NCAA Football Odds: Hawaii hosts USC

Lane Kiffin begins his USC coaching career Thursday night in Hawaii.

The Lane Kiffin era begins on Thursday night at USC takes on Hawaii in a college football betting game that can be seen on ESPN.  It should be a high-scoring contest with USC moving at will against a poor Hawaii defense while the Warriors have a high-powered offense that could put some points on the board.

USC is a 21½-point favorite with a 'total' of 54 at SBG Global.

USC still has a lot of talent but the NCAA sanctions are already taking their toll. USC did not practice nearly as much heading up to this game because they didn’t want to risk injury.  The Trojans don’t have a lot of depth and that could be an issue late in this betting contest.

Southern Cal will be led on offense by Matt Barkley who threw for 2,735 yards and 15 TDs as a true freshman. The talent surrounding him is really unknown. The Trojans have Ronald Johnson who has a lot of speed at receiver, but a lot of youth at the other positions.  The defense for the Trojans should be solid with Monte Kiffin as defensive coordinator but this is not the USC defense of past seasons. The Trojans are not going to totally shut opponents down.

Hawaii was 14th in the country in total offense a year ago and the Warriors should be able to move the ball against USC.  Hawaii’s starting quarterback is Bryant Moniz who had a very good year for the Warriors after becoming the starting quarterback in October.  He threw for 2,396 yards and 14 touchdowns with 10 interceptions.  The Hawaii receivers are good ones as Greg Salas and Kealoha Phares combined for 172 catches last year.

USC leads the all-time NCAA football betting series against Hawaii 6-0. They have scored more than 60 points in the last three meetings against the Warriors. The Trojans are 22-7 ATS in their last 29 non-conference games but the Trojans are 1-4 ATS in their last five games in September and they are just 1-8 ATS in their last nine road games.

The Warriors are 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games in September. The Warriors are 2-5 ATS in their last seven home games. The Warriors are 3-9 ATS in their last 12 versus the Pac-10.

The 'over' is 4-1 in the Trojans last five versus the WAC. The 'under' is 5-2 in the Trojans last seven road games. The 'under' is 7-3 in the Warriors last 10 games overall.