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Tennessee football: Vols, SEC and Top 25 predictions for Week 2 of 2018

By Caleb Calhoun

KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images)
KNOXVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 15: A view of the outside of Neyland Stadium before a game between the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers on September 15, 2012 in Knoxville, Tennessee. (Photo by John Sommers II/Getty Images) /
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Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images
Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images /

No. 15 USC Trojans at No. 13 Stanford Cardinal

Saturday, Sept. 8 at 8:30 p.m.; Stanford Stadium; Stanford, Calif.

TV: Fox; Line: Stanford -4; Over/Under: 56.5

Garrett Sanders

Heisman Hopeful Bryce Love was anything but a Heisman Hopeful last week. That was against a sub-par San Diego State defense. Could it have been just a bad day for Love? More than likely. USC did not look great at stopping the run against UNLV. Just imagine what Love will do against the Trojan defense. Even if that isn’t enough, the Cardinal air attack isn’t too bad either.

After USC playing the way they did against UNLV, I’m no longer sold on this team. I could be overreacting here, but I don’t feel confident in USC beating Stanford on the road. Stanford will find a way to exploit USC’s run defense with Love carrying the load. Stanford’s Defense will also find a way to shut down USC’s Offense as well.

Stanford: 28 USC: 10 (Stanford -4; Under)

Billy Williford

When the University of Southern California and Stanford get together even the SEC homers pay attention. I’m not suggesting Washington is out of the playoff race with their loss to Auburn. But, whichever team can when this game has a leg up in the Pac-12. Stanford is at home and that could go a long way in this rivalry. The Cardinal have won nine straight home games. However, USC has won two straight games in this series.

JT Daniels looked good filling in for the now NFL quarter Sam Donald but he is young and USC isn’t great against the spread in September. In fact in their last 17 games  the road in the month of September they have only covered the spread three times.

Stanford: 24 USC: 17 (Stanford -4; Under)

Caleb Calhoun

The USC Trojans lost Tyson Helton, their quarterbacks expert, to Tennessee football, they lost their quarterback, Sam Darnold, to the NFL. So even with JT Daniels back there, the attrition is going to cause some major bumps in the road. On top of that, they gave up 21 points in their first game to the UNLV Rebels. So traveling to face the Stanford Cardinal is not a good situation for these guys.

David Shaw’s team won their opener despite an ugly first-half offense. Still, Bryce Love is on the team, and USC just gave up over 300 yards rushing. So this is going to be ugly. I’ve got the Cardinal actually winning comfortably. They may fall behind early, but Love will take control in the second half and help show that Stanford is currently the class of the Pac-12.

Stanford: 27 USC: 13 (Stanford -4; Under)

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