Reporter Roundtable: Staff perspective and predictions for USC-Colorado

It's hard to imagine that USC is favored by more than a touchdown against anyone at this point -- after getting blown out as a double-digit favorite in two of the last three games -- but that's the case as the Trojans head to Colorado.

USC (2-2) enters Boulder, Colo., as a 7.5-point favorite over the reeling Buffaloes (1-3), who have totaled just 20 points over the last three games and have lost five game against FBS opponents dating back to last season.

Colorado, which got shutout 30-0 by Minnesota a couple weeks ago and then lost 35-13 last week to Arizona State, ranks 128th out of 130 FBS teams in total offense (239 yards per game) and 127th in scoring (13.8 points per game). The Buffaloes went a stretch of 22 straight possession this season without scoring.

And the Trojans have never lost to the Buffaloes in 14 meetings all-time.

So, yes, USC is the favorite this week and this sets up as a game the Trojans should be able to win.

Should.

As for what we expect to happen, the TrojanSports.com staff breaks down the matchup in the weekly roundtable discussion:

Could USC possibly lose to Colorado on Saturday?

Ryan Young: "Ehh, I mean, anything is possible with these Trojans. But I really don't think so. Colorado is so one-dimensional offensively and gets absolutely nothing out of the passing game that I would fully expect Todd Orlando's defense to bounce back in a big way from last week. I also don't see any reason why QB Kedon Slovis and the offense shouldn't be able to move the ball and put up points. Colorado's only hope would be a totally flat offensive performance from the Trojans and I don't see that happening. It may not be pretty, but USC should get the job done in this one."

Tajwar Khandaker: "Though things have gotten bad for USC, I don’t think they’re that bad yet. Colorado has rolled out some impressive teams over the past few years, but this isn’t one of them. The Buffaloes field one of the worst passing offenses in the conference, and are running the ball at a 4.1-YPC clip. Even if the Trojans turn in a lackluster effort, I don’t think this Colorado team has the juice to score enough to stay in the game."

It seems that this game could tell us a lot about what is possible the rest of the season for USC. What do you expect over these next eight games overall?

Khandaker: "To be honest, I’m not looking to take away too much from this game. This Colorado team fields one of the worst offenses in the country -- averaging under 14 points a game so far. Whatever kind of performance the defense puts up, it’ll be hard to glean much from it. On the other side of the ball, however, it will be interesting to see how much more fluid, if at all, the offense looks. Whether or not the little things get cleaned up on that side of the ball will be telling. Through the remainder of the season, I expect this team to look better than it has at its worst this season, but I think they’ll drop another two to three games. I have a hard time imagining that the offense will be this disjointed in the longer term, and I think the defensive lineup changes that seem imminent might improve things."

Young: "Yeah, I agree, I'm not going to extrapolate too much from the final score, but I'm more so looking to see if USC comes out with any life or if we're heading to a similar slog we saw in 2018 after things went south. If the Trojans play to their potential this week, that doesn't mean they will be that team the rest of the way, but it at least means they're still invested in trying to make the most of this season. If they look out of sorts and underwhelming against this Colorado team, then I don't see any reason to expect anything the rest of the way. So that's what I think we could learn. I also believe that we may have to acknowledge that the personnel simply isn't there on defense for this to be a consistently solid unit. I'll hold off on firming up that conclusion for another week or two, but it's in the back of my mind. I think at best this is an 8-5 team, but it could end up worse than that."