Tre Madden and USC's rushing attack will lead the way against Washington State. (Neon Tommy)

Saturday, September 7th at 7:30 p.m. PST on Fox Sports 1

Latest Odds: USC -15 and Over/Under 53

Despite USC's shaky performance against Hawai'i in Week 1, Vegas has favored the Trojans in their conference opener by 15 points against Washington State. While the teams haven't faced each other in two years, USC has won 34 of their past 38 contests against the Cougars. 

Washington State looked like a different team in their tough 31-24 loss on the road against Auburn. The offense racked up 464 yards, including quarterback Connor Halliday averaging 9.8 yards per completion against the Auburn secondary. Considering that USC is banged up in the secondary, this is the advantage that Washington State needs to utilize to make this a close game.

Even though Washington State has lost 16 of their last 19 games when they have been underdogs, they are still 11-8 against the spread in those contests. 

The key factor for me is the fact that this is Washington State's second consecutive road game. Playing a game in Alabama and then playing their next one in California a week later is excruciating. At least USC got a few extra days of rest since they played Hawaii on Thursday instead of Saturday. 

I think the Cougars' offense will start the game off slowly. A sluggish start can also lead to sloppy play, and turnovers has been Washington State's Achilles' heel. Halliday threw three interceptions last week, even though the Auburn defense only had two picks the entire season last year. USC's defense was very opportunistic in Clancy Pendergast's first game as defensive coordinator. The Cougars will have trouble against a Trojan pass-rush that looked dominant at Aloha Stadium.

Additionally, I'm expecting USC to follow Auburn's offensive gameplan. Auburn ran the ball 46 times for 295 yards last week, which is more than six yards a carry. The running game was the strength of USC's offense in Week 1, as both Tre Madden and Justin Davis were extremely impressive. 

The quarterback combination of Cody Kessler and Max Wittek threw 29 passes and completed only 15 of them against an average, at best, Hawai'i secondary. While coach Lane Kiffin will still call passing plays because USC has arguably the best wide receiving corps in the nation, it was interesting to see Kiffin call 16 more run plays last week compared to pass plays. 

Just like last week, the Vegas point total really intrigues me. While Vegas certainly dropped the total a few points after watching the Trojan offense against Hawai'i, I think they're underestimating the travel factor for Washington State. Additionally, while USC plays better at Los Angeles Coliseum than they do on the road, the UNDER in USC's last nine home games is 8-1. 

Washington State will throw the ball often, Halliday had 65 attempts last week, but USC's rushing attack will dictate the tempo of the game. There will be quite a few time-consuming drives, which is why I'm expecting a lower-scoring game than most. 

Final Score Prediction: USC 30, Washington State 17

My Best Bet: UNDER 53 Points

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