USC Trojans vs Minnesota Golden Gophers Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 10/05/24

USC has its first Big Ten win of the year after defeating the Wisconsin Badgers 38-21 in Southern California. The Trojans will look to continue their momentum as they travel north to Minneapolis, Minnesota to take on the Minnesota Golden Gophers. USC is currently 3-1 with their only loss coming on the road to Michigan. Junior quarterback Miller Moss has been great this season, throwing for 1,198 yards and 8 touchdowns in 4 starts. The Trojans ask Miller to throw the ball a lot. In the past 2 games against Wisconsin and Michigan, Miller has thrown the ball a combined 96 times for nearly 600 yards passing and 6 touchdowns. It is clear that head coach Lincoln Riley has brought his high-octane offense to the Big Ten this season. Moss’s favorite target this season has been sophomore receiver Ja’Kobi Jones. Jones has been on the receiving side of half of Moss’s 8 touchdown passes this season.

The Golden Gophers find themselves in a tough spot, currently 0-2 in the Big Ten Conference and going head-to-head against the 11th-ranked team in the nation. Minnesota was down big most of the game against Michigan until they scored 21 points in the 4th to bring the final score to 27-24 in favor of Michigan. Senior quarterback Max Brosmer is coming off two mediocre performances against two top defenses in Iowa and Michigan. He threw for a combined 467 yards, 3 touchdowns and 3 interceptions between the 2 games. In both outings it was a tale of two halves for the Gophers. Against Iowa, Minnesota looked like the better team in the first half before falling apart in the second half. It was the opposite against Michigan where the Gophers didn’t come alive until the second half. If they can put together a full 60-minute performance at home against USC, this can be a close game. Defensively, the Gophers struggle against the run but are an above average defensive team against the pass with defensive back Justin Walley and defensive end Jah Joyner to rush the passer. I have the Gophers providing a full game effort against USC and keeping this game close on their home field.

USC vs Minnesota prediction: Minnesota +8.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable at that number.

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