USC vs Stanford 9/11/21 College Football Picks, Odds, Predictions

The USC Trojans meet the Stanford Cardinal Saturday in week 2 college football action at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Stanford Cardinal need a bounce back performance after losing their opener to Kansas State. The USC Trojans look for another win after beating San Jose State in their opener. 

The Stanford Cardinal hope to avoid back-to-back 0-2 starts to a season. Tanner McKee is completing 83.3 percent of his passes for 118 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions. Brycen Tremayne and John Humphreys have combined for 115 receiving yards and one touchdown while Austin Jones has four receptions. The Stanford Cardinal ground game is averaging 39 yards per contest, and Jones leads the way with 25 yards on nine carries. Defensively, Stanford is allowing 24 points and 344 yards per game. Ricky Miezan leads the Stanford Cardinal with eight tackles, Dalyn Wade-Perry has one sack and Kyu Blu Kelly has one interception.

The USC Trojans look for their third straight 2-0 start to a season. Kedon Slovis is completing 66.7 percent of his passes for 256 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. Drake London and Tahj Washington have combined for 193 receiving yards and one touchdown while Erik Krommenhoek has two receptions. The USC Trojans ground game is averaging 160 yards per contest, and Keaontay Ingram leads the way with 86 yards on 15 carries. Defensively, USC is allowing seven points and 376 yards per game. Calen Bullock leads the USC Trojans with seven tackles, Drake Jackson has one interception and Greg Johnson has one interception.

The Cardinal are 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 road games and 3-1-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The Trojans are 5-12 ATS in their last 17 games in September and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games overall. The over is 11-4 in Cardinal last 15 games as an underdog. The under is 6-1 in Trojans last 7 games overall. The Cardinal are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 meetings in Southern California and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 meetings.

Stanford has taken a step back these last couple of years and its inability to compete against Kansas State was a bad sign. Stanford had zero success running the football and that’s a concern given that the Cardinal built a reputation of winning in the trenches. The USC Trojans didn’t blow the doors off San Jose State, but the defense stood tall when it needed to nd the offense showed flashes. You shouldn’t be worried about USC this year and its potential. Stanford on the other hand… I’m afraid this could be another rough year for Stanford. I’ll lay the chalk with USC.