NELLY SPORTS
NCAA Total Delivery
1* #305/306 ‘OVER’ Washington at USC 9:00 PM ET
Steve Sarkisian did not get a chance to take on his former team last year and this year’s meeting comes with both teams off last weekend. USC already has suffered a loss to cripple its national playoff hopes and more prominent games with Notre Dame and Utah are the next two games on the schedule. Washington is 2-2 on the season and Chris Petersen delivered a bowl bid in his first season in Seattle it will be an uphill battle to get the Huskies there this season staring at a brutal October schedule. Washington only lost by six but was not overly competitive statistically against California at home to open the Pac-12 season in its last game.
The USC defense has allowed 400 yards in three of four games but they will be tough to keep up with as Sarkisian hopes his offense will be even more fast-paced as they have fallen short of the 80 plays per game goal the team has. Part of that shortage has been many big plays leading to quick scores but the defense has often not gotten off the field, 91st in the nation in yards per game allowed. Freshman quarterback Jake Browning has had some turnovers but he has mostly been an accurate passer and the Washington offense should have some opportunities against a USC secondary that has struggled this season for the most part. In the last game California had 481 yards and 28 first downs against Washington despite only putting up 30 points and the Trojans look capable of cashing in more points in their opportunities.
USC’s defense has created turnovers with 10 already in four games so a short field score or two seems very possible in this game with the young Washington quarterback facing his biggest game so far. In nine home games in the Sarkisian era at the Coliseum USC has scored at least 31 points in every single home game, averaging over 45 points per game. There is reason to be skeptical of Washington’s strong defensive numbers built on the wins vs. Sacramento State and Utah State while the USC defense has likely deserved to allow even more points than they have after misleading defensive scoring numbers in the all three wins.
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