USC Morning Buzz: Some Updated Early Point Spreads

WASH.TDAre you looking for some new point spreads on USC games? Or how about some games that already almost a touchdown spread in June? The sports betting site, WagerTalk.com, has released updated speads on six games:

USC is a 6.5-point underdog against Stanford; a 1-point favorite over Utah; a 3.5-point favorite over Oregon; a 6-point underdog at Washington and a 3.5-point underdog against UCLA and a 6.5 favorite over Notre Dame.

That’s a lot of points for the Stanford, Washington and Notre Dame games. Stanford has a new quarterback that has not been picked (just like USC). Washington is highly regarded but unproven while Notre Dame looks like a team many want to downgrade from a year ago.

8 thoughts on “USC Morning Buzz: Some Updated Early Point Spreads

  1. There is soooo much that has to happen for me to believe these point spreads. First we need to see who has the annual season ending injury during camp. Next the season defining scandal in the summer workouts.Then we need to see how the team plays when they take the field for the first time.
    Finally I have to shake my magic 8 ball to see if these are the real point spreads or just bird droppings on the sports page.

  2. +6 at UW looks like a classic sucker line. That’s coming from a repeat sucker; aka anybody who gambles that isn’t a wiseguy

  3. Who knows what USC is this coming year? Nobody. They were getting beat in prior years by attrition – teams would just send waves of fresh players on the field, beat them up, and wear them down. Now for the first time USC has depth.

    Do they have ferocity? They had to lay back to protect from injury in the past which gave opponents even more encouragement to beat them up. So we will see if the team is going to allow that and if the coaches are going to keep fresh players on the field.

    Will they again be provoked into stupidity? Stanford intentionally went after JuJu last year just to get him to commit a penalty. Will the players keep their heads in the heat of battle? Helton showed he is already working on this.

    Are they coached? The defensive coach last year was a joke and was exposed in the bowl game against Wisconsin when in 3 straight plays the same player ran through a gap and sacked the passer. How embarrassing. Then there was the game lost in the last play because they left the wrong players on the field against a Hail Mary pass. And there was the bowl game last year where the coaches didn’t call a Hail Mary on the last play and let Kessler throw underneath for a useless gain.

    Have the coaches themselves been coached up and are they ready for any situation at a moment’s notice? We’ll see if they can command in battle on a moment’s notice.

    So my guess is that they will be coached for once this year, especially on the offensive line. They will be coached in the defensive backfield to communicate and not allow the breakdowns that happened last year against Oregon and others. And how did Adoree get beat on the first series last year by Notre Dame’s fastest player because he was not coached to prepare for that?

    But they need a mobile QB to create and improvise plays when every one of the receivers is covered and to make the team as unpredictable as Clancy Pendergast makes the defense. Playing a 10 against 11 game on offense can make the difference in the close games (with small point spreads). They can’t continue to allow the opposing defense to have an extra player against them.

    And if they are going to call Bubble Screens in the flat they need blockers. The other receivers and tight ends need to block. No fancy play calling will work without blocking. EXECUTION means blocking, even if it means just running interference for the runner. At least get in the way of the defender.

    Who knows what they are or what the point spreads will be? And how good are point spreads if USC gets a field goal kicker and punter they can depend on? Two new field goal kickers are coming in and a quirky punter and we will see what they can do.

    In recruiting this year we are seeing a new Helton brand of football. He is willing to offer a two star player who can hit and block downfield than a higher rated prima donna. This will translate to the football field and games.

    You can’t plow the field looking backward which is what these point spreads are doing. They are looking at last year and prior years. Don’t count on that too much.

    They are accused of being a team without an identify, meaning a style of play (spread, running game, hybrid, etc). Forget that. This year the team will be defined by how tough they play even if they lose close games. They would play better than prior years even if they were, say, 5-7, if they lost no game by more than 6 and were in it to the end in every game. They would go into every game being feared by the opponents.

    What if they are down in the ‘Bama game to the end by, say, 1 and then bring in the field goal kicker for a 50 yarder?

    Latin – Pugnare
    Greek – Agonistei se

  4. Athalon has Washington to win the North. Stanford 2nd. Oregon 3rd. Crazy seeing the Ducks picked at #3.

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