But at the same time, Washington has been similarly disappointing. The Huskies came into the season as a potential dark horse in the Pac 10, but dropped a game to a rebuilding BYU team. They beat up on Syracuse, and then got stomped by the Huskers at home in a much anticipated game.
The home Trojans opened as 10 point favorites and the college football line has held steady. All things considered, though, the Trojans feel like a strong play in this match-up. While playing against New Mexico has been profitable the past few weeks, the under-the-radar game of this week takes place in Pasadena. The Trojans should have little trouble disposing of an underperforming Husky team.
One of Washington’s biggest problems so far has been the play of Jake Locker. But Locker shouldn’t be blamed for having a subpar season. He’s been forced to adjust to Steve Sarkisian’s preference for a pro-style offense. That will pay dividends for Locker when he starts playing on Sundays, but not in the college sphere. Locker has always been one of college football’s most dangerous dual threat quarterbacks. But forcing him to sit in the pocket and not allowing him to pressure defenses with his feet has been one of Washington’s primary failures. They rarely even role the pocket, which would allow Locker to attack a defense with his speed. He hasn’t seemed comfortable as a pocket passer, and that was terribly evident in Washington’s humbling loss to Nebraska. In that game, Locker was an awful 4-20 for 71 yards.
Now Locker and company have to face a Monte Kiffin coached defense. Kiffin is known for designing schemes to frustrate quarterbacks and disrupt offensive rhythm. Considering the way Washington has struggled anyway, this could be a long day for Locker and the Washington offense.
But Washington’s problems have been on both sides of the ball. They’re giving up 426 yards per game, and 214 yards on the ground at a 5.4 yards per carry average. If Nebraska’s offense hung up 56 points in Husky Stadium, what can USC do to this team at home? This has the makings of a lopsided score.
While Washington has been going in the wrong direction, USC has recently been going in the right direction. After giving up nearly 600 yards at Hawaii in week 1, they’ve given up fewer than 350 yards to each of their previous 3 opponents. In their past 2 games combined, USC has given up 150 rushing yards on 63 attempts – about 2.5 yards per carry.
Offensively, the Trojans are starting to find good rhythm and balance. Matt Barkley is a good quarterback, and in the past 2 games the ground game has racked up over 500 yards. Unfortunately, they’ve turned the ball over a total of 6 times in those 2 games, but the defense has 6 takeaways to make that a wash. If the Trojans can limit their penalties and turnovers, they should roll over the Huskies in a big way.
Don’t forget – last year USC lost up at Washington, so they have the revenge factor working in their favor. And the Huskies simply aren’t the team people expected them to be. They lost to an average BYU team and were blown out at home against Nebraska. USC is a top 15 team playing at home. A 10 point spread seems pretty good. Don’t let this game fly under-the-radar. Back the Trojans and be glad you did.
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