There’s been a ton of buzz around the CFB community lately (as there often is this time every year), whether it be the demand of respect for those that are underrated, or the theories regarding what the heck is going on in the SEC.
But, through it all, one of the few gems that everyone outside of the AP voter pool seems to agree on is how overrated USC has looked all season long.
No big wins in non-conference play, a struggle win over Rutgers, a convincing loss to an Oregon that wasn’t even its healthiest, and another struggle win over a Washington that has also failed the nation on a weekly basis. That’s all the Trojans have under their belt, yet they sit proudly in the top 20 today. Meanwhile, it’s mayhem underneath them as more-proven teams are trying their best to get/stay ranked at all.
This has all of USC’s haters hoping for one thing: that the Trojans soon get exposed to a degree so gross that they must fall out of the rankings once and—preferably—for all. Luckily for said haters, that chance could very well come through the next game up.
This Saturday will have USC riding into Happy Valley to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions, a team already victimized by harsh exposure via some run-ins with Wisconsin and Northwestern. Don’t let that lead-in fool you though, as there is far more to these names than meets the eye.
With wins being all that have followed them since a Week 1 loss to Notre Dame, the Wisconsin Badgers have heard many calls to be ranked. The same can be said for Northwestern, as the Wildcats have not one, but two P4 blowouts outside of their tight loss at Indiana.
Losing to guys with those résumés may mean that the Nittany Lions are far from great, but does it mean they’re confirmed terrible? No, you can’t say so, just like you can’t say that PSU’s struggles lessen the monumental task of traveling across the country and winning on its infamous turf.
This approach would have my eyes peeled for an upset regardless of where USC’s issues resided, but especially with them being on defense, the chances of Penn State punching harder than expected feel colossal, as its flaws have been more offense-based, as seen against Wisconsin, Northwestern, and even Temple.
So here’s the situation: USC football hasn’t looked the part virtually all season, and now the Trojans have to travel all the way to Penn State with a defense so bad that the Nittany Lions’ pitiful offense could legitimately have its best day in weeks. That rings like another questionable win for USC at best, and a potentially season-derailing exposé at worst.
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