Saturday Blitz
Fansided

College Football 2017: New Year’s Six projections after Week 4

By Andrew Hammond

TUSCALOOSA, AL - SEPTEMBER 16: Calvin Ridley
TUSCALOOSA, AL - SEPTEMBER 16: Calvin Ridley /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
5 of 6
Next
PASADENA, CA – JANUARY 02: An aerial view prior to the 2017 Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual between the USC Trojans and the Penn State Nittany Lions at the Rose Bowl on January 2, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Tournament of Roses – Pool/Getty Images)
PASADENA, CA – JANUARY 02: An aerial view prior to the 2017 Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual between the USC Trojans and the Penn State Nittany Lions at the Rose Bowl on January 2, 2017 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Tournament of Roses – Pool/Getty Images) /

Rose Bowl (Playoff No.1)

Rose Bowl (Playoff No. 1): Oklahoma vs. USC
Where: Rose Bowl Stadium (Pasadena, Calif.)
When: Jan. 1, 2018, at 4:30 p.m. ET on ESPN
Last week’s projection: Oklahoma vs. USC

The Sooners are off this week and USC travels to Washington State. While Oklahoma tackles the always difficult bye week, USC takes their second of three tough road tests this season. Washington State has already beaten Boise State and has more than enough firepower to take down USC. As the Trojans have gone through this season, the offense has been consistently good and the defense has been well, consistently bad.

Not the recipe if you want to make it to the playoff.

A loss for USC wouldn’t be the end of the world but I won’t make it any secret that right now, of the potential playoff teams it is the Trojans who are most vulnerable. With Penn State, Wisconsin and Washington each playing much better since the start of the season, in some cases I’ve got go with the hot hand and that belongs to those schools.

Week 5 Impact: For the Trojans to maintain their spot in the playoff, they will need to be impressive against Washington State. They don’t have to blow out the Cougars but at least show me and the nation that they are worthy enough of playing in the playoff. They’ve showed it at various times this season, for an entire four quarters would be a refreshing change. 

Home/College Football News