USC is having quite the season. One week after a dominant victory over Washington State in its first game removed from the Clay Helton firing, it laid a dud and was blown out at home 45-27 by Oregon State.
With their coach already fired, where do the Trojans go from here? Do they have enough left in the tank to get by a struggling Colorado team?
Find out with our free college betting picks and predictions for USC vs. Colorado on Saturday, October 2.
USC vs Colorado odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
The line has remained steady, as USC opened as 7-point favorites at most books and that’s where it currently sits as of the time of this writing. Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full college football odds before placing your bets.
USC vs Colorado picks
Picks made on 09/28/2021 at 11:27 a.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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USC vs Colorado game info
• Location: Folsom Field, Boulder, CO
• Date: Saturday, October 2, 2021
• Time: 2:00 p.m. ET
• TV: Pac-12 Network
USC vs Colorado betting preview
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NCAA football weather info.
Key injuries
USC: Jaxson Dart QB (Doubtful), Kenan Christon RB (Questionable), Adonis Otey CB (Questionable), Frank Martin II OL (Questionable), Maninoa Tufono DL (Questionable), Josh Falo TE (Questionable), Kyle Ford WR (Questionable).
Colorado: La’Vontae Shenault WR (Doubtful), Maurice Bell WR (Out), J.T. Shrout QB (Out).
Find our latest NCAA football injury reports.
Betting trend to know
Colorado is 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games as a home underdog. Find more NCAA betting trends for USC vs Colorado. Find more NCAA betting trends for USC vs. Colorado.
USC vs Colorado predictions
Colorado +7 (+100)
Admittedly, this is a tough one to stomach. The Buffaloes have been struggling mightily this year and feature one of the worst offenses in the entire country. The coaching staff clearly doesn’t have faith in quarterback Brendon Lewis, who's completing only 52.1 percent of his passes for 4.3 yards per attempt.
So why are we backing them in this spot? The team they’re playing isn’t inspiring much confidence at the moment either, as the Trojans are currently in a tailspin after firing Helton following their second game of the season.
They already have two terrible losses on their resume with blowout defeats to Stanford and Oregon State. It isn’t simply the fact that they lost those games, it’s the manner in which they’ve done so. First, USC lost by two scores to a Stanford team that looked inept the week before, which led to Helton’s dismissal. Then it allowed 535 yards at home to the Beavers in a game that USC never looked competitive in.
This could be a spot for Colorado’s rushing offense to finally get back on track. The Beavers rushed for 322 yards and two scores a week ago on this Trojans defensive front, so you know that the Buffaloes’ coaching staff will be looking to find success on the ground in this one.
Folsom Field is simply a tough trip for any team to make, especially for a Trojans team fresh off a beatdown loss. Colorado is 6-2 ATS in its last eight games as a home underdog, so you know this is a tough spot to lay many points.
This home team has also fared well in this matchup, going 6-1-1 ATS in the last eight meetings between these two schools. While it’s hard to have much confidence in either side at this juncture, we’ll take the points with the home team.
Under 51 (-110)
Colorado has been a straight Under team this year, going 1-3 O/U so far. Its first three games went Under by a combined 68.5 points.
That's the product of a struggling offense and a pretty good defense. The Buffaloes rank 128th in the country with only 239 yards of offense per game, so USC’s poor defense (79th) shouldn’t be tested too much here.
Colorado’s defense features a solid front seven led by linebacker Nate Landman (32 tackles, 5 TFL) that should limit a bad USC running game (109th in rushing yards). While USC does have a good passing attack (17th in the country with 308 passing yards per game), quarterback Kedon Slovis hasn’t been efficient, averaging only 6.5 yards per attempt.
I’d certainly feel more worried about this one hitting the Over if USC quarterback Jaxson Dart is able to return from injury but that sounds highly doubtful as he’s considered “week-to-week” following meniscus surgery. The offense looked much more dangerous with Dart at quarterback, as Slovis has struggled with injuries and efficiency for two straight years.
We'll take the Under until Colorado proves it won't cash Under tickets all year long.
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