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Arizona State Sun Devils at USC Trojans Betting Preview

New coach, same result for the Arizona State Sun Devils (1-3), who lost 34-13 against Utah a week after firing Herm Edwards. ASU shouldn’t expect different results this week on the road against the #6 USC Trojans (4-0).

USC is unbeaten on the year, but they didn’t look great last week, struggling to a 17-14 win over Oregon State in Corvallis. Does that mean the Trojans are human – or was it just a tough road game against a solid conference foe? Oddsmakers like Southern Cal for the bounce back in week five, setting them as -25.5 favorites.

Did Oregon State Provide the Blueprint?

Arizona State knows they are outmanned in Saturday night’s trip to Los Angeles, but the fact that Oregon State was in striking distance of an upset last week has to give the Sun Devils at least a semblance of hope. Then again, the Beavers are 3-1 on the year.

The firing of Edwards and the promotion of Shaun Aguano to head coach didn’t provide the spark ASU fans had hoped it would last week. Granted, it was a tough ask to take down #12 Utah, even at home, but the Sun Devils didn’t do a whole lot to build on in the 34-13 loss.

If Arizona State wants any chance at the upset on Saturday, they’ll need to limit turnovers. QB Emory Jones threw two INTs against Utah, and Elijah Badger lost a fumble, but the problem with that is USC leads the nation with a +3.5 turnover margin.

First Off Game for Williams

It’s no shocker while the USC offense wasn’t its usual dominant self last week, and that’s because QB Caleb Williams had his worst game as a Trojan, going 16/36 for 180 yards. Make no mistake, Williams still led the game-winning drive that culminated in a 21-yard TD pass to Jordan Addison with 1:13 left to keep Southern California unbeaten.

Besides Williams’ late-game heroics, USC also got another big game on the ground as Travis Dye had 133 of the team’s 179 rush yards. The Trojans rank 31st in the country in rush yards (195.5) and 32nd in passing (283.8), so Lincoln Riley is finding some nice balance on offense in his first year at the helm.

Arizona State at USC Pick and Prediction

The Sun Devils do have a decent pass defense (194.5 ypg), but that also may be due to not being able to stop the run at all (185.0 ypg).

Either way, the ASU defense is going to be up against the wall on Saturday night. There is a little revenge factor at play in this game as Arizona State beat SC 31-16 last season in Tempe.

There is a whole new regime on both sides this season, but the three previous meetings between the two teams were decided by a combined 9 points. That means USC and ASU usually play each other close regardless of the circumstances, so in that case, -25.5 is too many to give.

Pick: Arizona State +25.5

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