No. 4 USC faces Texas in first meeting since 2006 Rose Bowl
Sep 14, 2017 - 3:54 PM Texas (1-1) at No. 4 Southern California (2-0), Saturday 8:30 p.m. ET (Fox). Line: USC by 17. Series Record: USC leads 4-1 WHAT'S AT STAKE After dismantling Stanford, USC is one of the hottest teams in the country and wants to stay that way, not only for their national playoff hopes but to keep quarterback Sam Darnold in the Heisman Trophy hunt. Texas coach Tom Herman has a reputation as a big-game coach in his short career. Nothing would give his tenure some Hollywood sizzle like beating a top-five program on the road on national television. KEY MATCHUP Darnold vs. Texas cornerback Holton Hill. Darnold shredded Stanford for 313 yards and four touchdowns. He's also turnover prone with four in two games. Hill is the best ball hawk in the country right now. He leads Texas in scoring with two interception returns for touchdowns and another score on a blocked kick return. PLAYERS TO WATCH Texas: Quarterback, whoever it is. Regular starter Shane Buechele is the team's best passer but missed the last game with a bruised shoulder. Freshman Sam Ehlinger started against San Jose State and is more of a dual threat. Jerrod Heard is a former starting quarterback who moved to wide receiver and is back under center. He got several snaps last week and ran for two scores. USC must be ready for all three. USC: TB Ronald Jones. The Texas native averages 137.5 yards two games. He faces a Texas defense that gets pushed around at the line of scrimmage and misses too many tackles at linebacker. Jones could grind down the Longhorns again. FACTS & FIGURES Texas has yet to make a field goal. K Joshua Rowland, a former JUCO All-American, is 0-3 ... Texas hasn't beaten a top-five opponent on the road since 2005, but Herman is 6-0 as a head coach against ranked opponents by an average margin of 14 points ...The USC media guide has the Trojans as 4-0 all-time against Texas. The Trojans claim the loss to Texas in 2006 Rose Bowl was "vacated' by the NCAA because of penalties for USC rules violations. ___ More AP college football: www.collegefootball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25No one has shouted yet.
Be the first!
Be the first!
Related News
- No. 2 Washington vs. No. 3 Texas advanced stats preview Dec 26
- How UTSA transfer edge Trey Moore fits at Texas Dec 24
- Elite transfer edge Trey Moore signs with Texas over Alabama Dec 23
- Report: UTSA edge Trey Moore set to decide between Alabama and Texas on Saturday Dec 23
- Updates on Texas players in the NCAA transfer portal: Maalik Murphy commits to Duke Dec 23
- Four-star WR Aaron Butler signs with Texas over Arizona and Washington Dec 23
- Longhorns Daily News: Texas football’s Xavier Worthy, T`Vondre Sweat land on Mel Kiper’s latest NFL Draft prospect list Dec 22
- Staff Roundtable: Early Signing Day Dec 22
- Texas players, coaches confident in freshman QB Arch Manning as the backup Dec 21
- Updates on Texas players in the NCAA transfer portal: Casey Cain reunites with Brennan Marion at UNLV Dec 21
- The story behind Texas commissioning billboards for 2024 signees Dec 21
- Longhorns Daily News: Texas’ Steve Sarkisian: ‘Our players get a lot of credit for this recruiting class’ Dec 21