College Football
USC vs Texas College Football Preview
USC vs Texas. Twelve years ago, college football fans witnessed one of the best national title games ever played: the 2005 BCS Championship game between Texas and USC. Last year, these two teams met and USC stole the victory from the Longhorns 27-24 in double overtime. Texas looks to exact revenge and recapture some momentum after dropping their first game to Maryland and squeaking by Tulsa last week. USC is coming off a loss to in-state rival Stanford. Ultimately, both teams need to win this game in order to gain some momentum heading into conference play.
USC
The Men of Troy march into Austin with a 1-1 record. USC has given true freshman QB JT Daniels the reins of the offense and so far he’s done okay. Starting a true freshman at one of the most important positions on the field is going to endure some growing pains. Daniels looked good in the UNLV game, but was ultimately contained against Stanford. If USC wants to win in Texas, the offense needs to capitalize in the redzone and establish a rhythm to take the crowd out of it. The Longhorn defense had some busted plays against Tulsa that led to a 21 point stampede in the second half to make the game closer than it should have been. The USC offense can make plays but how will Daniel’s injury affect the air game?
USC’s defense heads into Austin not having to face Bryce Love, but a fierce Texas crowd. The defense did well in only giving up 17 points, so one could make a case that if the USC offense can get going like they did against UNLV, then the defense can do just enough to help secure a victory. This Texas team is no walk in the park, but they aren’t intimidating. USC has a good shot at winning in Austin, but they need to take care of the ball, get the ground game going, and take advantage of scoring opportunities.
Texas
Don’t mess with Texas…well, you can, nowadays. Texas heads into this matchup with a 1-1 record. The last game saw the Longhorns struggle to slow down a strong second half performance from Tulsa. Texas is almost identical in statistics at the moment with the Trojans. Both are averaging over 400 yards of total offense a game and both are giving up almost 400 yards a game on defense. According to stats, USC has a liability in run defense allowing over 200 yards a game. If Texas can take open up the running game, they’ll take the pressure off of starting sophomore Sam Ehlinger. Less pressure on Ehlinger can hopefully lead to an efficient passing game and keep the USC defense off-balance.
On defense, Texas is a little better in stopping the run allowing 166 yards rushing per game. This Longhorn defense will see better days. Their objective in this match will be to not break like last week against Tulsa. The Longhorns are at home and should be rowdy enough to rattle the true freshman QB JT Daniels. Daniels did bruise his throwing hand so it will be interesting to watch how much that affects his game. Texas needs to keep the ground game in check and force the Trojans to the air. As we saw last week, Tulsa ALMOST came back and made Texas sweat it out in the fourth quarter, so the Longhorns have to limit big plays.
What Will Happen
I see this matchup being close heading into the fourth quarter. Neither team has shown a truly dominant performance on both sides of the ball yet. As mentioned, the Trojans are allowing a lot of yards on the ground and JT Daniels may be a liability with the throwing hand injury. Texas squeaked out a win last week against Tulsa and lost a winnable game against Maryland in week 1. I feel like the home field advantage and Texas’ ground game will be enough to give the Longhorns the edge in the game. Texas does just enough on defense and scores a touchdown late to put the game out of reach.
Texas 31 USC 21
What do you think? Does Texas send USC home with an L or does USC steal the W one more time from the Longhorns?
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Photo credit to The Daily Texan via Flickr
