With the 2015 NCAA FB Regular Season moving into Week # 4 we take this opportunity to preview a Pac-12 rivalry game between the No. 19 Trojans of Southern Cal playing at the Sun Devils of Arizona State on Saturday the 26th of September 2015 with the game played at the Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona with the kick-off scheduled for a late 10:35 PM ET.
The opening odds at the SBG sportsbook for those that Bet on College football, have the Trojans of USC favored at -5 ½ and -220 on the Money Line, while the underdog Sun Devils of Arizona State are +5 ½ and +180 on ML with no early Totals available.
The Trojans were unable to win their first conference game this past Saturday as they lost the game to another Pac-12 rival the Cardinals of Stanford. We wonder how the outcome for the Sun Devils will be in this Pac-12 Southern Division matchup.
If you’re a fan of the Trojans of USC are you wondering what happened to your team’s defense in the game against Stanford. That loss to Stanford 41-31 does not go well for the Trojans this early in the season. Offensively the Trojans seem to be sound and get put points on the scoreboard, but the defense struggled as the allowed the Cardinals to gain some 475 yards. That was surprising as the Trojans in their first two games they outscored those two opponents 114-15. No t he Trojans are not allowing opponents to a lot of points on the board, but they are allowing them a lot of offensive total yardage, to the toll of at least 400 yards per game to date. Therefore the Trojans look to their QB C. Kessler to score the points required for victories from the offensive side.
Despite the defensive problems, QB Kessler had a promising game as the passed for 3 TD’s and completed 25 of his 32 attempts for some 273 passing yards against Stanford, and should continue his stats in the game with the Sun Devils. If the Trojans are to beat the Sun Devils their offense has to play its best game, if they want to rise in the ranks after dropping from a ranking of No. 6 to a ranking of No. 19 after their loss to the Cardinals of Stanford. In the last 10 games with Arizona State the Trojans have won 7 games, but in the ultimate 4 seasons since 2012 they have only won 1 game. Statistics can be deceiving!
For The fans of the Sun Devils of Arizona State started the season ranked No. 15 then lost in their season opener to Texas A&M 38-17 and after that defeat were dropped out of the AP Top 25. The second week they came back and beat the Lobos of New Mexico on Saturday past at 34-10 and that was the 19th straight win over New Mexico for Arizona State.
The Sun Devils QB M. Bercovici has a great game against the Lobos as the passed for 3 TD’s completing 22 of his 37 passes for a total of 317 passing yards. The senior QB was aided by RB D. Richard who had receptions for some 152 yards and also ran for 105 yards and 1 TD on a 92 yard run.
The momentum appears to be with the Sun Devils in their last game, but their defense in this game must be at its best as the face the good Trojan offense. A win for the Sun Devils over the Trojans would be very helpful for the teams Pac-12 conference record, as in their next 5 games, they play 4 Pac-12 opponents.
The Arizona State defense is 9th in passing defense in the nation, as they have only allowed opponents to 134.6 passing yards each game to date. Thus they should be able to contain the progressive Trojan QB Kessler. But, the Sun Devils have to be concerned about their defense against the run, being ranked 98th in the nation. In week 2 their defense allowed the Mustangs of Cal Poly some 285 yards on the ground, and then in the 3rd week last Saturday they allowed the Lobos of New Mexico some 185 yards that included the Lobos RB T. Owens to scoring on a 66 yard TD. If you’re a fan that bets on the Sun Devils, you have to like the fact that your team is playing at home at the Sun Devils Stadium where they have won their last 7 games played there!
The prediction for this game is that the underdog Sun Devils will beat the Trojans with the final score Arizona State 37 and USC 31 as the Sun Devils seek to return to the Top 25 rankings!