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The USC Trojans started the year with a couple of cupcakes in Arkansas State and Idaho and they did what they were supposed to do with those teams and that is crush them. USC outscored the two teams by a combined 99 points. Well last week the competition got tougher and the result was much different than their first two games as they opened their Pac-12 season at home vs Stanford and ended up losing that game 41-31. This was the year the Trojans were supposed to take the Pac-12 title and they still might, but they didn’t really look good in the loss to the Cardinal. Maybe they were looking ahead to this game as it is a big revenge game for them. Last year the Trojans led the Sun Devils at home by 3 points in the final second before Bercovici hit strong with a hail mary pass as time expired. USC is now 1-5 ATS their last 6 games vs Arizona State. The USC offense will be tough for teams to stop this year, but their defense showed holes in the loss to Stanford as they allowed 474 yards to a Stanford offense that showed very little in their first 2 games.
Arizona state started off their year with a trip to Texas A&M and were picked by many to win that game. This is a team that is very strong on offense, has 17 starters back overall and should have had a much improved defense, but that didn’t pan out as they were blasted 38-17 by the Aggies. They then went out and played a very mediocre game vs Cal- Poly, beating the FCS opponent by just 14 points, as 34 point favorites. They then had a home game vs New Mexico and led just 10-0 at the half, before pulling away to win 34-10. The Sun Devils are 2-1 on the SU but 0-3 ATS so far. The offense hasn’t been great vs some weak defenses so far this year, while the defense has been very average vs 2 offenses that last couple of week that will not be great this year. the Sun Devils have been very strong vs the pass this year as hey rank 9th in the nation in that department, but that may be because they have taken on a few run heavy teams in the early going. They rank 107th the run, giving up 215.3 ypg.
I will look at the Trojans to get a measure of revenge here and getting them off a tough home loss will help matters here even more. Two years ago the Trojans lost to ASU on this field by a score of 62-41 and last year ASU beat them at USC by a score of 38-34. ASU won that game on a last second hail mary. USC is a legitimate contender in the PAC-12 and While ASU was also considered one, they just haven't played all that well so far. They struggled on defense vs Texas A&M in their opener and will have some of the same issues vs the USC squad that has put up 557 ypg of total offense so far. The Trojans struggled on defense last week and that can only get them more fired up for this one. This a sweet revenge spot for a Trojan team that is far better than they showed last week and will prove it with a nice DD win here.
Take USC -5.5 over Arizona State
GLA
Arizona state started off their year with a trip to Texas A&M and were picked by many to win that game. This is a team that is very strong on offense, has 17 starters back overall and should have had a much improved defense, but that didn’t pan out as they were blasted 38-17 by the Aggies. They then went out and played a very mediocre game vs Cal- Poly, beating the FCS opponent by just 14 points, as 34 point favorites. They then had a home game vs New Mexico and led just 10-0 at the half, before pulling away to win 34-10. The Sun Devils are 2-1 on the SU but 0-3 ATS so far. The offense hasn’t been great vs some weak defenses so far this year, while the defense has been very average vs 2 offenses that last couple of week that will not be great this year. the Sun Devils have been very strong vs the pass this year as hey rank 9th in the nation in that department, but that may be because they have taken on a few run heavy teams in the early going. They rank 107th the run, giving up 215.3 ypg.
I will look at the Trojans to get a measure of revenge here and getting them off a tough home loss will help matters here even more. Two years ago the Trojans lost to ASU on this field by a score of 62-41 and last year ASU beat them at USC by a score of 38-34. ASU won that game on a last second hail mary. USC is a legitimate contender in the PAC-12 and While ASU was also considered one, they just haven't played all that well so far. They struggled on defense vs Texas A&M in their opener and will have some of the same issues vs the USC squad that has put up 557 ypg of total offense so far. The Trojans struggled on defense last week and that can only get them more fired up for this one. This a sweet revenge spot for a Trojan team that is far better than they showed last week and will prove it with a nice DD win here.
Take USC -5.5 over Arizona State
GLA
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