No. 6 USC Trojans -16 (5-1) 4-2 ATS, 2-4 O/U/P at Arizona Wildcats +16 (5-2) 5-2 ATS, 4-3 O/U Saturday, October 25 Arizona Stadium (57,400) Tucson, Arizona 10:15 p.m. EST
By Wilson of Predictem.com
The Arizona Wildcats are in a four-way tie for first place in the PAC-10! Wildcats head coach Mike Stoops said “We are playing for first place next week, and that’s a position we haven’t been (in) in a long time.” Arizona shares the PAC-10’s top spot with Oregon State, Oregon, and USC. The PAC-10 conference has been one surprise after another as any team can be beaten depending on the day. No. 6 USC will try to continue their most recent storm of crushing and blowing away opponents. Arizona may be up for the challenge as they upset the California Bears last week in convincing fashion 42-27. What will the desert battle produce, happy Cats or unbreakable Trojans?
Arizona’s freshman running back Keola Antolin, who had only rushed for a total of 66 yards all season, gained 149 yards on 21 carries and 3 touchdowns. Antolin’s longest run of the day was a 59 yard sprint. California was not prepared to defend as they claimed to never have seen Antolin on film. Secret weapon? You can bet USC will plan to stop Antolin.
Wildcat QB Willie Tuitama was 16-of-27 for 225 yards, 2 TD’s and 1 interception. The offense is averaging 40 points per game and allowing 18.1 to their opponents. The Wildcat’s win over Cal launched them into the four-way tie that will be decided further in Tucson this Saturday night.
Arizona’s defense was solid most of the day as they shut down Cal’s offensive attack by showing several different looks.
Southern California is definitely sending a message that they are not taking any teams for granted. After the upset loss to Oregon State a few weeks back, the Trojans have played at an entire higher level than any of their opponents. USC’s last two contests have been shutouts, 28-0 over the ASU Sun Devils and 69-0 over the Washington State Cougars.
The Trojan’s defense is currently only giving up 7.8 point per game to their opponents. That number alone is enough to rattle any offensive coordinator into a mind sweep of “what plays will work” type of preparation.
On the other side of the ball, USC is averaging 41.5 points per game. QB Mark Sanchez is turning out to be, yet, another classic USC QB of late as he just set a school record last week for the most touchdowns by a Trojan QB in one half (5). Sanchez finished the day with 253 yards on 15-of-20 passing and 5 TD’s.
Both Trojan running backs Stafon Johnson and Broderick Green rushed for over 100 yards each as USC went on to score ten touchdowns on the day. In fact, their only error was a blocked PAT.
This game is for first place in the PAC-10, and both of these teams will fight for that top spot, but I really can’t see the Wildcats slowing down USC. The Trojans have become essentially an NFL-like squad playing as men against young boys; boys who should hang out after the game in hopes of scoring a couple of autographs.
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Wilson’s Pick: Oregon State is to blame for USC’s wave of destruction! USC will not lose another game ever! Ok, at least not the rest of this season. I like USC to cover the 16 and win, pulling away in the second half.
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