College Football: 5 bold predictions for the 2021 season

1. Clay Helton stays at USC

Though the USC Trojans do not win the Pac-12 this season, Clay Helton keeps his job. Both Graham Harrell and Todd Orlando have another season with their perspective units with a full spring and summer offseason.

It will not be Helton’s ridiculous buyout number or USC’s fiscal woes due to COVID-19, though the Trojans’ athletic department was a fiscal mess after Lynn Swann’s firing. Money will not be the reason Clay Helton keeps his job and possibly gets an extension; it will be winning.

The Trojans did go 5-1 last season, though they lost in the Pac-12 Championship Game to Oregon. The two previous seasons were mediocre going a combined 13-12. This season, however, the Trojans get back to the conference title game.

The Trojans’ schedule shakes out, Notre Dame is likely the only game they will not be favored, and they travel to Tempe to play Arizona State. Other than those two games (Utah could be tough depending on how well Charlie Brewer adapts to the offense) the Trojans have the better roster.

All points lead to the Trojans heading to the title game undefeated against the Ducks.

Not only will the Trojans win ten games for the first time since 2017, but USC has also upped the ante in their recruiting. Landing number one overall player Korey Foreman was important not only for USC’s profile but also for the Pac-12.

After a 2020 cycle where the Trojans finished ranked 64th in recruiting, USC finished seventh in 2021. In addition to signing Foreman, Helton and the Trojans locked up two top-100 quarterbacks, Jaxon Dart and Miller Moss. Look for an improved roster to separate themselves from the rest of the Pac-12 this fall.

With a ten-win season and improved recruiting, it will be hard to get Helton out of Los Angeles.