Fresno State at No. 7 USC
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Coliseum
TV/radio: Fox (Ch. 11) /790 AM
Records: Fresno State 1-1; USC 2-0, 1-0 in Pac-12 play
Line: USC by 12½
Notable injuries: Fresno State: N/A ; USC: PROBABLE: OL Courtland Ford (ankle), CB Domani Jackson (leg); QUESTIONABLE: EDGE Romello Height (shoulder); OUT: TE Jude Wolfe (foot)
What’s at stake? For Fresno State, there’s the chance to make a major statement a year after shocking UCLA in the Rose Bowl. A win and a continued run throughout the rest of the season could set up the Bulldogs to potentially be the Group of Five representative in the New Year’s Six games. And then for all the Fresno State players who dreamed of playing for USC, Saturday gives the chance at revenge. For USC, Fresno State could prove to be one of the best opponents on the schedule, the way things are shaking out here early in the season. This would be a quality win for the Trojans, who are looking to climb further up the rankings.
Who’s better? Purely from a talent perspective, USC has the edge. Not a ton of blue-chip recruits making their way to Fresno. But where the Bulldogs could overcome this advantage is their experience with each other. As we saw last week against Oregon State, this is a team that has been in many battles together and know how to rally when the going gets tough. That’s something this USC team is still learning how to do.
Matchup to watch: Fresno QB Jake Haener vs. the USC defense. That’s a little broad, but the Trojans haven’t faced a quarterback as experienced and cool under pressure as Haener, who in his career has a 67.3% completion rate and has yet to throw an interception this season. Should Haener do what Rice and Stanford failed to do – protect the ball – this will be a real litmus test for the USC defense, and whether it can get a necessary stop without taking the ball away.
USC wins if: The Trojans create one turnover, the defense forces four punts and the offense plays a strong four quarters of football instead of getting complacent in the second half.
Prediction: USC 48, Fresno State 38. The Bulldogs might make it interesting late in the second half, but USC has too much talent on offense to be contained in this matchup.