Utah vs USC Picks & Odds – Utes Laying 4.5; USC 1-12 as Underdogs Under Clay Helton

• Utah (3-0) are road favorites Friday night when they take on USC (2-1)
• Utes RB Zack Moss has already racked up 373 rushing yards and four touchdowns
• USC is 1-12 as an underdog under current head coach Clay Helton

Here’s an important lesson to remember in college football – sometimes you need to forget the brand and focus solely on the teams.

USC is a traditional college football power program, but they are the clear underdogs at home Friday night (Sep. 20, 9:00 PM ET). Despite the Trojans getting as many as 4.5 points, all signs point to #10 Utah as the correct play for a variety of reasons

Utah Utes vs USC Trojans Odds

*Odds taken 9/19

RB Zack Moss Should Run Wild Against USC

The Utah vs USC odds lead you to believe this could be a long night for the Trojans and the numbers back that up. In ESPN’s team efficiency rankings, which take into account strength of schedule, Utah sits 14th on offense thanks in large part to dynamic running back Zack Moss.

Moss has been held to less than 4.0 yards per carry only once in the last 15 games. So far this year, he has racked up 373 yards and four touchdowns.

Zack Moss looking like Marshawn Lynch 🚚

(via @Pac12Network)pic.twitter.com/Aa0uXQ1XtM

— Bleacher Report CFB (@BR_CFB) September 7, 2019

The biggest weakness of either team appears to be USC on defense. They rank 56th in defensive efficiency and could be in for a long night once Moss gets rolling.

Utes Defense Will Pose Problems For Trojans

Utah ranks 16th defensively and may be able to shut down USC’s methodical offense. They have given up only 239.3 yards per game which is 8th-best nationally. They also rank 8th with four interceptions. In addition to shutting down the opposition, they’ve added two touchdowns themselves.

.@YogiRoth just compared @Utah_Football's Jaylon Johnson and Julian Blackmon to another famous defensive duo. 💥

Watch Inside Pac-12 Football on Pac-12 Now: https://t.co/ZhZuI5ezsa pic.twitter.com/KUePWEkwHa

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) September 18, 2019

Starting QB JT Daniels was hurt in the opener for USC and has been replaced by true freshman Kedon Slovis. He’s been good filling in but has also shown some poor decision-making.

Slovis was intercepted in overtime last week against BYU costing the Trojans the game. It was his third interception of the game and, if he can’t tidy that up this week against Utah, this scoreline could get out of hand in a hurry.

Little Reason To Believe In USC Under Helton

USC has put up very little when listed as the underdog during Clay Helton’s reign. They have won only once in 13 tries as the underdog which is a startlingly poor record for a program as storied as USC.

Utah cracked the top 10 in the rankings this week, which is their highest ranking since 2015. The new favorites in the PAC-12 deserve to be considerable favorites in this game and I would bet them at anything less than a touchdown.

Take the Utes and expect this to be another notch in the “fire Clay Helton” belt.

PICK: Utah -4.5 (-110)