Oregon St./USC

[KALBO]

I like the Beavers +3.5

OSU lost to USC 16-13 in OT last year at the Coliseum in a game they should have won were it not for 2 missed FG's in the fourth qtr.OSU's non-conference schedule has not been as tough as USC's and this will be biggest test thus far,but I believe this team has more talent and experience (ret. 15 starters) than last years team.
I have watched this team get tougher and more confident with each week........they absolutely dominated Fresno St. last week.The Beavers have good size and speed at the WR position this year and Soph. QB Derek Anderson has thrown 15 TD passes with only 1 Int. He's a tall kid 6'6" which allows him to see down field real well and has a nice touch on the ball. RB Steven Jackson .... the Pac-10 Offensive Player of the Week for his 227yd. 2 TD performance against Fresno St.....is 6'1" 226 lb. and has 4.44 40 speed.On defense they return 8 starters led by CB Dennis Weathersby and MLB Richard Seigler.

Under Dennis Erickson OSU is 27-12 SU; 24-9 ATS; 18-6 vs. Conf. and 9-2 as road dogs!

This should be one of the better games in the country this week!

Good Luck whatever you play!

 

[Scott4USC]

The game will be decided by the USC secondary. The #1 and #3 DB's for USC are out for the season. USC has 2 freshman competing for the 2nd corner, and when OSU puts in the 3rd corner USC will just have that much more trouble stopping the pass. Both freshmen DB's have very little experience but are very talented.
Other than this problem, I think USC has the upper hand in every other category. I also think USC will suprisingly play smashmouth football, and might start 2 tightends. Oregon St. defense is very very fast, so running Fargus (our best RB who is finally going to be healthy) up the middle will counter the speed of OSU. Plus USC has not used the tight ends effectively all year and USC was very conservative against KSU because Pete Carrol's goal is to win the Pac 10. Look for tight ends to play huge role along with Fargus. Sultan also looked impressive against KSU. As long as SC recievers don't drop balls thrown to their chest, USC offense will move the ball against the very fast and talented OSU defense.

As for both teams schedule, there is no comparison. USC played 2 good opponents and 1 tough opponent, and 2/3 were away games. OSU played 2 terrible opponents and 1 average opponent. USC should be the more prepared team and I think it will take OSU a quarter or two to adjust to the USC defense who I think is better than OSU.

But once again, it boils down to if OSU will take advantage against the new Defensive back.

If USC did not suffer the DB injury against KSU, i would easily bet $1000 on USC -3 against OSU. But that one injury is keeping me from betting anything. I might just throw $100 on USC -2.5 because its my school.

If USC clicks, USC wins by 10pts, if USC has trouble getting started like against KSU, either team wins by 3pts.

I also think the winner of this game will be tops of Pac 10!

Good luck this weekend and I have 3 picks this weekend. Betting very large, larger than normal on 2 teams that are not historically very good, but i am very confident in these picks.

$500 on Temple +4.5 over Cincinnati
$500 on S. Florida +28.5 over Oklahoma
$100 on West Virginia -6.5 over E. Carolina