College GameDay Crew picks vs. USC

The USC Trojans look to get back on track with a win over the No. 4 ranked Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday afternoon at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

ESPN’s College Gameday team watched and selected the game on Saturday morning. What did they say about the Trojans?

College game day live from Eugene, Oregon

ESPN’s College Gameday broadcast live Saturday morning from Eugene, Oregon, featuring a top-three showdown between the No. 3 Oregon Ducks and the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes.

Since Lee Corso could not be present for health reasons, the team was not represented at full strength on match day. Kirk Herbstreit was there at the start of the show but had to leave early to fly to Texas for the Oklahoma-Texas Red River Rivalry. Herbstreit will announce the game, which begins at 12:30 p.m. PST.

Everyone prefers Penn State to USC

The entire game day squad of Desmond Howard, Nick Saban, Pat McAfee, Kirk Herbstreit and guest player Kaitlin Olson all picked the Nittany Lions to go to the Coliseum and emerge with a win.

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the Nittany Lions are currently the away favorite by 3.5 points.

“Big Ten football was tough for USC. I think that continues to this day. Give me Penn State to beat USC,” Pat McAfee said.

The Trojans are off to a double start in their first season as a member of the Big Ten.

It could be a good thing for USC that everyone decided against them. The Curse of the Picks Graphic Could Befall Penn State.

Can Trojans cause excitement?

The USC Trojans had a dream start to the 2024 season. USC played a tremendous neutral site game against a strong No. 13 LSU team. USC then defeated the Utah State Aggies 48-0 and went 2-0 Balance sheet for the bye week.

After the bye, USC went to the Big House in Ann Arbor and lost to the Michigan Wolverines 27-24. It looked like USC was back on track the following week against Wisconsin, but they immediately followed that up with a 24-17 loss to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Penn State is 5-0 and has one of the best defenses in the country. If the Trojans want to beat them, they need to be able to give quarterback Miller Moss time in the pocket. Against Michigan and Minnesota, the Trojans’ offensive line was outplayed, which led to several Moss turnovers. Moss also blocked way too many shots from defenders. I expect Trojans coach Lincoln Riley to come into Saturday’s game with more creative pass blocking schemes.

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