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USC enters game against Washington as six-touchdown favorite

Nov 1, 2008 - 10:50 AM Washington (0-7) at (6) Southern California (6-1), 6:30 pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Get ready for the Saturday Night Massacre, Part Two.

Sixth-ranked Southern California has been established as a six-touchdown favorite for Saturday's Pac-10 Conference contest against winless Washington, which announced Monday that coach Tyrone Willingham will not return as coach next season.

In a similar mismatch two weeks ago, the Trojans (6-1, 4-1 Pac-10) crushed Washington State, 69-0, equaling its largest margin of victory in a shutout since 1931.

Washington is the only BCS team without a win, and this game could be every bit as bad as the one two weeks ago in Pullman.

USC actually dropped two spots in the coaches' poll following last week's hard-fought 17-10 win over Arizona in the desert, and that could put the Trojans in a foul mood. And Washington (0-7, 0-4) may be powerless to slow down USC, which is bidding for a record seventh straight Pac-10 Conference title.

Here's another scary note for the Huskies - last week marked the fewest points the Trojans have scored in a win during the Pete Carroll regime.

USC snapped a 10-10 tie on Mark Sanchez's 30-yard touchdown pass to Stanley Havili midway through the third quarter and remained tied with Oregon atop the Pac-10 standings.

USC held an Arizona team that had been averaging 40 points a game to just 188 total yards. The Trojans lead the Football Bowl Subdivision in scoring defense, yielding only 8.1 points per game.

Conversely, Washington (0-7, 0-4) is 117th out of 119 schools in the FBS in scoring at just 16.1 points per game.

Last week, Willingham suffered a 33-7 loss to Notre Dame, his former team. Only a late score prevented the Huskies from being shut out at home for the first time since 1976.

In his fourth season at Washington, Willingham has an 11-32 record, but will be allowed to finish out the year.

Despite the apparent mismatch, Carroll should have no trouble getting get his players' attention this week in practice - all he has to do is bring up last year's game in Seattle. The Trojans escaped with a 27-24 win over Washington, overcoming three turnovers and 16 penalties.