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No. 15 USC Football Visits Colorado Looking To Clinch Pac-12 South
November 05, 2017 | Football, Features
*No. 15 USC can clinch a berth in the 2017 Pac-12 Football Championship Game as the Pac-12 South Division title representative if the Trojans post a victory this Saturday when they visit defending South champ Colorado.
*Troy has never lost to the Buffaloes in 11 tries.
*A November game in Boulder could be chilly (it was 29 degrees the last time USC played there). This will be the first day game for Troy in Boulder since 2002.
*USC secondary coach Ronnie Bradford will be coaching against his alma mater, where he won a national championship in 1990.
*Head coach Clay Helton's USC team, which continues to fight through injuries at key spots, features an offense that strives for balance while averaging 35 points and 492 yards a game (with 3 outings in 2017 of 600-plus yards) and an aggressive (11 sacks, 4 takeaways the last 2 games), bend-but-don't break defense that held a potent Arizona offense significantly under its averages in a crucial victory this past Saturday. Troy's offense lately has been riding TB Ronald Jones II, who has 410 rush yards the past 2 games and became the first Trojan in a dozen years to get back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons (he is among rarified company on USC's career rushing ladder), QB Sam Darnold (17-3 as a starter and in USC's career Top 10 in passing and total offense) and WRs Deontay Burnett and Tyler Vaughns (104 catches and 12 TDs between them). The past 2 games, USC's offensive line has opened holes to produce 330-plus yard rushing efforts while allowing just 4 sacks. The Trojan defense features ILB Cameron Smith (Troy's tackle leader for the second straight year), sack-leading DL Rasheem Green, OLB Uchenna Nwosu (9 deflections in 2017), S Chris Hawkins and CB Jack Jones (4 picks this year). USC's special teams produced a touchdown off a blocked punt versus Arizona.
*Defending Pac-12 South champion Colorado, which lost at Arizona State this past Saturday, needs a win to be bowl eligible. Head coach Mike MacIntyre, the 2017 Pac-12 Coach of the Year, has an offense guided by QB Steven Montez. TB Phillip Lindsay, first Buff with back-to-back 1,000-yard rushing seasons and CU's career all-purpose yards leader, ranks in the national Top 8 in all-purpose running and rushing. Veteran WRs Bryce Bobo, Shay Fields and Devin Ross are the Buff's top pass catchers. Defensively, CU features LBs Rick Gamboa and Drew Lewis, S Evan Worthington and DE Leo Jackson III. True freshman PK James Stefanou of Australia is No. 9 nationally in field goal percentage and field goals.
*The game will air on FOX.
*At the same time that the USC and Colorado football teams meet in Boulder, the schools' women's volleyball teams face off in Los Angeles.
