Oregon Ducks vs. USC Trojans Preview and Pick – 26328

USC Trojans (6-1) vs. Oregon Ducks (6-1) -3, o/u 60, 3:00 p.m. Eastern, Saturday, October 27, 2007 on FSN.
by College Football Handicapper Jerald of Predictem.com

The USC Trojans will meet the Oregon Ducks in this PAC-10 showdown on Saturday afternoon. Both teams will be looking for a win that will keep them in the National Title hunt. USC will be an underdog for the first time since the 2001 season.

The starting QB for USC is currently undecided as John David Booty is recovering from a broken finger. If he is unable to play, Mark Sanchez will be the starter. Booty has completed 64.4% of his passes for 1,229 yards, 12 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. Sanchez has completed 58.3% of his passes for 388 yards, 5 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. The Trojans use many different tailbacks to get the job done. The leading rushers are Chauncey Washington with 426 yards (4.4 yards per carry) and 6 touchdowns and Stafon Johnson has 425 yards (7.9 yards per carry and 4 touchdowns.

Oregon is led by Senior QB Dennis Dixon who has completed 69.2% of his passes for 1,721 yards, 16 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. The ground game is led by Jonathon Stewart who has rushed for 940 yards (7.2 yards per carry) and 7 touchdowns.

USC ranks 32nd in total offense with an average of 203.4 yards rushing (5.22 yards per rush) and 231.0 yards passing per game. They rank 30th in scoring offense averaging 34.6 points per game. The Ducks offense ranks 2nd in total offense averaging 295.4 yards rushing (5.99 yards per carry) and 255.4 yards passing. Oregon ranks 2nd in scoring offense averaging 46.6 points per game.

The Trojans defense ranks 3rd in total defense giving up an average of 64.1 yards rushing (2.19 yards per carry) and 187.9 yards passing per game. They rank 10th in scoring defense giving up an average of 16.6 points per game. Oregon ranks 68th in total defense giving up 143.0 yards rushing (3.96 yards per carry) and 253.3 yards passing. They rank 40th in scoring defense giving up 22.6 points per game.

The Sagarin PREDICTOR ratings at USAToday.com rank the Trojans 20th at 81.49. Oregon ranks 1st at 96.55.

Oregon opened up as a 2.5 point favorite with a total of 60. The line has risen at Oregon -3 and the total has stayed at 60. At the time of this writing, the public was backing the Trojans, 64%-36%.

The Predictem Pick: USC has struggled in offensively the past 3 weeks and the Ducks have too powerful of an offense to be totally stopped. We look for Oregon to grab an early lead and pull away in the 2nd half and USC will not have enough firepower to keep up.

Oregon 35 USC 21