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NCAA Football – Week 6

Week 6 of the college football betting season starts on Thursday night, and the showcase game of a big time three-pack pits the Southern Cal Trojans against the Utah Utes at Rice Eccles Stadium.

With names like QB Matt Barkley, RB Silas Redd, RB Curtis McNeal, WR Marqise Lee, and WR Robert Woods, the Trojans really shouldn’t be struggling offensively at all. However, it is the offense that has failed this team over the course of the last two weeks, and for that reason, USC might already be out of the National Championship picture. Barkley has respectable numbers, but through four games, one would figure that he would have a lot more than 1,005 yards and 12 TDs against five picks. His top receiver, Lee might have the best shot at claiming the Heisman Trophy on this team now, but it isn’t going to happen for either man without a huge second half of the year. Lee has six scores on 40 receptions for 457 yards. Redd has had some big moments on the ground, but he too, has struggled at times. The former Penn State standout has 338 yards and four TDs.

Utah has had some ups and downs this year. The biggest downer was clearly when QB Jordan Wynn retired from football after his fourth major shoulder injury in as many years playing for the Utes. Now, it is up to QB Jon Hays for the course of the rest of the year to try to guide Head Coach Kyle Whittingham and company to a bowl game. Hays isn’t even completing 60% of his passes, though he does have a great 4/1 TD/INT ratio. RB John White IV hasn’t done the job on the ground, accounting for just 233 yards and one score, and this is terrible for a man that figured to really challenge for the Heisman Trophy this year if some of the major candidates fell as they have. Last year, WR DeVonte Christopher did it all for the Utes, but this year, he is just another one of the eight receivers on this team that have at least five catches. None of the eight though, have more than nine receptions, and just one, WR Kenneth Scott, has more than 116 yards in four games.

Prediction:

Still, this is a bad, bad spot for the Trojans to be in. Yes, they are coming off of a bye week, but road teams in the Pac-12 that are ranked have been awful. That’s how the Men of Troy fell against the Stanford Cardinal, and that’s how Stanford fell to the Washington Huskies. We don’t think that Utah is going to have the horses to win this game, but it is very plausible to see this coming right down to the wire. Southern Cal 26 – Utah 24