2011 Prediction & Game Story
Week 10, USC at Colorado
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Nov. 4 USC 42 … at Colorado 17
CFN Analysis: An argument could be made that this game was Lane Kiffin’s finest coaching job since taking over at USC. The program lost its “bowl’ game against Stanford in soul-crushing fashion, and then it came back on a short week and blew out the Buffs on the road. Colorado might be awful, but it was still an impressive bounceback performance with Matt Barkley upping his pro stock even more. He spread the ball around well, completing 25-of-39 passes for 318 yards and six scores with a pick. Everything worked, with Marqise Lee and Robert Woods each catching touchdown passes, and the running game averaging 7.4 yards per carry. The Trojans showed they still have something to play for: a ten-win season.
Colorado was able to move the ball on the USC defense, but it couldn’t convert drives into points and it couldn’t slow down Matt Barkley and the Trojan passing game. This isn’t a Buff team built for comebacks, even with a decent passing game, and Tyler Hansen struggled, completing 17-of-37 passes for 250 yards and two scores. The defense was a half step slow and couldn’t tackle, while the offense got down too quickly to get anything meaningful out of Rodney Stewart. At 1-8 and on a six-game losing streak, everything might come down to beating Arizona in the home finale before going on the road to face UCLA and Utah.
(AP) BOULDER, Colo. -- Matt Barkley threw a school-record six touchdowns and saved another with a tackle following his sole interception as No. 21 Southern California bounced back from its heartbreaking triple-overtime loss to Stanford with a 42-17 win over Colorado on Friday night.
Robert Woods and Marqise Lee each caught two of Barkley's TD passes.
Curtis McNeal, an undersized junior tailback whose fumble ended USC's loss to the Cardinal, rushed for 87 yards on 10 carries in his first career start for the Trojans (7-2, 4-2 Pac-12).
The win over the beleaguered Buffaloes (1-9, 0-6) capped a wild week for the Trojans that included two days of tirades from coach Lane Kiffin against several officiating decisions in last week's loss, which resulted in a hefty fine and an unprecedented reprimand from the league.
USC (6-2) at Colorado (1-8) Nov. 4, 9:00, ESPN
Here’s The Deal … Good luck getting up for this week’s trip to Folsom Field, Troy. A week after partaking in one of the games of the year, an epic triple-overtime loss to unbeaten Stanford, USC must travel to chilly Boulder to play the Pac-12’s worst member. Even in losing late last Saturday night, the youthful Trojans earned a degree of national respect for putting a legitimate scare into one of the country’s top teams. In a classic sandwich game between the Cardinal and Washington, head coach Lane Kiffin and his staff will need to work extra hard to keep the kids focused on Friday night.
The wheels have been off the Buffaloes for almost a month now. No longer in a position to compete effectively in its new conference, the program has dropped six straight games, the last four by no fewer than four touchdowns. For first-year head coach Jon Embree, October and November have become the new March and April, with player evaluation and instruction trumping wins and losses.
Why USC Might Win: Of all the problems that the Buffs have been facing in 2011, none has been bigger than the play of the porous defense. Now 117th nationally in scoring D, Colorado has yielded at least 45 points in each of the last four games. With the Trojans in town, it’s unlikely that the Buffaloes’ defensive woes will come to an end. USC possesses too many potent weapons for an inexperienced and overmatched opponent, including QB Matt Barkley and his precocious receivers, Robert Woods and Marqise Lee. It has also been getting substantially more help from the ground game, namely RB Curtis McNeal, who’s plowed for 349 yards and three touchdowns over the last three games. A properly motivated Trojans team will have no problems going up and down the field on this Colorado defense.
Why Colorado Might Win: While improved, especially versus the run, the USC defense is still the kind of erratic defense that can be beaten for big plays. While admittedly against better competition, Troy has allowed no fewer than 41 points in three of the last five games, and ranks 102nd nationally against the pass. Plus, some kind of letdown off last week is virtually unavoidable. The Buffaloes still have their veteran, Tyler Hansen, behind center, and the offense could be getting two huge pieces back in time for Friday night. Leading rusher Rodney Stewart and receiver Paul Richardson are now listed as probable to return from knee injuries.
What To Watch Out For: The Trojans are nearly as young as the Buffaloes this year, but their toddlers are noticeably more talented than the ones in black and gold. Underclassmen, such as Woods and Lee, are making plenty of plays on offense, but the defense has been birthing headline-makers as well. Linebackers Dion Bailey and Hayes Pullard, in particular, have become two of the more prominent members of a unit that’s been evolving on the fly. Bailey, in his second year out of Lakewood (Calif.) High School, flies all over the field, and plays a lot bigger than his 6-0, 200-pound safety-sized frame.
What Will Happen: USC can go through the motions on Friday night, and still get out of Boulder with a comfortable victory. On talent alone, the Trojans ought to put a bow on this game before both teams head to the locker room for halftime. Barkley and his supporting cast will roll with ease through the patchwork Colorado D, piling up 500 total yards of offense before ceding some rare reps to the second and third-stringers. The brief spark provided by the hopeful returns of Stewart and Richardson won’t be nearly enough to compensate for Troy’s offensive prowess.
CFN Prediction: USC 43 … Colorado 14
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Click For Latest Line From ATS: USC -21.5 O/U: 57.5
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