What to look for in the USC-ASU game..
General -Both teams are 2-1, with USC beating 2 Sun Belt teams (Arkansas St and Idaho) handily And ASU beating one SBC team (New Mexico State) handily and 1 FCS team (Cal Poly) moderately. USC lost to Stanford by 10 at home and ASU lost at Texas A&M by 18. Sagarin (it’s early) ranks USC 6th with an SOS of 79 and ASU at 49 with an SOS of 74. The Vegas guys have USC a 5 ½ point favorite and Sagarin's predictor has USC by 15.
Offense- USC has performed pretty much as expected (558 ypg), except for 3rd down conversions. And at 31 points they should have beaten Stanford. ASU at 28.7 ppg (down down 8ppg) has underperformed Ok (425 ypg) against 1 good and 2 lesser teams. ASU has some very good talent but lost experience at QB (T. Kelly), WR (J. Strong) and both tackles. Kelly could run and was the third leading rusher for ASU last year. Bercovici is good, especially on short passes but seems to lose accuracy beyond 10 yards past the scrimmage line this year) He has an almost sidearm delivery. His offense lost a weapon in Jaelen Strong, and DJ foster moved (at times) to WR and UCLA’s Devin Lucien (transferred in. These and Running back Demario Richard are the primary receivers. In rushing it’s pretty much D Richard. In their last game Bercovici did run more from QB and that was a problem for USC vs. Hogan, But SC should put pressure on Bercovici up the middle, and he often will throw it away, ASU has given up 11 sacks in 3 games. Advantage: USC and it could be significant.
Defense -ASU (giving up 23 ppg and 350ypg) returned 9 starters and should be tough but are still finding their identity. They have 7 sacks to date. Two things I noticed was that getting to the outside almost insured the opponents a 5-10 yard gain and that once past a good Dline the backfield missed their first tackle more often than not. USC has its problems but I don’t see the ASU defense as a smash mouth team, more of swarm to the ball. Their D shouldn’t be overlooked but can be scored on and they haven’t faced a real balanced O yet. Advantage: ASU moderately.
Special Teams-USC has some dynamic return men and Punter Albarado leads in Net punting. ASU's punter is pretty good but their PK, as well as USCs , is generally unproven. However ASU has not have a FG past a 24 yard kick and he missed one inside a 29 yard kick range. Advantage USC, and it could be big.
Coaching- OK Todd Graham is a good coach and beat Sark at UW and USC last year. However that game last year was a poorly played hail Mary, and USC actually outplayed them until the last minute of the game. USC didn’t close the deal. Still, a win in a win. Advantage: ASU
Intangibles: The revenge factor for USC. The home team advantage for ASU. Advantage: even
Forecast-USC is humming On O, troubled by a tough team on D. ASU looks like it hasn’t found its identity yet on either side of the ball. With USC runners and long range receivers I see this as major advantage. I’m picking USC in a nailbiter.35-31.
General -Both teams are 2-1, with USC beating 2 Sun Belt teams (Arkansas St and Idaho) handily And ASU beating one SBC team (New Mexico State) handily and 1 FCS team (Cal Poly) moderately. USC lost to Stanford by 10 at home and ASU lost at Texas A&M by 18. Sagarin (it’s early) ranks USC 6th with an SOS of 79 and ASU at 49 with an SOS of 74. The Vegas guys have USC a 5 ½ point favorite and Sagarin's predictor has USC by 15.
Offense- USC has performed pretty much as expected (558 ypg), except for 3rd down conversions. And at 31 points they should have beaten Stanford. ASU at 28.7 ppg (down down 8ppg) has underperformed Ok (425 ypg) against 1 good and 2 lesser teams. ASU has some very good talent but lost experience at QB (T. Kelly), WR (J. Strong) and both tackles. Kelly could run and was the third leading rusher for ASU last year. Bercovici is good, especially on short passes but seems to lose accuracy beyond 10 yards past the scrimmage line this year) He has an almost sidearm delivery. His offense lost a weapon in Jaelen Strong, and DJ foster moved (at times) to WR and UCLA’s Devin Lucien (transferred in. These and Running back Demario Richard are the primary receivers. In rushing it’s pretty much D Richard. In their last game Bercovici did run more from QB and that was a problem for USC vs. Hogan, But SC should put pressure on Bercovici up the middle, and he often will throw it away, ASU has given up 11 sacks in 3 games. Advantage: USC and it could be significant.
Defense -ASU (giving up 23 ppg and 350ypg) returned 9 starters and should be tough but are still finding their identity. They have 7 sacks to date. Two things I noticed was that getting to the outside almost insured the opponents a 5-10 yard gain and that once past a good Dline the backfield missed their first tackle more often than not. USC has its problems but I don’t see the ASU defense as a smash mouth team, more of swarm to the ball. Their D shouldn’t be overlooked but can be scored on and they haven’t faced a real balanced O yet. Advantage: ASU moderately.
Special Teams-USC has some dynamic return men and Punter Albarado leads in Net punting. ASU's punter is pretty good but their PK, as well as USCs , is generally unproven. However ASU has not have a FG past a 24 yard kick and he missed one inside a 29 yard kick range. Advantage USC, and it could be big.
Coaching- OK Todd Graham is a good coach and beat Sark at UW and USC last year. However that game last year was a poorly played hail Mary, and USC actually outplayed them until the last minute of the game. USC didn’t close the deal. Still, a win in a win. Advantage: ASU
Intangibles: The revenge factor for USC. The home team advantage for ASU. Advantage: even
Forecast-USC is humming On O, troubled by a tough team on D. ASU looks like it hasn’t found its identity yet on either side of the ball. With USC runners and long range receivers I see this as major advantage. I’m picking USC in a nailbiter.35-31.
