spot. Yes, they’re off to an unimpressive start to the season but look at their schedule. After playing UNLV to open the season, they lost back-to-back games against Stanford and Texas on the road. Let’s compare that schedule to Washington State, which beat Wyoming on the road in its opener, then played San Jose State and Eastern Washington. The Cougars have yet to be tested while the Trojans have already faced adversity on the road twice. I’ll buy the hook just to be safe but I like USC to cover the number.
College Football Prediction: USC Trojans -3 (buy the hook)