Arizona State at No. 6 USC
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: L.A. Memorial Coliseum
TV/Radio: ESPN/790 AM
Line: USC by 25.5
Notable injuries: Arizona State: OUT: DE Michael Matus (knee); USC: PROBABLE: LT Courtland Ford (ankle); OUT: RUSH Romello Height (shoulder), TE Jude Wolfe (foot)
What’s at stake? For the Sun Devils, some semblance of respectability. A win would go a long way to turning around a lost season following the firing of Herm Edwards. Even keeping it close against USC for three quarters would help ASU in building confidence. For USC, this is a good opportunity to get the offense back in a rhythm ahead of back-to-back games against Washington State and Utah, one of the hardest stacks in the Trojans’ schedule this season.
Who’s better? It’s pretty clearly USC. The roster on paper says so, as does almost every meaningful statistical category. This is not the same Arizona State team that beat the Trojans in Tempe a year ago.
Matchup to watch: USC RB Travis Dye vs. Arizona State LB Kyle Soelle. Dye has put together three consecutive 100-yard rushing games as he has started to run away with the Trojans’ workhorse running back role. Meanwhile, Soelle is second in the nation in total tackles this season. If Dye can make Soelle miss, it should be a long day for the Sun Devils. If Soelle limits Dye’s damage, it could make the USC offense one-dimensional.
USC wins if: The Trojans get a standard performance out of QB Caleb Williams after his rocky performance against Oregon State, and the Trojans continue to protect the ball and not allow any extra life to the Sun Devils.
Prediction: USC 55, Arizona State 17. After last week’s emotional win over Oregon State, this feels like the type of game where the Trojans put everything together and have their most complete victory of the season.
