College Football Game of the Week: No. 7 USC vs. No. 16 UCLA
This week two of the best teams from the Pac-12 face off in a game that should be full of offensive fireworks. This is one of the most famous rivalries in all of college football. USC leads the all time series 49-33-7. In their last 10 matchups the teams have split, both going 5-5. Last year however, UCLA won 62-33 but this USC team looks a lot different from last years.
No. 7 USC (9-1)
The new look Trojans have been an offensive juggernaut this year led by new Head Coach Lincoln Riley and superstar quarterback Caleb Williams.
They are averaging 42 points-per-game, which is third most in college football, behind an absolutely loaded offense. Williams has thrown 31 touchdowns to only two interceptions while targeting one of college football’s best wide receivers in Jordan Addison.
One huge loss for USC is star running back Travis Dye, who is out for the year after suffering a leg injury last week versus Colorado. However, Stanford transfer Austin Jones finished the game with 11 carries for 74 yards, and Caleb Williams has elite running ability for a quarterback.
The glaring problem with this team, especially in the past couple of weeks, is the defense. They are 88th in college football in yards-per-game allowed at 394 yards-per-game.
The past four games they have allowed 33 points-per-game, including a 43-42 loss to Utah, in which Utah gained 562 total yards and Cameron Rising rushed for a touchdown and the two point conversion with 48 seconds left to win.
No. 16 UCLA (8-2)
UCLA has a star-powered offense averaging 39 points-per-game, which is 11th best in college football. They also have compiled the fifth most yards-per-game, with 504 yards.
The offense is led by breakout dual-threat quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson, who has thrown 20 touchdowns and run for another seven and star running back Zach Charbonnet, who has 1,145 rushing yards and 13 rushing touchdowns on an insane 7.5 yards-per-carry.
Bruins Coach Chip Kelly has bounced back after a couple of rough early seasons at UCLA, and is looking like the coach he was at Oregon.
But just like USC, UCLA also has a below-average defense that just gave up 34 points to a 3-6 Arizona team in an upset loss, and allowed 45 points to Oregon in their other loss. And for the season, the Bruins have allowed 26.4 points-per-game, which ranks 70th.
Prediction:
These are two of the best offenses in all of college football and both teams have lackluster defenses that have been their weakness all year. I expect this to be a shootout with the team that gets the ball last winning.
USC:42 UCLA:38
Aaron Jurkowitz is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ahj5136@psu.edu.
