Utah at USC
Time: 8 PM CST Friday
Spread: UTA -4
Total: 53.5
Odds c/o 5dimes
The Utah Utes are ranked No. 10 in AP Polls after beginning its season 3-0 with wins over BYU, Northern Illinois and Idaho State. This week the Utes travel to face USC on the road, as 4-point favorites according to college football oddsmakers at 5dimes.
The game will kick off at 8 PM CST Friday night, and it has an over/under set at 53.5 total points.
UTAH
Utah has been fairly dominant thus far. It has outscored its opponents over three games by a combined 96 to 29, and it shut out its last opponent, Idaho State. In the 31-0 victory, it got 282 yards on 15 of 19 passing from Tyler Huntley, as he completed three TD passes. Drew Lisk stepped in to throw 6 of 6 for 38 yards. Huntley rushed six times more for 22 yards, and Zack Moss led all rushing efforts with 106 yards on 10 carries and a TD. The Utes threw two passes to Bryan Thompson, both for touchdowns, as he racked up 105 yards on two receptions, including an 82-yard TD catch. Brant Kuithe caught three passes for 80 yards and a TD, and the Utes averaged 15.2 yards-per-reception while amassing 320 passing yards on the game.
Huntley is now a senior and he completed 64.1 percent of his passes last season en route to 1,788 yards. As a sophomore in 2017, he had 2,411 yards and 15 TDs, but he threw 10 INTs. He cut that to just six last year, and he has yet to throw a pick this season. His passer rating on the year is 195.9, and he is averaging 11.1 yards-per-reception, which is nearly 3.5 yards per-catch better than his sophomore and junior seasons, respectively.
Moss has rushed 57 times for 373 yards on the season, good for 6.5 yards-per-rush. He already has four touchdowns through just three games, and the rest of the team has three more with one having come from Huntley. Huntley’s 99 yards rank No. 2 on the team, and he has as many attempts (17) as No. 2 back Jordan Wilmore.
USC
USC is 2-1 after its week 3 loss to BYU on the road. It won Week 1 31-23 over Fresno State and it defeated then-No. 23 Stanford 45-20 in Week 2. Last week, it simply found itself an overtime loser as BYU intercepted a tipped pass and it led to a 43-yard field goal by the Cougars.
Kedon Slovis had his struggles. Though he threw 24 of 34 for completion and amassed 281 yards, he threw three interceptions to his two touchdowns, finishing with a lowly 54.0 passer rating. Vavae Malepeai rushed 23 times for 96 yards, with one touchdown, and Markese Stepp rushed nine times for 53 yards. Slovis rushed four times for a net gain of zero. The Trojans rushed 45 times in all at an average of 3.8 yards-per-carry, but it managed just three touchdowns in the game, while putting together a 452-yard total offense effort. Michael Pittman Jr., Tyler Vaughns, and Erik Krommenhoek all caught for 60-yards or better on the game, and USC averaged 11.7 yards-per-catch. The defense did also allow 299 passing yards to BYU while giving up 3.3 yards-per-carry on 40 rushing attempts.
Slovis is a freshman quarterback from Scottsdale, Arizona. He has thrown 58 for 75 on the season, or 77.3 percent. But those three interceptions make up three of four on the year, and he is averaging under 10 yards per completion. His passer rating is still an outstanding 168.7, and he has thus far done a decent job of avoiding sacks. He was sacked twice by BYU in the loss, but just once in the Week 2 victory and not at all in Week 1.
Slovis will have to avoid costly mistakes in a game that sees the Trojans as underdogs. If he can avoid the sacks and interceptions, the Trojans might be able to eat into that 4-point favorite to cover the spread or even win SU.
