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In the first game of the season for USC football, they get a hapless Rice team at home. Rice has mostly been a bottom feeder even by C-USA standards, but they got to 4-8 last year. Yet, with a -15 point differential per game, it isn’t like the Owls are going to be able to improve much (or at all) on that.
They’ll try to control the clock, but USC should be ahead by at least four touchdowns at half and should cruise to an easy win.
Record: 1-0
For their conference opener, the Trojans head up the coast to take on Stanford.
The Cardinal went 3-9 last year, and chief among the problems was defense. Stanford gave up 453 yards of offense a game, including 238 of it on the ground. It isn’t going to get any better, given Stanford’s switch to a four-down scheme, combined with the lack of experience.
Despite losing last year to Stanford, USC should roll mighty hard in this game, winning by many touchdowns.
Record: 2-0, 1-0 Pac-12