2015 Record: 8-6
2016 Las Vegas Season Win Total: 8.5
2016 Season Win Total Picks NCAA Football: 'Under'
The Trojans have to feel like they have finally regained their footing and found some stability in their program. USC is now out of the shadow of their sanctions and withdrawn from the stench of loser Lane Kiffin and the stench of liquor on Steve Sarkisian. Clay Helton had a successful audition as an interim coach last season, and the no-nonsense former coordinator is focused on returning USC to national prominence.
The Trojans are a very difficult team to handicap coming into this season. They do have 10 starters back on offense. But the one player that is not returning is quarterback Cody Kessler. Junior Max Browne has the inside track to the gig. But intriguing Sam Darnold is making the race interesting. Whomever claims the job will have superstar wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster, a one-two running attack that features two guys that ran for over 940 yards apiece, and one of the best offensive lines in the country with an astounding five three-year starters.
Helton's focus will need to be on defense. USC has been very average defensively the past two years. With a dominating offense, average can be good enough. But USC doesn't appear to have a dominating attack, so new coordinator Clancy Pendergast needs to get more out of this group. USC is insanely young in the front seven, and they could have as many as eight sophomores in the starting 11.
We're going to find out a lot about USC in their opener against defending National Champion Alabama down in Arlington. USC also has rugged road games at Stanford and at Utah in the first month of the season. Clay Helton may be a former OC. But he is a guy that preaches physicality and toughness. We'll find out how much of his message has sunk in that first month.
USC has a brutal road schedule in league play, and they have November home games against Oregon and Notre Dame. I think that this is a really good team. But I also think that slate is going to be too much to overcome. I think if they make it to their Oct. 22 bye at 5-2 that will be a major accomplishment. And unfortunately I think even if they do so they could still have two more potential losses waiting for them. These guys are solid. But I still think they'll take at least four losses for the fifth year in a row.
2016 USC Trojans Schedule
|
DATE |
OPPONENT |
TIME (ET) |
Location |
Result |
|
Sat, Sep 3rd, 2016 |
at Alabama |
08:00 PM |
AT&T Stadium |
|
|
Sat, Sep 10th, 2016 |
Utah State |
02:00 PM |
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum |
|
|
Sat, Sep 17th, 2016 |
at Stanford |
08:00 PM |
Stanford Stadium |
|
|
Fri, Sep 23rd, 2016 |
at Utah |
09:00 PM |
Rice-Eccles Stadium |
|
|
Sat, Oct 1st, 2016 |
Arizona State |
03:00 PM |
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum |
|
|
Sat, Oct 8th, 2016 |
Colorado |
03:00 PM |
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum |
|
|
Sat, Oct 15th, 2016 |
at Arizona |
03:00 PM |
Arizona Stadium |
|
|
Thu, Oct 27th, 2016 |
California |
10:30 PM |
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum |
|
|
Sat, Nov 5th, 2016 |
Oregon |
03:00 PM |
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum |
|
|
Sat, Nov 12th, 2016 |
at Washington |
03:00 PM |
Alaska Airlines Field at Husky |
|
|
Sat, Nov 19th, 2016 |
at UCLA |
03:00 PM |
Rose Bowl |
|
|
Sat, Nov 26th, 2016 |
Notre Dame |
03:00 PM |
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum |
|
All Times EST
Robert Ferringo is one of the top football handicappers in the country and tallied an unrivaled $20,800 in football profit between 2011 and 2016, including his amazing 2013 NFL season in which he hit 62.1 percent (95-58). Robert has produced 14 of 22 winning football months and an amazing 37 of 57 winning football months over the past decade. Robert has eight of nine winning NFL preseasons and he is at nearly 60 percent winners over his last 750 totals picks. Also, Robert's proprietary KING College Football Betting System has posted three of four winning seasons and is 122-92 over the last three years (57.0 percent).
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