#2 USC vs. #21 Stanford
Where: Stanford Stadium, Stanford, CA C3QQSSC3FB4V
When: Saturday at 7:30 PM ET on FOX
Last time they met: Stanford won 56-48 in triple overtime in 2011
It’s hard to believe, but thanks in no small part to a guy named Andrew Luck, Matt Barkley is 0-3 against Stanford in his career at Southern Cal. Last year, these teams competed in what was one of the best games of the season with Stanford pulling off an epic triple overtime victory. This year, with Luck out of the picture, the Trojans come in favored against a Stanford team that is still trying to find its new identity after barely sneaking by San Jose State and pounding Duke.
Barkley tossed 6 touchdown passes against Syracuse in New York last weekend, but the Trojans looked lethargic and very beatable in their 42-29 win over Cuse. Josh Nunes has looked solid in Stanford’s first few games, but hasn’t been asked to do too much.
For Irish fans, a DVR viewing of this game (since it overlaps with Notre Dame’s visit to East Lansing) should give a bit of perspective on two of the better opponents we will see in 2012. As I have mentioned before, I actually felt Stanford was quite overrated coming into the season, though only beating San Jose State by 3 was still shocking to me. The Trojans are favored by 8 points, and I expect Barkley, Robert Woods and Marquise Lee to pick apart the Cardinal defense for a relatively easy victory in Palo Alto. Final Score: USC 34, Stanford 20.
Previous predictions:
[table “” not found /]Twibby’s 2012 Record vs. Spread: 2-0
Proof that, sooner or later, everyone comes around to love the Irish.
After growing up as a Notre Dame hating, misguided youth, it only took one visit to campus during high school for Twibby to realize the error of his ways. From that point on Twibby and the Irish have had what can only be described as a true Hollywood love story. When he's not reminiscing about his time in South Bend and pondering ways to get a 5th year of eligibility as a student, Twibby writes about Notre Dame and the rest of the college football world for HLS. Along with the Irish, he is a diehard fan of the Chicago Bears, Bulls, Blackhawks and Cubs with a strange affection for Northwestern Wildcats football.
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