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UCLA vs. USC fearless prediction and game preview.
UCLA vs. USC Broadcast
Date: Saturday, November 23
Game Time: 3:30 ET
Live Stream: fuboTV (click to watch for free)
Venue: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
Network: ABC
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UCLA (4-6) vs. USC (7-4) Game Preview
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Why UCLA Will Win
Can Joshua Kelley recreate the magic?
The Bruin back took the team over in last year’s 34-27 win over USC with 40 carries for 289 yards and two touchdowns. Held in check last week in the 49-3 blowout loss to Utah – he ran for just 78 yards – this has to be his game to take over against a good Trojan run D.
It is possible, though, to pound away on this group. It’s going to take the best performance of the year by a leaky UCLA offensive front, but before last week, the team hit the 200-yard rushing mark in five straight games with 12 scores.
Kelley had a whole lot to do with that.
The Bruin secondary will have a bit of a rough day, but the defensive front hasn’t been all that bad, and it has to bring enough pressure right away. There’s been a big improvement this year when it comes to defensive plays behind the line, but …
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Why USC Will Win
The increased pressure from the Bruin D isn’t leading to takeaways and mistakes.
USC has had its problems at times with giveaways, going 1-4 when turning it over three times or more, but UCLA has only come up with four turnovers – and no more than one in any game – in the last six outings. Worse yet, six of the team’s 12 takeaways came in the wild win over Washington State.
UCLA has failed to come up with multiple takeaways eight times in ten games. It’ll need to do something big to slow down the USC passing attack.
Kedon Slovis has been as hot as any quarterback in the country over the last two games, connecting on 58-of-74 passes (78%) for 838 yards and eight touchdowns with one pick. In his last four games he’s thrown 15 touchdown passes, with the one blip coming in the three-pick game in the loss to Oregon.
The UCLA secondary that’s the third-worst in college football in pass efficiency D doesn’t come up with interceptions – just one in the last six games – and it’s fresh off of getting roasted by Utah’s Tyler Huntley for close to 18 yards per throw.
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What’s Going To Happen
UCLA is playing for its bowl life. It needs to win this week and take out Cal next week to get to six wins and go bowling.
Can it defy all logic and reason like it did last year and put together something special in its biggest game of the season?
Not this time.
The USC defense won’t be able to totally shut down Kelley, but it’ll do just enough to force the Bruin passing game to take over as the game goes on. It’s not going to work.
USC will press too much early on, but it’ll settle down, the passing game will kick in, and the receivers will be the stars of the second half as Slovis comes up with yet another four touchdown performance.
UCLA vs. USC Prediction, Line
USC 37, UCLA 27
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USC -14, o/u: 65.5
Live Stream: fuboTV (click to watch for free)
ATS Confidence out of 5: 3.5
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Must See Rating: 4
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