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Week 4 Score Prediction Thread - vs. USC

Michchamp

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Aug 4, 2011
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Saturday, September 21, 2024 @ 3:30 PM ET, #18 MICHIGAN HOSTS THE #11 UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA on CBS!

Line: USC -5.5; o/u 44.5
Sagarin Prediction: Michigan by 1

This will be the 11th All-Time meeting between the programs. USC holds a 6-4 lead in the series, and is on a 3 game win streak, going back to January 1, 1990. Our last win vs. USC was in the Rose Bowl, on January 1, 1989.

First game in the series was the 1948 Rose Bowl, a 49-0 Michigan win.

The teams last played in the Rose Bowl on January 1, 2007.

About Our Opponent:
We were still on the old ESPN boards when we last played, so we haven't done one of these for USC yet. Here goes:

Founding.
USC was founded in 1880, by the efforts of one Robert Widney, who secured funding from a local rich Protestant, Catholic, and a Jew. They were like "Okay, that covers all the bases of religions that matter here!" Originally affiliated with the Methodist Church, the school's charter held that no student would be denied admission because of race. That's good.

Initially, USC had no mascot or identity for its sports teams, being known unofficially as the "Fighting Methodists" (do Methodists fight?), until 1912 when, after being soundly beaten by Stanford in every sport, a local columnist wrote that these Fighting Methodists fought on against the odds like Trojans. Well, everyone decided that was a better nickname, and so they became the Trojans.

And (I'm making this part up) he also suggested instead of having a bunch of crusty old Methodist preachers on the sideline giving everyone shit, have some attractive coeds from the University stand there and cheer the team on... giving us the "Song Girls"
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Some say "USC" stands for the "University of Spoiled Children" and according to friends of mine from LA, that title is apt. USC was also in the news more recently for the "Varsity Blues" admissions scandal involving brainless spoiled children's parents getting them admitted to universities they were not otherwise qualified for, and the preferential treatment given to a member of the Qatari royal family who received a bachelor's degree and masters from the school despite not actually meeting any sort of enrollment standards or completing any coursework. Spoiled children indeed. American meritocracy!

Famous Alumni.

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Probably USC's most famous alumni... former running back and actor OJ Simpson!

Al Cowlings!
Cowlings-Al-3-350x350.jpg

I love that a lot of the pics of this incident online are autographed!

Marcus Allen!
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...but enough about football guys.

They also have George Lucas!
george-lucas-explains-why-hes-done-with-star-wars.jpg


Neil Armstrong!
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John Wayne!
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former Lakers owner Jerry Buss!
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...AND his daughter, current Lakers owner Jeannie Buss!
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(she once posed for Playboy... but those pics are not safe for DSF)

Current Team.
USC is 2-0, with a high profile win in Vegas over LSU, and a blowout win of Utah St. Hard to say how good either of those teams are... LSU is 2-1 now, but both wins were wild affairs, and USU is 1-2, with a sound loss to Utah, and a win over an FCS team.

Roster.
USC's offense is fairly young, although they're all returning USC players; only one transfer (RB Woody Marks who came from Miss. St.) They're lead by RS-JR QB, Miller Moss, who had one (1) start prior to this year, throwing six (6) TDs in USC's Holiday Bowl appearance when Caleb Williams sat the game out.

USC's defense is a bigger issue; they've been a weak link on otherwise good USC teams for a couple years now, and USC hit the transfer portal hard to change that; 6 of 11 Defensive starters are 1st year transfers. Their DC is a fairly young guy; D'Anton Lynn is only 34. A former Penn St. CB, he most recently was a DC for UCLA under Chip Kelly.

One thing I noticed about both their wins, is that LSU and USU's RBs had pretty decent yards per carry... but carried the ball very few times. LSU might've been able to win if they pounded the ball. Assuming that's a statistical signal, that could be huge for us, since I imagine with Orgy as the starter, we're going to be a run-first, run-often team this week.

So go ahead and make your predictions, and post some analysis if you choose, but as always, leave the woofing and barking for other threads!!
 
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