USC @ Boston College preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 14, 2013 ) Boston College 7, Southern California 35

USC tries to avoid a letdown when the No. 10 Trojans travel to Boston College for a non-conference game Saturday night. USC is coming off a confidence-building 13-10 victory against then-No. 10 Stanford last weekend in a Pac-12 opener, getting a field goal from Andre Heidari with 2:30 left and forcing a game-clinching fumble in the final seconds. Boston College missed out on a 2-0 start last weekend by losing to Pittsburgh 30-20 in its ACC opener, following a 30-7 win against Massachusetts.

USC athletic director Pat Haden will surely lie low after he was fined $25,000 for confronting game officials during the win against Stanford. The incident followed the ejection of USC linebacker Hayes Pullard for targeting, and Pullard will also miss the first half against Boston College as part of the punishment. The Trojans are already without another suspended defensive standout, cornerback Josh Shaw, who suffered a pair of sprained ankles a week before the season opener and then lied about the cause.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN. LINE: USC -17

ABOUT USC (2-0): The Trojans continue to await the return of running back Tre Madden from turf toe and once their second-leading rusher from last season returns to the backfield USC will have its 1-2 punch from last season available. Javorius Allen continues to do a solid job handling a majority of the workload in the meantime, totaling 287 yards and a touchdown while averaging 6.4 yards a carry. Justin Davis, currently the second leading rusher for the Trojans, is averaging only 2.5 yards on his 20 carries.

ABOUT BOSTON COLLEGE (1-1): Tyler Murphy has already accomplished something no other Boston College quarterback has done in program history and that’s rush at least 100 yards in a game, something he accomplished against Massachusetts. He’ll need to be much more efficient with his throws than he was against Pittsburgh after he completed 10-of-28 with two interceptions. Dan Crimmins, at 6-5, 237 pounds, gives Murphy a big target at wide receiver and they’ve already hooked up nine times this season.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Boston College players are set to wear accessories trimmed in a red bandanna design in memory of Welles Crowther, a former Boston College athlete who died in one of the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

2. The last time the Trojans played at Boston College was 1988, when they made their debut on ESPN.

3. The Eagles are one of 16 schools in the country that returned its entire coaching staff from last season.

PREDICTION: USC 30, Boston College 16