Stanford Stadium – Stanford, CA
Kickoff: Saturday, 8:00 p.m. ET
Line: Stanford -9.0, Total: 53.0

#7 Stanford will be looking to beat USC for a third straight time when the teams meet at Stanford Stadium on Saturday.

USC was absolutely embarrassed in the season opener, losing 52-6 as a 13.5-point underdog against #1 Alabama. The Trojans went into that one thinking they could keep it close at the very least, but that was not the case. They picked up only 194 yards of total offense and could not stop the Crimson Tide either. USC did, however, win 45-7 as a 16-point favorite against Utah State last week. The team desperately needed a win like that, as it needed some confidence heading into this matchup. #7 Stanford is a title contender once again this year. The Cardinal won their first game 26-13 as 11.5-point favorites against Kansas State and will be hoping to smother USC’s offense on Saturday. Stanford has gotten the best of this head-to-head series recently, as the team won 41-22 as a 4.5-point road favorite against USC in the final regular season game of the 2015 season and 41-31 as a 9.5-point road underdog in the third game of that same year. Stanford will also be feeling very confident coming into this one, as the team is 16-6 ATS when playing on a grass field over the past three seasons. USC has a trend working in its favor as well, as road underdogs of 3.5 to 10 points are 36-10 ATS since 1992 in the first month of the season when the team had a winning record last season and closed out the year with two or more consecutive losses. RB Ronald Jones (Ribs) got banged up for the Trojans last game, but he is expected to play in this one on Saturday.

After an embarrassing effort against Alabama, head coach Clay Helton decided to roll with two quarterbacks against Utah State last week. Both Max Browne and Sam Darnold saw action under center and they both played rather well in the game. Browne completed 23-of-30 passes for 182 yards, two touchdowns and a pick in the game and Darnold was 5-for-7 with 62 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Darnold took over for Browne when the team got to the red zone and it should be expected that USC will be playing both guys once again in this one. No matter who is throwing the ball for the Trojans, WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (8 rec, 65 yards, 2 TD) is going to need to be involved in the offense. After having just one catch for nine yards against Alabama, Smith-Schuster had seven catches for 56 yards and two touchdowns against Utah State. This is a guy that had 89 receptions for 1,454 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2015 and should be in for yet another huge season. It’s also very possible he has big game against a Stanford team that happened to allow quite a few big passing plays against Kansas State in its opener. Defensively, it’s going to be all about stopping Christian McCaffrey in this one. If USC can find a way to slow down the Heisman Trophy frontrunner then the team just might pull off a huge upset on Saturday.

Stanford has one of the most balanced teams in the nation and it’s very difficult to imagine the Cardinal losing to USC on Saturday. RB Christian McCaffrey (126 yards, 2 TD) torched the Trojans the last time these teams met, rushing for 207 yards and a touchdown and also adding four receptions for 105 yards and a score in the passing game. McCaffrey is the most versatile weapon in all of college football and it should come as a surprise to nobody if he is to break away for a touchdown on a punt return or kickoff return on Saturday as well. Defensively, the main focus for Stanford will be to shut down JuJu Smith-Schuster. The Cardinal cannot afford to let USC gain confidence with big plays through the air and Smith-Schuster is capable of breaking away from his defenders at any moment. Stanford did, however, hold the highly touted Byron Pringle to just one catch for 14 yards in the win over Kansas State in the season opener. If the Cardinal can bring that same focus into this game then this one should be a blowout. It also helps that Stanford had a bye last week, as they are going to be well rested and had more time to prepare for the Trojans.