Las Vegas Bowl: USC vs. Fresno State

Rich Douglas

Matchup: USC vs. Fresno State
Line: USC -6.5. Total 62
Location: Las Vegas, NV ~ Sam Boyd Stadium

The Las Vegas Bowl features a matchup between two top 25 teams heading in different directions. USC will be without former Interim Coach Ed Orgeron after they opted to go with Steve Sarkisian to run the program. The Trojans still seem to have a ton of momentum now that the team is healthy and the defense is performing to their potential. Fresno State came one win away from earning a BCS at-large bid, but their defense let them down against a middling San Jose State team. Even so, Derek Carr is one of the most talented Quarterbacks in the country and will look to cap his college career with a win.

Keys to Victory for USC
-Their solid secondary needs to have continued success. They're only giving up 214 yards through the air per game in a conference that loves to air out the ball.
-Silas Redd is out. Davorious Allen will have to shoulder the load for a running game that needs to support Cody Kessler.
-Marquise Lee will be looking to make a statement in this game. He'll certainly have a good shot at doing so against a terrible Bulldog secondary.
-Nelson Agholor is an excellent return man and will likely exploit a struggling special teams squad.


Keys to Victory for Fresno State
-The Bulldogs lead the nation with 73 passing plays of over 20 yards. Derek Carr and Davante Adams are the obvious stars on this offense and will have to have a big game against the best secondary they'll see all year.
-They're giving up 278 yards per game through the air. This can't happen against USC if they expect to win.The secondary is terrible, we know that. So Kyrie Wilson and Derron Smith to pressure the QB. For as disappointing as the defense has been, they recorded an impressive 8 sacks last week against Utah State to win the Mountain West Championship.

Prediction: I don't think this will be a shootout that Fresno State will be accustomed to. It's hard to determine whether or not USC will be amped up for this game after losing their beloved Coach O, but they should be able to pull out a victory if they remain focused.