Colorado Buffaloes
vs.
USC Trojans
College Football Pick
By Jason Green
10/8/16
USC is sharing the Memorial Coliseum with the Rams of the NFL and it is hard to believe that the Rams have the better record. USC had high hopes this season and while their 3 losses have come against teams that were ranked they are still under .500. However, they can get back to .500 in their house this Saturday with a win over 4-1 Colorado.
Colorado’s only loss of the season came against 4th ranked Michigan on the road and they have won 2 in a row including beating Oregon. They have a very balanced offense that has put up at least 41 points in their last 2 Games.
In their last Game Colorado blew out Oregon State 47-6 playing solid on both sides of the ball and covering the spread as a 17.5-point home favorite. USC got a win in their last Game, after losing 2 in a row, beating Arizona State in LA LA LAnd 41-20 and covering as a 10-point favorite.
USC has won all 10 of their Games facing Colorado.
Colorado ranks in the top 33 in the nation in both passing yards per Game and rushing yards per Game and the USC defense will have their hands full.
Steven Montez has taken over for the injured Sefo Liufau at QB for Colorado and has played well and last week in the win over Oregon State he passed for 293 yards with 3 TD. 3 Buffaloes players have at least 248 receiving yards and in the backfield Phillip Lindsay leads the RB’s and Montez is the 3rd leading rusher for the team.
The Trojans’ pass defense ranks a decent 39th in the nation in pass defense, but only 79th in run defense.
The Trojans will go with freshman QB Sam Darnold, who lit up Arizona State to the tune of 353 yards with 3 TD. He has one of the best WR’s in the nation in JuJu Smith-SChuster and RB Justin Davis is averaging 5.6 yards per carry on the season and he has rushed for 126 yards and 123 yards respectively in his last 2 Games. Colorado has one of the nation’s top 10 pass defenses, but their run D only ranks 52nd.
Colorado is 6-0 ATS in their last 6 Games overall, 5-1 ATS in their last 6 road Games, and they have an Under record of 5-1 in their last 6 Pac 12 Games.
USC is 3-8 ATS in their last 11 Games overall, 2-6 ATS in their last 8 Conference Games, and they have an Under record of 3-1-1 in their last 5 home Games.
The home team is 4-0 ATS in the last 4 Games between these Conference rivals.
USC has won every Game in this series, going 10-0 and winning by an average score of 36-13. They have played each of the last 5 seasons with all of those Games being USC blowouts with the EXCEPTION of last season, where the Trojans won by just 3. Perhaps the gap has been closed a tad as USC no where near what they were while the Buffs are on the rise. Perfect time to finally get over the hump. Colorado +4.5