USC Football: Preview, prediction, live stream vs. Utah in Week 7

USC football will look to build its Pac-12 resume with a victory over Utah on Saturday. Here’s everything you need to know.

USC football will look to put their Week 5 loss to Washington State even further behind them with a win over Utah. However, the Utes won’t take a second straight loss easily, setting this up to be one of the top games of the week.

With Utah being ranked 24th prior to to last week’s home loss to Stanford, it’s hard to call this one a trap game. However, USC is considered by many to be heavy favorites in this game, leaving the Utes hungry for revenge after being on the wrong end of an upset a week ago.

If statistics won football games, this one would come down to the wire. The Trojans currently rank 17 spots ahead of Utah in points scored, while the Utes rank 23 spots head in points allowed. While USC’s strength of schedule has been greater so far, it’s hard to fault the Utes for beating the teams in front of them.

Head coaches Clay Helton and Kyle Whittingham will both have their teams playing at their highest levels given the fact that a loss removes either team from playoff contention.

Here’s how to watch it all go down this Saturday:

Date: Saturday, Oct. 14
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
Venue: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
TV: ABC
Live Stream: ABC Live Stream or WatchESPN

Keys to Victory

The key to victory for the Trojans is in the turnover battle. Their lone loss to Washington State was a product of quarterback Sam Darnold’s two crucial turnovers. USC is the better team and the score should reflect that as long as the Trojans limit Utah’s opportunities. Utah proved perfectly capable of shooting itself in the foot last week, throwing two late interceptions in a close contest.

On the other hand, Utah’s best bet is to establish the run game early. Considering the competition, USC’s run defense has been fairly stringent this season. With the Utes most confident running the ball after the injury to quarterback Tyler Huntley, a threatening run game will help open things up for an experienced Troy Williams.

While the Trojans certainly have the upper hand in this one, a Utah upset isn’t too far from reality. However, USC is superior in the talent category and a mistake-free game likely results in victory.

Prediction

After shutting down Heisman candidate Bryce Love for an entire half, the Utes will look for a similar performance against Darnold. USC will only go as far as Darnold will take them, but that’s a risk they’ve clearly been willing to take. Utah’s defense hasn’t proven completely capable of taking advantage of opponents’ mistakes, but a few from USC makes this a much more manageable game.

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However, the chances of Utah beating out the Trojans in the turnover battle remain quite slim. Utah’s Troy Williams was replaced by Huntley for a reason, and his two interceptions against Stanford made that ever so clear. A Huntley-led Utah offense likely makes this a closer game, but a more dominant Trojan team puts this one away at home.

Final Score: Utah 17, USC 30