USC will make their home debut on Saturday night and they are big favorites in NCAA betting against Virginia. The Trojans offense was very good in their opener against Hawaii but the defense was poor. The defense may not get tested much on Saturday night in college football betting by a poor Virginia squad. USC is a 19.5 point favorite with a total of 51 at Sbg global.com. The Trojans should be able to score points on Saturday night. The question you have to answer is whether they can get enough stops to cover the point spread.
Rotten USC Defense – The USC defense was gouged for 588 yards in their opener against Hawaii. The Trojans won 49-36 but they did not cover the spread. Quarterback Matt Barkley threw for five touchdowns, completing 18 of 23 passes for 257 yards. Wide receiver Ronald Johnson had three touchdown catches. The running game was even good with Marc Tyler who had 154 yards and a TD on 17 carries.
Virginia is an Unknown – The Cavaliers have a new head coach this season in Mike London who took over after Al Groh was fired after going 3-9 last season. The Cavaliers won 34-13 last week against Richmond but that doesn’t tell us anything since Richmond is not even a Division 1 team.
Senior Keith Payne got 114 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries. The Cavaliers quarterback Marc Verica played well last week as he went 24 of 35 passes for 283 yards and a touchdown.
Only One Previous Meeting – Virginia and USC have only met once before and that was two years ago when Virginia got slaughtered 52-7.
NCAA Betting Stats – The Trojans have won their last 12 home openers. The Cavaliers are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 road games. The Trojans are 25-9 ATS in their last 34 non-conference games. The Trojans are 2-7 ATS in their last 9 games overall. The Trojans are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games in September. If you like to play totals, the Over is 7-0 in the Cavaliers last 7 non-conference games. The under is 7-2 in the Trojans last 9 games in September. The under is 20-7-1 in the Trojans last 28 home games.