What’s your unpopular (no red goggles) opinion for our Friday game?

The old rule from Dennis Erickson in the PAC12 was the first team to 30 usually wins. In this game I think that bar is set higher at 35. If we come out strong and at least hold serve in Q1, we’ll do well. Most of our key players have been in this spotlight and the Rose Bowl last year. This seriously could devolve into which team has the ball last.

My satirical one: our kicker wins the game for us

My real one: our defense won’t stop them. I think we get maybe 2 punts. I hope CPIII makes a play similar to the Oregon game but this is the best qb we have probably ever faced so I doubt it. Our offense hopefully answers the bell again and we out score them! I think the offense does and Utah goes back to back

I’m getting Utah vs Washington vibes for this one. Walking into the game no one thinks we have a chance. We go all gas no brakes, play our best and nearly win it. As long as we don’t have anything crazy happen in the last minute like we did that year, we can get it done. I think it was 2018? 

I think USC wins this one 6 or 7 times out of ten. We have to make this our 3-4. Cam needs to run, Kincaid healthy, oblock needs to set the tone for the run game. We need some creativity from Scalley to get to Williams without compromising coverage, most likely by sending an extra guy. 

Utah Oline run blocking against the good teams, especially on the road. 78 total non-QB rushing yards against USC in the CCG is not going to get it done. 

Utah rushing yards against good teams Utah played:

Team/Rising/non-QB rushing yards

USC: 138/60/78 

Oregon: 156/43/113

UCLA: 192/59/133

Florida: 230/91/139

Kincaid has a torn shoulder, he’s not getting any healthier but he’s the player that’ll ball out regardless.

I think the defense can hold SC to <38 pts, Ludwig will need to get away from his play calling tendencies and keep SC guessing. 

Utah wins if Rising has a >65% completion percentage. USC wins big if Cam goes <55%.

Taking my red goggles off and I think we win by 3+ scores

I think the odds are against us, frankly. But if we can keep a handle on the turnover battle and limit big plays from their offense we have a fighting chance and that’s all you can ask for.

Utah will not blow out USC.

USC’s offense is too good to be blown out.  They make very few mistakes and can score quickly.  I will not feel comfortable about the game even with a 20-point margin and ten minutes to play.  Their offense is fast, talented, smart and just don’t turnover the ball.

I’m not super optimistic. Take away the home field advantage and replace it with a neutral site and you’ve got a ~3 point USC win. Add in the fact that Utah isn’t playing as well as we were back then and I see a ~10 point USC win.

We are extremely banged up on offense. All of our most important contributors are either out for the year or banged up. The only semi-regular contributor that isn’t is Vele (as far as I know).

On defense we are healthier, but still pretty thin at DE now. We still have capable guys there, but Ellis and Fillinger were both starting to turn a corner in their development when they went out (No clue if Ellis will be out or not).

Despite all of this, I’m expecting at least a decent game. USC fans are acting like they will win this game easily because this one matters… but the last one mattered as much or more, and we still won.

Of course, we aren’t playing at home, but we played great our last time in Vegas, so I expect a good showing from our guys. Our defense will be better than it was during the first half of the last game with USC. Our offense will probably be worse.