Alumni Stadium in Chestnut Hill, MA, at 5 p.m. PT on ESPN and Watch ESPN
Eagle to Watch: Senior QB Tyler Murphy
The Florida transfer has been dynamic with his legs this season, although not always accurate with his arm. The veteran QB has doubled up any Eagles running back in terms of rush yardage, but he is only completing 52% of his passes. So far, how he goes, BC goes. He was outstanding in the win over UMass (173 pass yards and 118 rush yards accounting for 2 TDs), but ordinary in the loss to Pitt (134 pass yards and 92 rush yards accounting with 2 interceptions).Click here for more on the Eagles.
3 Keys
The L Word
The Trojans' biggest job this week is to avoid the dreaded letdown against a seemingly inferior opponent after an emotional game on the road. Steve Sarkisian has seen no signs of complacency this week during practice, and the team leaders understand the task at hand. By all evidence, the Trojans are more talented than the Eagles, so if they bring the same intensity as last week, the long flight home will be a celebratory one.
First of Many
In Tyler Murphy, USC will face its first true mobile quarterback of the new season, but certainly not its last. The Eagles rank 26th in the nation in rushing largely because Murphy is averaging 105 yards per game with his legs. While Murphy is not Brett Hundley or Marcus Mariota, he is a good first test for the USC defense which will spend much of the rest of the season chasing around speedy quarterbacks.
Restart the Ferrari
The Trojans raced out of the gate against Fresno State sporting a shiny new uptempo offense, which dropped 52 points in three quarters. However, USC never found its rhythm in Palo Alto, and the offense resorted to ground and pound trying to balance out the disparity in time of possession. Assuming the defense can provide more opportunities for the offense, the Trojans can start to rack up the play total that set records in week one and enabled Cody Kessler to distribute the ball to 10 different playmakers.
