Spread on the Stanford-USC Game at -7.5 Cardinal
The spread on the Stanford-USC game had the visiting Cardinal as a -7.5 favorite after opening at -8.
Sportsbook.com Line & Total: Stanford -7.5 & 60
Opening Line & Total: Stanford -8 & 60
No. 4 Stanford puts the nation’s longest win streak to a stiff test when it visits No. 20 USC on Saturday night.
Stanford has won 15 straight games, including 25-point victories in each of the past 10 contests. The Cardinal ran all over Washington last week (school-record 446 yards), and Andrew Luck will certainly be able to pick apart USC’s 104th-ranked pass defense (265 YPG) to add to his gaudy career numbers against the Trojans: 32-of-46, 429 yards, 5 TD, 0 INT. Stanford’s win streak began last year when it edged USC on a last-second field goal. Defensively, the Cardinal rank in nation’s top-5 in scoring (12.6 PPG), rushing (76 YPG), sacks (3.6 per game) and Tackles For Loss (8.1 per game), which is enough to make USC QB Matt Barkley very uncomfortable in the pocket.
Stanford ranks second in the nation in scoring at 48.6 PPG and has put up a healthy 47.8 PPG in its five conference tilts. The Cardinal also rank ninth in the nation with 504 total YPG. Luck, who is given the responsibility to call most of the plays, has been consistently excellent all year, and now has 10 straight games with at least two touchdown passes. For the season, Luck is completing 72% of his passes for 270 passing YPG, 20 TD and 3 INT. Four players have at least 300 receiving yards, but none has more than 400. Coby Fleener leads the team with 384 yards and 7 TD, while Chris Owusu has a team-high 30 catches. RB Stepfan Taylor has rushed for 561 yards (7.1 YPC) with five total TD in the past five games, including 138 on just 10 carries against Washington. Tyler Gaffney had 117 yards on nine carries last week and Anthony Wilkerson added 93 rushing yards (6.6 YPC) and two touchdowns.
Although Washington ran up 172 yards on Stanford in last week’s 65-21 blowout, the Cardinal have held five opponents to 60 rushing yards or less. The passing defense has also improved, allowing 218 YPG in the past four weeks.
USC is fresh off impressive road wins at Cal (30-9) and Notre Dame (31-17). The Trojans continue to beat teams through the air with QB Matt Barkley (19 TD, 4 INT) and star WR Robert Woods, who ranks second in the nation with 72 catches and 129 receiving YPG. Woods has been bothered by an ankle injury, but he is expected to start Saturday night. The key to this game will be whether the RB duo of Marc Tyler and Curtis McNeal can balance the passing attack with a decent ground game. USC rolled up 219 rushing yards at Notre Dame, as the pair combined for 185 yards on 37 carries (5.0 YPC).
The Trojans are getting their defensive rankings to more respectable levels after the past two weeks (43rd in yardage at 356 YPG, T-38th in scoring at 22.6 PPG) because the defense is figuring out how to create turnovers. After just three takeaways in the first four games of the season, USC has forced 10 TO in the past three weeks. However, Stanford has only given the ball up five times in its seven games this year.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
