USC vs. Stanford Total Prediction
The USC Trojans and Stanford Cardinal will open Pac-12 play on Saturday night when the teams meet in Stanford at 8:30 p.m. ET. With how porous the USC run defense was a week ago in a victory over UNLV, will there be plenty of points scored this weekend at Stanford Stadium?
Game Snapshot
387 USC Trojans vs. 388 Stanford Cardinal
8:30 p.m. ET, Saturday, September 8, 2018
Stanford Stadium, Stanford, California
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Cardinal is 5.5-point favorites to beat the Trojans. The total, meanwhile, sits at 56.5 points. As of this writing, 60% of the public betting tickets wagered on this matchup are on the Cardinal.
USC Trojans
USC freshman QB J.T. Daniels went 22-of-35 for 282 yards and one touchdown in Saturday’s 43-21 win over UNLV. Daniels (6’3/210) was able to beat out Jack Sears and Matt Fink this offseason after heading to USC one year early. The five-star recruit showed glimpses of his upside and chemistry with his high school teammate Amon-Ra St. Brown in his first start — the Mater Dei duo converted for a 43-yard touchdown. With 35 pass attempts and one win under his belt, Daniels will visit Stanford next Saturday. This will be Daniels’ first big test of the season.
Stanford Cardinal
Stanford senior RB Bryce Love ran for 29 yards on 18 carries and caught three passes for 18 yards in a 31-10 victory over San Diego State on Friday. Love is considered the Heisman favorite coming into the year by many. This won’t help those odds. The senior tailback was completely bottled up by the SDSU defense, and outside of a 14-yard run, he was unable to get anything going. It’s just one game — and if there’s a positive, he was involved in the passing game — but this is a tremendously disappointing opener for one of the most electric players in college football. He’ll look to get back on track against USC next Saturday.
Betting Trends
USC
The over is 7-2 in the Trojans’ last nine games overall.
Stanford
The under is 5-1 in the Cardinal’s last six home games.
Prediction
While all eyes were on freshman quarterback JT Daniels last week for USC, the bigger takeaway from the Trojans’ win over UNLV is that the defense has issues. The Rebels finished with 308 yards on the ground and if the Trojan defense doesn’t tighten up, Love will run all over him (it’s unlikely that Love will be bottled up two straight weeks). The over is 4-1 in the last five meetings between Stanford and USC and I see Saturday night’s installment also resulting in a high-scoring game.
College Football Prediction: USC/Stanford over 56.5