The USC Trojans have opened up as 8.5-point favorites against the Nebraska Cornhuskers when the two face each other on Nov. 16 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, according to oddsmakers at Draft Kings. The Trojans and Cornhuskers are both on a bye this week.

USC Trojans Favored…Again

For some reason, the oddsmakers love making the USC Trojans favorites in seemingly every football game in 2024. The Trojans have been the odds-on favorites to win outright in four of their five losses this season. The lone game where USC lost as an underdog was a home overtime defeat to the Penn State Nittany Lions.

In the other four losses, they were favored over Michigan, Minnesota, Maryland, and Washington. The good news for USC heading into next Saturday’s contest against Nebraska is that they will be playing at home. The Trojans have been a good home team this year with a record of 3-1. The road games have been disastrous, going winless in four games, 0-4. Additionally, they won their lone neutral sight game vs. LSU in the season opener. 

In their last game. USC lost at Washington 26-21.

A Disappointing 4-5 Season

The 2024 USC Trojans were once flying high at 2-0 and ranked No. 11 in the country. Quarterback Miller Moss looked like a dark horse Heisman Trophy candidate. Coach Lincoln Riley looked like he had found a superstar defensive coordinator in D’Anton Lynn. Since then, it has gone downhill.

USC has lost five of their last seven games to fall to 4-5 on the season and 2-5 in Big Ten conference play. Miller Moss was just benched for sophomore quarterback Jayden Maiava. The defense has improved much from last year under first-year defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, but they have struggled to finish games late. Ultimately, the one who will take the blame for what has happened is coach Lincoln Riley. 

There is pressure mounting on Lincoln Riley to right the ship and to do it fast. It’s year three for Riley at USC, and the Trojans have regressed in each season from 11 wins in year one, to 8 in year two, and to 4 so far in year three. Riley has stressed multiple times in postgame press conferences that the Trojans are just a few plays away from having three or four of those losses turn into wins. 

The bottom line is wins and losses. Riley is expected to know how to finish games when there is an opportunity, especially when the defense hasn’t been as much to blame as it was last year.

Can they finish off on a strong note this year, starting with Nebraska?

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