USC Trojans vs Texas Longhorns CFB Odds, Betting Preview 9/15/18

A huge game in the Lone Star State will take place this evening as the USC Trojans Duke it out with the Texas Longhorns. This game has a start time of 8:00 PM ET and will take place at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas. These teams met last year and USC won that game at home by a score of 27-24.

Lines:  Texas -3… Over/Under 48

A Look At USC

The USC Trojans are picked by many to play in the Pac-12 Title game, but they got off to a slow start in league play. Last week they took on the Stanford Cardinal on the road and they lost that game by a score of 17-3. Their high-powered offense just didn’t show up in the game and now they will take on one of the best defenses in the Big 12. The Trojans were outgained by just 10 yards in the game and the game could have been at least closer had JT Daniels not tossed a couple of INTs. He hit just 16/34 passes in the game for 215 yards and those two INTs. In his opener against UNLV, he threw for 282 yards and a TD with no INTs. Daniels must play far better in this one than he did last week.

The Trojans did play well on defense last week as they held the Cardinal to just 342 yards and 13 first downs in the game. They will need to stop the run far better than they have. They allowed the Cardinal to rush for 159 yards after allowing UNLV to rush for 308 yards the week before. Ehlinger could have a big game if the Trojans can’t stop the run. Still, Daniels must bounce back from a horrible showing last week.

A Look At Texas

The Longhorns began this season like they did last season, with a loss to the Terrapins. They did beat Tulsa last week but by just a 28-21 score. Texas was 22.5 point favorites in that game. They really need to put a complete game together or the seat under Tom Herman’s tush could start to get hot. They put up 478 yards of total offense against the Golden Hurricane, including 241 yards on the ground and they will now take on a struggling run defense that is 113th in the nation. The Longhorns will look to exploit that and should they do so then Sam Ehlinger could have a good game throwing the ball. He has thrown for 500 yards with four TDs and two INTs so far.

The defense was expected to be the 2nd best in the Big 12 this year, but so far it has been below average. The Longhorns have allowed 380 ypg and 27.5 ppg so far, after allowing just 366 ypg and 21.2 ppg last year. They will look for the real defense to show up against a USC squad that struggled mightily on offense last week. The Longhorns have an edge at QB, but both teams seem evenly match ion all other areas. This one should be a barnburner.  

Trends

USC is:

5-1 ATS in their last 6 games after allowing less than 20 points in their previous game.

14-4 ATS in their last 18 games following a straight up loss.

11-27-1 ATS in their last 39 road games

The Over is 5-1-1 in their last 7 games after scoring less than 20 points in their previous game.

The Under is 4-1 in their last 5 games in September

Texas is:

6-2 ATS in their last 8 vs. the Pac-12.

2-5 ATS in their last 7 games after accumulating more than 450 total yards in their previous game

The Over is 4-1 in their last 5 games after allowing less than 170 yards passing in their previous game.

The Under is 4-1 in their last 5 games in September