The USC Trojans will enter the Pac-12 Football Championship Game as the NCAA football betting favorites to defeat the Stanford Cardinal, whose QB K.J. Costello is en fuego, having become the first Cardinal quarterback with four touchdown passes in a game since Kevin Hogan did the same, coincidentally, against Notre Dame in 2015. “Our young quarterback, we put a lot on his shoulders this game,” Stanford head coach David Shaw said. “Ninety percent of the plays we ran tonight were on his shoulders.”
- Date: Friday, 1st December
- Time: 8:05 PM
- Venue: Levi’s Stadium, Santa Clara, CA
- Online sportsbook college football wagering odds:
Stanford +3 (-105) 57½ (-110) +135
USC -3 (-115) 57½ (-110) -155
You have to Stanford something
The Cardinal will have a chance to avenge their 24-42 loss to USC on September 9th. The Trojans gained 623 yards of total offense and quarterback Sam Darnold threw for 316 yards and four touchdowns upon that occasion. Still, it was “the best thing to happen our team,” safety Justin Reid said. “It gives us a chance to come together as a team.” and all they needed was love. Bryce Love, that is. “You run out of words for what Bryce Love is,” Shaw said. It’s like that little comic strip about two naked eight-year-olds who are married. Love broke the 1,800-yard mark this season, even while nursing a sprained ankle, and could join Marcus Allen, Tony Dorsett, Charles White and former Christian McCaffrey with 2,000 yards.
.@Blovee_20 has 1️⃣0️⃣ 100-yard rushing performances this season in 11 games, best in the FBS.#HeismanLove pic.twitter.com/rLf6YNptSC
— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) November 27, 2017
Meanwhile, Costello went 14-of-22 for 176 yards against Notre Dame on Saturday. “He makes it look easy,” Love said of Costello. “But the amount of things that is put on his shoulders week in, week out, how he takes control of the huddle, how he gets to the right calls and executes.” The Cardinal are 7-1 ATS in their last eight games in December and 8-2 against the NCAA football betting spread in their last 10 games in a neutral site.
Say, good bye
Timing couldn’t have been better for the Trojans, who went on bye after beating UCLA for the Victory Bell on November 18th. However, Shaw is cool with that. “Someone asked me if we won this game, Washington State didn’t beat Washington, was it kind of fair that USC had a bye. I said, Yeah, they just went 12 straight. They survived 12 straight and won the South. They deserve to have a bye. So there’s no issue with that whatsoever,” he said. The Trojans may have won the last four games straight, but they’re far from rolling. They gave up 501 yards to UCLA, which was their worst mark since 2015. Still, head coach Clay Helton managed to hold on to his job, which is a rarity in Southern California. He said, though, he is “nowhere near a finished product.” USC is 5-1 ATS in their last six games after allowing fewer than 100 yards rushing in their previous game but 0-5 against the NCAA football betting spread in their last 5 neutral site games.