The Utah Utes are the favorites of fans betting on college football to beat a down on their luck USC Trojans on Friday, September 23rd at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. Here are the NCAA football betting odds for the game:
USC +1½ (-110) +105
Utah -1½ (-110) -125
The Utes are 3-0 after defeating the San Jose Spartans 34-17 in week 3. It was a sack fest in San Jose, as the Spartans’ QBs got sacked ten times by eight different Utah players. The Utes came back from behind on two occasions thanks to a few explosive plays in the first half and a superior running game in the second. Utah entered the red zone twice in the first half but were forced to settle for field goals until freshman Zack Moss rolled for a 51-yard run into the Spartans red zone that Troy McCormick capped off with a 16-yard dash. The Utes led 13-10 when senior defensive back Reggie Porter’s interception late in the first half set up a 74-yard scoring drive. Junior quarterback Troy Williams hit senior wide receiver Tim Patrick with a 54-yard completion to the 9, and then connected with Patrick again with a 4-yard touchdown pass with 15 seconds remaining in the half. Williams finished 20 of 28 for 257 passing yards.
Trojans fans betting on college football and holding out hope that USC would go on a national championship run this season might have had that hope dashed for good following their 10-27 loss to No. 7 Stanford in week 3. The Trojans are 1-2 after being brutalized 52-6 by No. 1 Alabama in the season opener. In good theory, USC could still win the PAC 12 – though in order to do that they would have to thwart their nemesis Stanford – but no team with two losses has been selected for the College Football Playoff in its two years of existence. The Trojans started the regular season ranked 20th in the AP Fall, but have since fallen by the wayside.
People betting on college can expect the Utes to try and use their momentum as well as USC’s own lassitude to exact a measure of revenge on the Trojans – which upset then-No. 3 Utah 42-24 last season. That was head coach Clay Helton’s first win with the program after taking over from Steve Sarkisian. Helton is a disciple of Lane Kiffin, but Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham is more experienced and surrounds himself with a dependable staff. The Utes have a Cody Barton-led defense that can put pressure in the pocket and force turnovers. Moreover, in a pinch, kicker Andy Phillips can nail a game-winning field goal. The only edge that the Trojans have on the Utes is in offense, where they have one of the best WRs in NCAA football in juju Smith-Schuster. The only problem is that QB Max Browne has had trouble getting the ball to Smith-Schuster. And even if Browne and Smith-Schuster are more in sync, Utah will see to it that the wide receiver will spend a lot of time in front of the secondary.
