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The No. 10-ranked USC football team is back on the road this week – this time, at No. 21 Notre Dame. As one of college football’s most historic rivalry games, all bets are off -- or, well, on -- to see who will take home the famed jeweled Shillelagh trophy.
For the first time this season, USC is not predicted to win the game on the betting line, with Notre Dame favored by two-and-a-half points, according to ESPN.
We spoke with some sports-betting USC students to gauge their thoughts on this weekend’s spread.
Senior Ryan Johnsen bet that USC would cover the spread, but he says he wouldn’t be surprised if the undefeated Trojans pick up their first loss.
Ryan Johnsen: “I can definitely see the reasoning behind that, just given our recent wins and how sloppy they’ve been, how our defense has looked, and so I wouldn’t be surprised going to a hostile environment if we ended up losing. That’s obviously not what I want, but it wouldn’t surprise me.”
So far this season, USC is 2-4 against the spread, meaning the Trojans have only beaten two teams by as many points as they’ve been predicted to.
In addition, with USC’s defensive front not performing as well as expected, sophomore Reed Rodman says he would bet on Notre Dame this Saturday.
Reed Rodman: “If the line was even and I was simply a betting man, not a USC fan, I would take Notre Dame, just because they do better against ranked teams. They allow less points.”
Third-year Carter Rocket-Munk agreed.
Carter Rocket-Munk: “I think that I believe in our offense. I don’t know if I technically believe in the defense, but we’ll see.”
However, Rodman says, despite the Trojans’ defensive struggles, it’s really hard to bet against last year’s Heisman winner, Caleb Williams.
Rodman: “You don’t want to go against a potential double Heisman candidate like Caleb Williams, but with their defense, we haven’t really seen Caleb Williams against a high level defense like this.”
The Trojans take on the Fighting Irish in South Bend Saturday at 7:30 Eastern.
For Annenberg Media, I’m Cam Kauffman.