Trojans Desperate For Decisive Victory over Ducks
by Tim Furious
The Trojans coughed a big, fat loss last week to open the Oregon State Beavers, and now face the Oregon Ducks as double-digit favorites. Dirty Sanchez and company need a huge win to retain a top-10 ranking in the AP rankings.
The last time these two teams met, the Trojans fell to the Ducks last season. Oregon is nowhere near the team it was last season, so the Trojan’s betting backers shouldn’t be seizing their chests just yet. Oregon is the only ranked college team to beat the Trojans in the last six seasons.
The chances of them doing it again remain slim, especially with Oregon’s erratic, scoreboard chasing mentality. They’ve averaged 47.4 points for, and 22.2 points against. They’ll be running right in to a defense that only gives up 12.3 points against per game. The USC defense had to be embarrassed that they lost last weekend. Expect them to take out their frustrations on Oregon this weekend by tightening up.
College Football Betting Trends
-Oregon is 4-2 ATS in their last 6 games
-Oregon is 5-1 SU in their last 6 games
-Oregon is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games
-USC is 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games
-USC is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games at home
That doesn’t necessarily translate in to an immediate win. USC has one of the more talented secondaries in the league, but they may be too opportunistic for their own good as they try to make up for the blunders of last weekend. To make matters worse, the Ducks will be running rampant over the Trojans’ defense. They average 308.6 yards on the ground behind LeGarrette Blount and Jeremiah Johnson.
The Dirty Sanchez was at tremendous fault for the loss to the Beavers last weekend, and while it may be easy to instill some faith in him, I wouldn’t just yet. The quarterback has shown to be mistake prone, and he hasn’t been tested that frequently. He’ll be matched by a thrilling Oregon offence on the scoreboard, and my bet will against him as he lofts up a mistake towards the end of the game that costs this team the spread win.
Oregon Ducks (4-1) vs. USC Trojans (2-1)
Saturday, October 4th --- Memorial Coliseum, LA --- 8:00pm EST
NCAA Betting Line: USC -16
Those of you that don’t follow college ball might believe that Oregon is a joke without Dennis Dixon and Jonathan Stewart. But this team continues to be entertaining, and are climbing up the standings. While I don’t believe they can win this game outright, the 16-points they are being given will help them reward their betting backers on the spread.
NCAA Free Pick: Oregon +16 (OVER)
