USC Trojans vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish Preview + Free Predictions

USC Trojans (5-1, 3-1 Pac-12) vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish (4-2)

Southern Cal had been dominating this match-up in recent seasons, until the Golden Domers exacted some revenge last season, pulling out a 20-16 victory.

Notre Dame Stadium, South Bend IN
Saturday, Oct. 22, 7:30 pm EST
NCAA Odds from Sportsbook.com:
MoneyLine: USC +295, Notre Dame -385
Spread: USC +9.5, Notre Dame -9.5
Over/Under: 57.5

Graduation, coaching change and above all a slew of NCAA infractions have left USC in a rather vulnerable state; now is the time for Notre Dame to make hay while the sun shines.

After opening the year with two stumbling losses to South Florida and Michigan, the Irish have pulled together a nice regular season campaign. Notre Dame has won four straight, mostly in convincing fashion and against ranked Michigan State and Big East-contender Pittsburgh. It looks like the Irish should have the momentum they need and the home-field advantage to make it two consecutive wins.

Not if the Trojans get any say in it, however. Southern Cal has also quietly been putting together a strong season, though it has had a couple more close calls than the Irish. USC crushed California last week, but before that just narrowly escaped crappy Arizona (48-41), lost to Arizona State and barely survived Minnesota and Utah to kick off the year.

This is a battle of two teams with excellent passing attacks. Southern Cal’s QB Matt Barkley has racked up 1,782 pass yards and a 16-4 TD/INT ratio, while Irish starter Tommy Rees replaced Dayne Crist in the first week of the season and never looked back, putting up over 1,500 yards and 14 TDs. Both teams also have key weapons in the passing game – WR Robert Woods for USC and prodigiously talented Michael Floyd for Notre Dame.

Both sides face Stanford following this game, though USC has a tougher road in general, with Oregon and Washington still on the schedule. Needless to say, this is an important game not just for fan boasting. This classic piece of college football culture will go far to determine how well these teams will finish the regular season. [soliloquy id=”82219″]

Irish head coach Brian Kelly needs a strong finish to continue to cool the pressure on him, while the Trojans need an impressive showing merely to rinse some of the bad taste of the NCAA infractions out of their mouths.

This should be a close game, but I give the Irish a slight edge for a couple reasons. Firstly, Notre Dame plays a little bit better defense than Southern Cal, despite the results last week (the Irish giving up 33 to Air Force while USC held Cal to nine points). Secondly, Notre Dame has more of a balanced offense; RB Cierre Wood is having a great season while the highly-touted USC runners can’t really get their games on track. Lastly, the Irish get USC at home in a spirited atmosphere.

The legions of Irish faithful (pun intended) surely got frothing at the mouth with the gutsy victory last year; their noise level will indicate that they’ve developed a taste for beating Southern Cal in a hurry.

There’s no doubt that the Trojans could show up with Barkley, Woods and Co. torching the Notre Dame secondary and hence gallivanting back to the West Coast with a mini-upset. But it looks like Kelly has his players really dialed in right now and QB Rees is a gamer. I’ll call for Notre Dame to win a close contest and in the process, further emphasizing how maddening those first two losses in the season were.

Ultimately, these two teams don’t like each other at all, so expect both sidelines to be focused and hungry for this game.

Score Prediction: Notre Dame 33, USC 30
Over/Under Prediction: 63

CHECK OUT OUR College football betting forums today! Join us today and make College football picks against the spread for all Division 1 NCAA Football matchups!

Welcome to the CappersPicks.com college football weekly predictions pages! We KNOW you will find our FREE weekly college football picks, tips, betting advice, strategies, CFB gambling articles and more to help you become the best College football bettor on your block!!

GRAB THE BEST CFB PICKS ONLINE WITH OUR EXPERTS’ NCAA FOOTBALL PREDICTIONS —–>