USC Football: Trojans must post impressive win over Texas
USC Football meets a struggling Texas team in a game that has taken on additional importance for both squads. Which challenged team wins?
The USC Trojans got off to a hot start under freshman quarterback JT Daniels in a 43-21 win over the UNLV Rebels but caught a snag last week against Stanford. They looked better on defense, holding KJ Costello to 183 passing yards but allowed 136 yards to Bryce Love in the process.
Daniels has looked pretty solid but has shown his inexperience from time to time which is hard to mask when the running game isn’t quite defined by anyone. The California quarterback injured his hand last week but isn’t going to miss any extended playing time.
Texas’ began the year very similar to last season by losing to Maryland. But, they did pick up a win in a close game against Tulsa (a win is a win I suppose). The Longhorns have entrusted their passing game with Sam Ehlinger who has played hard for the ‘Horns since he relieved Shane Buechele a season ago and even led their 2017 squad in rushing yards.
The ground game is precisely the problem however with a hope of a consistent ground game getting put on hold with Keaontay Ingram‘s injury slowing up his progress. Can Texas finally get the big win under Tom Herman?
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With all this in mind, let’s look into some Trojans-Longhorns football.
Date: Saturday, September 15, 2018
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Location: Austin, Texas
Venue: Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium
TV: Fox
Live Stream: FoxSportsGo | FUBO TV
Players to Watch
USC
- QB, JT Daniels
- WR’s, Tyler Vaughns and Amon-Ra St. Brown
- LB, Cameron Smith
- RB’s, Aca’Cedric Ware and Stephen Carr
- DB, Iman Marshall
Texas
- QB, Sam Ehlinger
- WR’s, Lil’Jordan Humphrey and Collin Johnson
- S, PJ Locke III
- LB, Anthony Wheeler
- RB, Tre Watson
Keys to Victory
The Trojans and the Longhorns both have fairly similar keys to victory.
If USC wants to win this one, they first need to stop the run. Tre Watson isn’t exactly a Heisman candidate in the backfield, but he’s better than anything that the Horns had last season. USC has allowed exactly 136 yards to both Lexington Thomas and Bryce Love in the past two games respectively and they can’t allow Texas to establish a ground game.
Secondly, they need to get their own ground game established. JT Daniels is coming along but he’s not quite the superstar quarterback that Sam Darnold was yet. Get some guys going on the ground and take the pressure of your Freshman quarterback so he can make plays through the air.
The Longhorns also need to establish a ground game. Keaontay Ingram is likely to see little to no action this week after an injury against Tulsa and Tre Watson is going to have to be the breadwinner in the backfield. USC’s run defense is incredibly relaxed and Sam Ehlinger shouldn’t have to carry the whole team to victory when it’s just that easy to run.
Texas must also pressure JT Daniels. If the Longhorns can make Daniels make mistakes, they stand a good chance of going 2-1 and getting back on the right track.
Betting Odds
Points Spread: Texas -3.5
Over/Under: 47
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Prediction
This one could very easily go either way. Sam Ehlinger could play at his best and earn the victory and JT Daniels could get into a rhythm similar to the end of the UNLV game and carve up the Longhorns secondary. I’m going to go with the experience here and pick the ‘Horns. Texas may not be proven on defense, but the talent is there and head coach Tom Herman knows how to win big games. Sam Ehlinger takes Texas to 2-1 before they start conference play against TCU.
Final Score: Texas 28 – USC 17