USC Trojans Collide With Stanford Cardinal

By: Matty Simo | Thursday, September 13, 2012

USC at Stanford College Football Betting Preview
Date: 9/15/2012 at 7:30 p.m. (ET)
Opening Lines: USC -9, O/U 60
(click for latest odds)

USC Trojans: This is a huge revenge game for the Trojans (2-0 straight up, 0-2 against the spread), who lost three straight games to Stanford with NFL top overall pick Andrew Luck under center for the Cardinal. USC is just 1-4 ATS in the past five meetings since winning 42-0 in Palo Alto back in 2006 with the ‘over’ cashing in the last four overall. However, the Trojans have not been very impressive in their first two games this season despite the fact that star QB Matt Barkley returned for his senior year. They are coming off a 42-29 win over Syracuse last Saturday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey with Barkley throwing six touchdown passes but just 187 yards through the air.

Stanford Cardinal: The Cardinal (2-0 SU, 1-1 ATS) survived a 20-17 scare from San Jose State in their season opener but rebounded to rout Duke 50-13 last week. They will be playing their third home game in row before heading to Washington in two weeks when they will begin a stretch of three road games in a month. Stanford will likely rely on its strong running game again in this year’s meeting with USC, as senior RB Stepfan Taylor has totaled 203 yards on the ground and three touchdowns in the past two combined. New QB Josh Nunes threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns against the Blue Devils last Saturday after totaling 125 yards and one score in his first career start a week earlier. The Cardinal is 5-0 ATS in their last five as home underdogs but the road team is 6-1 ATS in the past seven meetings.

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