EDITORIAL BY GRAYDON FOX

Overview:

On Saturday, October 13^th, the (5-0) Colorado Buffaloes will be on the road to take on the (3-2) USC Trojans.

The Crowd:

The Crowd projects a final score of Colorado 29.3 – USC 27.9 with an over/under of 57.2.

Lou Holtz and Mark May:

Lou is predicting a final score of Colorado 31 – USC 27.

Mark is predicting a final score of USC 31 – Colorado 23.

2018-19 Statistics (130 total teams):

Passing offense: Colorado 293.0 YPG > USC 252.0 YPG

Rushing offense: Colorado 197.6 YPG > USC 138.8 YPG

Scoring offense: Colorado 37.8 PPG > USC 24.6 PPG

Scoring defense: Colorado 18.4 PPG > USC 26.2 PPG

Passing defense: Colorado 201.0 YPG > USC 218.0 YPG

Rushing defense: Colorado 154.0 YPG > USC 163.2 YPG

Turnover Margin Per Game: Colorado +0.5 > USC -0.6

Summary:

Colorado (5-0) to start the season with wins over Colorado State, Nebraska, New Hampshire, UCLA, and Arizona State.  The Buffaloes rank 31^st in points per game (37.8) and 21^st scoring defense (18.4 PPG).  Quarterback Steven Montez has completed 75% of his passes for 1,420 yards with 11 touchdowns and 2 interceptions.  Running back Travon McMillan has rushed for 528 yards (6.3 YPC) and 4 touchdowns.  Laviska Shenault is the nation’s third leading receiver with 708 yards to go along with his 6 touchdowns.  The Buffaloes’ defense ranks 43^rd against the pass (201.0 YPG) and 59^th against the run (154.0 YPG).

USC is (3-2) with victories over UNLV, Washington State, and Arizona.  They failed to score even 20 points in losses to #10 Stanford and Texas.  The Trojans rank 103^rd in points per game (24.6) and 67^th in scoring defense (26.2 PPG).  The quarterback position has been a problem as J.T. Daniels has struggled to replace the departed Sam Darnold.  Daniels has completed 59% of his passes for 1,257 yards with 4 touchdowns to 3 interceptions.  Aca’Cedric Ware leads the team in rushing (335 yards and 3 touchdowns) and Amon-Ra St. Brown leads the team in receiving (396 yards and 2 touchdowns).  The Trojans’ defense ranks 52^nd against the pass (218.0 YPG) and 71^st against the run (163.2 YPG).  Ball security has been a consistent problem for USC as their turnover margin (-0.6) ranks 101^st in the country.

Bottom Line:

This may be hard for casual fans to wrap their head around but Colorado is statistically better than USC across the board and they have the better quarterback.  I’m going to be bold here as not only am I picking Colorado to win on the road, but it will be by double digits.

Colorado wins 34-21

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