NEVADA AT No. 6 USC
When: 3:30 p.m. Saturday
Where: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
TV/radio: Pac-12 Network/790 AM
Line: USC by 38
Notable absences: Nevada N/A, USC: OUT: Solomon Tuliaupupu (lower leg, season-ending surgery) Christian Roland-Wallace (suspended, out for first half)
What’s at stake? Nevada was one of the worst teams in the FBS last season, finishing 2-10 in head coach Ken Wilson’s first year at the helm. They brought in a slew of help from the transfer portal – new dual-threat quarterback Brendon Lewis (Colorado) and running back Sean Dollars (Oregon) should make things at least a little interesting Saturday – but this should fall as another tune-up game ultimately for USC. What’s mainly at stake then is reps as position battles rage on. Will anyone entrench their spot on the offensive or defensive lines? Or will a skill player break out like Zachariah Branch against San Jose State?
Who’s better? Not a single player on Nevada’s roster has ever thrown for more than 2,000 yards, rushed for 300, or caught for 500 in a single season. Amid a program overhaul under Wilson, they’re incredibly underclassman- and transfer-heavy despite pinpricks of talent, bringing vast inexperience Saturday to the Coliseum. It’s USC here, in the widest on-paper margin of any team on their schedule this season.
Matchup to watch: The Trojans’ run defense struggled noticeably at times in the first half against San Jose State last week to contain elusive quarterback Chevan Cordeiro and junior running back Quali Conley. That was Week 0 and, as rush end Jamil Muhammad said Tuesday, in part because of a new-look Trojans defensive line slotting together. Dollars will present a truer test to the cohesion of USC’s defensive front, a 5-foot-10 back with standout burst who’ll get the rock a lot Saturday. Watch if there’s an improvement, too, in how USC’s linebackers – particularly freshman Tackett Curtis and the rounding-into-form Eric Gentry – contain Lewis with a spy.
USC wins if: An apocalypse doesn’t suddenly hit Los Angeles at 3:30 p.m. Saturday. Let’s redefine the term “win” here, though. USC truly wins – beyond a likely lopsided scoreboard – if they contain Dollars, get key contributions down to the third string on the depth chart, and get a better handle on who’ll start toward the end of the season at a couple offensive line spots.
Prediction: USC 49, Nevada 13. Quarterback Caleb Williams will tee off, but this should be a prove-it game for a motivated defense.