USC vs Utah State Prediction, Game Preview, and Betting Lines

Wait, so USC is now really good at football again?

The program went from seemingly being on the verge of firing head coach Lincoln Riley, to now being an apparent lock for the College Football Playoff after a 27-20 thriller over LSU.

Oh sure, it’s fun now, but after dealing with Utah State the Trojans get …

At Michigan, Wisconsin, at Minnesota, Penn State, at Maryland.

Utah State did a nice job in the first game under head coach Nate Dreiling in a 36-14 win over Robert Morris. USC is a little bit better than the Colonials.

USC vs Utah State Preview

USC vs Utah State How to Watch
Date: Saturday, September 7, 2024
Game Time: 11:00 pm ET
Venue: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
How to Watch: Big Ten Network
USC (1-0), Utah State (1-0)
- Week 2 Schedule, Predictions
Bowl Projections | CFN Rankings
5 Underrated | 5 Overrated
5 Top Week 1 Takeaways
Heisman Race & Top 10 Players

Why Utah State Will Win

You want to talk about the biggest of sandwich games, try this one with bag of chips, a cookie, and a drink - no refills - for just $10.

Not only does USC have a short week after the massive win, but there’s no way, no how, no chance this bunch doesn’t already have Michigan on the brain.

Utah State has enough of a passing game to be a problem.

It ran for over 300 yards on Robert Morris, but close to 350 passing yards out of the combination of Spencer Petras and Bryson Barnes, and now they’ll all put that newfound USC defense to the test.

However …

Why USC Will Win

Ten penalties, one turnover.

USC won on some great pitching and catching from QB Miller Moss to a boatload of targets, but it was also helped in a huge way by LSU royally screwing up with ill-timed penalties.

Utah State blasted Robert Morris for close to 650 yards, but ten penalties, three turnovers, and way, way, WAY too many third down misfires kept this from being a bigger wipeout than it was.

USC vs Utah State: Who Will Win

Robert Morris QB Anthony Chiccitt wasn’t bad. He and Zach Tanner kept pressing, and they kept moving the chains a bit. It wasn’t close to being enough, though.

Miller Moss and the USC passing game will take target practice, the ground attack will show up this week, and that defense that found ways to dial up just enough pressure to matter will bother the Utah State backfield.

USC vs Utah State Prediction, Betting Lines

USC 48, Utah State 19
Line: USC -28.5, o/u: 63.5
ATS Confidence out of 5: 2.5
USC vs Utah State Must See Rating: 2

CFN Expert Picks, Week 2
BYU at SMU | Duke at NW
Texas at Mich | Iowa St at Iowa
S Carolina at UK | Mich St at MD
USF at Bama | Kansas at Illinois
WMU at Ohio St | Tenn at NC St
Colorado at Neb | Houston at OU
Boise St at Oregon | TTech at Wash St
Miss St at ASU | Utah State at USC