USC vs. Colorado Prediction: Will Caleb Williams, USC End Colorado's Cinderella Story?
Deion Sanders and Colorado face No. 8 USC in College Football Week 5. USC vs. Colorado Prediction: Will Caleb Williams and USC end Colorado's Cinderella story? Ben Rajavuori breaks it all down.
Ben Rajavuori - September 30, 2023, 9:00 AM EDT
7 minUSC vs. Colorado Prediction: Can Caleb Williams, USC End Colorado's Cinderella Story?
Deion Sanders and Colorado are back at home after a walloping from Oregon, falling 6-42 to the now No. 9 Oregon Ducks. Unfortunately, things will not get much easier, as the Buffaloes now head back home to face No. 8 USC. USC is a team that could be headed for the college football playoffs, although they do have a somewhat tough conference schedule with the Pac-12 looking fiesty this season. USC has been beating up on the bottom tier of FBS teams, and this looks to be their biggest test yet against arguably the most popular team in college football right now, with Deion Sanders taking the nation by storm after a 3-0 start. Is Colorado's Cinderella run over after last week? Or will they fight back?
USC vs. Colorado Date, Start Time, and Where to Watch
- Date: September 30, 2023
- Game Time: 12:00 pm ET
- Where to Watch: FOX
USC vs. Colorado Prediction
Colorado came into this season with a win total of 3.5 games, so no one can deny the success that Deion has brought to Colorado. The team is selling out games, and the program is completely re-vamped after clawing at the bottom of the Pac-12 for so long since joining the conference in 2011. Except for one standout 10-4 season in 2016, Colorado has not been a good program in the Pac-12.
They have made one bowl since joining the conference in a full season (not counting 2020), and they lost that bowl game. Deion could bring them to their first true bowl game in seven seasons, but this does not seem like a week where they get closer to becoming bowl-eligible.
Colorado came out and shocked the nation in week one beating TCU 45-42 as 21-point underdogs. Then, they came home and beat Nebraska as 2.5-point favorites, despite being underdogs on the preseason lookahead line. However, in week three, they took Colorado State to double overtime, and despite winning that game, it should not have been nearly that close, as Colorado was a 23.5-point favorite. Then, last week, Colorado was completely exposed, losing 6-42 as 21.5-point underdogs, scoring just one touchdown with a few minutes left in garbage time after getting shut out for 57 minutes.
It was not a good game for Colorado, although they were playing a top-10 team, but like I said earlier, USC is even better on paper, so we will truly see if Colorado is for real or not this week. Unfortunately, in that Colorado State loss, Colorado lost Travis Hunter, their best cornerback, to an injury on a late hit. That could prove pivotal against the Heisman winner Caleb Williams, as Oregon had their way through the air last week.
Caleb Williams and the USC offense have not had much of a test through four weeks. They have played four pretty bad teams, although they are 4-0 and 2-2 ATS. Only one of their spreads has been under 30 points, which was their week three win over Stanford in which they were 28.5-point favorites and won 56-10. With a total as high as 72.5 points, the books expect another very high-scoring game in Boulder tomorrow.
USC has not made the college football playoffs since its inaugural season in 2014, but that could change this season. Caleb Williams is coming off a Heisman 2022 season, and he could become the first player to ever win two Heisman trophies if he keeps it up in 2023. Caleb Williams is presumed to go first overall in the NFL draft, and the USC offense is as legit as they come.
USC may have gotten caught off guard by Arizona State, as the game was pretty close until the fourth quarter. I think USC simply got caught overlooking their opponents a bit, and they were likely looking ahead to this week's game against the team with all the buzz in the nation right now, Colorado. If USC blows Colorado out in this game, it will prove they are for real, as Colorado was ranked last week before losing.
USC got caught sleeping a bit last week, and I don't think that "closer than it should have been" win says anything bad about USC. They have been putting up points at will with one of the best offenses in the country, and that shouldn't change against a porous Colorado defense down a starting cornerback. My favorite bet is USC first half -12.5 over at DraftKings because I have no doubts in my mind that this Caleb Williams-led offense will be up two touchdowns or much more at halftime, just like Oregon was last week.
USC vs. Colorado Pick
Pick: USC First Half -12.5 -108 is currently the best odds. Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds for this pick
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