USC football looks to start playoff run with win over Arizona State

USC football looks to start season off on right foot with a win against talented and well coached Arizona State team in Week 10.

After a long wait, the Pac-12 will finally begin play this Saturday and will also do so at an unusual start time. The conference is experimenting a little this season and will be having games at noon eastern time, which means that USC and Arizona State will be playing at 9 a.m. pacific time on Saturday.

I don’t know how much this will affect the game but due to it never being done before, it will be an interesting subplot to a matchup between the two favorites in the South division in the Pac 12.

USC is one of the most experienced teams in the country on both sides of the ball and are looking to ride that experience all the way to the Pac-12 championship game and possibly even a playoff berth. The offense should be very explosive, with the return of quarterback Kedon Slovis and a receiving corps that includes Tyler Vaughns and Amon-Ra St. Brown. The offensive line is missing two starters, but USC should be fine with so much experience surrounding them.

The USC defense needs to be much better than last season, as they were one of the worst units in the conference and in the country. Head coach Clay Helton hired ex-Texas defensive coordinator Todd Orlando to help out with that unit and with so many young and talented players returning, USC should be much improved on that side of the ball.

Arizona State has Pac-12 title hopes of their own as well. Quarterback Jayden Daniels is going to see what he can do for an encore after after a great true freshman season in which he threw 17 touchdown passes and only two interceptions. Daniels will have to be even better this season without stars like running back Eno Benjamin and wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk. The defense should be solid, but will be a young unit, much like the rest of the team.

Here is how you can watch USC vs. Arizona State on Saturday.

Date: Saturday, Nov. 7
Time: 12:00 p.m ET
Venue: LA Memorial Coliseum
Location: Los Angeles, Calif.
TV: FOX
Live Stream: FOX Sports GO or FuboTV

Keys to Victory

For the USC offense, the offensive line is the most interesting unit. They struggled in pass protection at times and thus, the running game suffered. Arizona State should be solid in the front seven and being able to hold up up front will dictate how well the USC offense does.

For the USC defense, getting pressure and containing Daniels has to be the top priority. He is a dual-threat that can hurt you on the ground and through the air and making sure you minimize what he does will be the biggest key.

For the Arizona State offense, finding new contributors to replace guys like Benjamin and Aiyuk and being able to take pressure off of Daniels is a must early on. The Sun Devils have talent at both positions, but are very young and unproven. USC was not a good defense last year and Daniels has a chance to put up big numbers, but he will need the talent around him to make plays in critical situations.

For the Arizona State defense, getting pressure on Slovis and knocking him off of his rhythm is crucial. USC offensive coordinator Graham Harrell’s air raid offense is about rhythm and getting the ball out quickly and knocking Slovis off of his mark is the best way to slow a talented offense down. The Sun Devils secondary has quite the task in front of them facing these USC receivers.

Betting Odds

Odds provided courtesy of The Action Network

Spread: USC -11
Over/Under: 56.5

Prediction

I think this is shaping up to be a special season for USC. The Pac-12 gave them a very favorable schedule and if the Trojans can capitalize, they could be a sneaky team to watch for a playoff spot. The offense has loads of talent and are experienced and the defense should be better. Arizona State has a lot of new starters in key areas and despite the playmaking ability of a guy like Daniels, I think that USC will be too much for the Sun Devils at home.

Final Score: USC 42, Arizona State 20