It may be September, but first place in the Pac-12 South is on the line Friday night when the USC Trojans host the No. 10 Utah Utes. On the road, the Utes are three-point favorites with an over/under of 52.5 points.
Despite losing starting quarterback JT Daniels to a season-ending injury in their opener, the Trojans appeared to be heading in the right direction after their comeback win over Stanford a couple of weeks ago. True freshman quarterback Kedon Slovis seemed to settle in during the second half of that game. But that was before Slovis threw three interceptions during last week’s overtime loss to BYU, moving USC out of the Top 25 and casting doubt over the rest of the season.
Utah, meanwhile, has lived up to the billing of Pac-12 favorite thus far. The Utes began their season with a win over that same BYU team, then followed it up with lopsided wins over Northern Illinois and Idaho State. Obviously, Utah hasn’t faced the same kind of schedule as USC, but the Utes have handled their business and haven’t given anyone a reason to doubt their status as conference favorites.
The Dynamic Duo
Just as they were last year, the Utes are led by the tandem of quarterback Tyler Huntley and running back Zack Moss. Huntley hasn’t been asked to do too much this season, as the Utes have been able to overpower opposing teams. But prior to suffering a season-ending injury last year, he had the Utah offense running like a well-oiled machine, so he should be ready when called upon.
Moss, meanwhile, is averaging over 120 yards per game at this point in the season. He benefits from teams before forced to respect Huntley as both a runner and a passer.
Of course, the biggest reason the Utes are Pac-12 favorites is their defense. Utah has NFL-caliber talent at all three levels of the defense, which has allowed them to overwhelm weaker teams this season. For example, the BYU team that scored 30 points against USC last week was held to just 12 points against Utah, which also forced three turnovers when it faced BYU.
Watch Out
The good news for USC is that Slovis is doing just about everything right, particularly for a true freshman, other than avoiding turnovers. The Trojans would have likely beaten BYU had it not been for the three interceptions he threw. USC is getting good productivity from running backs Vavae Malepeal and Stephen Carr and sustaining long drives. They just need their young quarterback to play turnover-free football.
Meanwhile, the X-factor on Friday could be the USC defense. The Trojans have been solid but unspectacular on that side of the ball thus far. But they’ll be up against the biggest test they’ve faced all season. They had a little trouble containing Fresno State’s Jorge Reyna in the season opener, and with Reyna being the closest thing they’ve seen to Huntley this year, that could be a bad sign for the Trojans.
Not Asking A Lot
USC has the talent to win this game, especially at home, but after his three interceptions last week, there has to be concern about Slovis facing one of the best defenses in the country. On top of that, the Utah offense is also good enough to lead the way. It’s not asking a lot to cover three points, even on the road, so bet on Utah to win and cover at USC.
