USC Football: Staff predictions vs. Washington Huskies

The USC Football Trojans are once again ranked in the top-25 and are taking on another ranked opponent in the Washington Huskies.

The USC football team is 3-1 after four games and the Trojans are 2-0 against ranked opponents this year. USC beat both Stanford and Utah in the first four weeks, both of which were at the LA Coliseum.

In their fifth game of the year, the Trojans have a new test as they are tasked with taking on the Washington Huskies in Washington. The Huskies are ranked 17th in the country, whereas the Trojans are ranked 21st, and will present quite the challenge.

USC is onto their third-sting quarterback but doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. There definitely is an interesting narrative surrounding this game. Here is how the LA Sports Hub staff sees it playing out.

Jamaal Artis (3-5): 30-21, Washington

USC has a lot going for them with a 3-1 record seemingly a great achievement considering that they’ve lost their starting quarterback to injury, their back up is in a concussion protocol, and their third-string quarterback had one foot out the door before deciding to come back from transferring.

The fact that the team has continued to play well is a testament to their coach Clay Helton, who despite being unpopular, has kept his team going in the right direction.

Saturday they play the Washington Huskies on the road and all the happy feelings will come crashing down. The Huskies will use a defensive effort to stymie the Trojans and put Helton back on the hot seat.

Hil Lopez (3-4): 27-20, Washington

USC comes into Washington coming off an emotional win against Utah 30-23 at home. They will face a Washington who has won their last two games but is 0-1 in conference play with their lone loss against California at home.

It is unknown who will start at quarterback for USC since Kedon Slovis went out with a concussion last game as junior Matt Fink stepped in. Regardless, whoever steps in as quarterback may not fare well against the Huskies secondary as they allow only 213 passing yards per game.

USC’s running attack will do better than last game, but ultimately I do not expect them to win this game. Washington will be hungry to get their first conference opener.

Redan Lopez (3-5): 35-20, Washington

While USC looked good in a 30-23 win over Utah last week with 3rd stringer Quarterback Matt Fink, they should come down earth a little in this one. Washington seems to have figured out its offensive issues after a close 20-19 opening loss to the California Golden Bears. Washington should pull away from the Trojans in the 2nd half.

Jason Reed (3-5): 23-20, Washington

This is going to be a close game as I think the USC football team will prove that they deserve to be a ranked team and will not live up to the high betting lines on this game.

However, as we saw with Utah when they came into LA last week, there is a huge home-field advantage in college football and Washington is going to benefit from that. The chilly, brisk Seattle air will definitely play a factor as the Trojans will make one more mistake than the Huskies to lose the game.

A loss is never the end result that is wanted but fans will be happy with how the Trojans perform against Washington, even in a losing effort.