USC Trojans vs. Utah Utes Bets, Predictions and Odds

Sam Wagman Sports Betting Expert

3 minute read

These teams have already played against each other once this season, but now Utah and USC meet once again in the PAC-12 Championship this Friday night at 8:00 PM ET, clashing on the neutral field of Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada. In the first matchup, we witnessed one of the best college football games of the year so far, with Utah rallying big time to win 43-42 behind quarterback Cameron Rising's late-game heroics.

USC Trojans vs. Utah Utes Betting Prediction

This was a shootout the first time around. Both teams had over 550 total yards as all that mattered was the last drive where USC could just not stop Rising from driving down the field, scoring the touchdown and then converting the two-point try as well. Both teams have a ton on the line in this game as well, with USC safely ensconced in the top 4 currently and locked into the College Football Playoff with a win, while Utah earning a Rose Bowl spot with a win and a much lesser bowl with a loss. Both teams feel like they are going to get their yards and points, and with a point spread of 2.5 in favor of USC, this could once again come down to the final drive.

Score Prediction: USC 45, Utah 41

Best Bet: USC -2.5

More Odds | Futures Odds | CFP Central

USC Trojans vs. Utah Utes Betting Resources

• Date: Friday, December 2, 2022
• Matchup: Pac-12
• Venue: Allegiant Stadium
• Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
• Time-TV: 8 PM, FOX

Expert Picks

USC Trojans Betting Analysis

Caleb Williams has absolutely transformed this South California offense, putting them in charge of their destiny with the team currently holding the #4 spot in the College Football Playoff rankings. He's pretty much a lock to win the Heisman Trophy, completing nearly 66% of his passes for 3,712 yards and throwing for 34 touchdowns compared to only 3 interceptions, a very gaudy number that will no doubt excite the Heisman voters.

Apart from Williams, who is sure to have to another good game against Utah (he had 381 passing yards and 5 touchdowns in the first matchup), the Trojans also have future NFL WRs Jordan Addison and Mario Williams as well in their pocket, and their vast skillsets allow Williams to throw the ball downfield plenty of times. Addison figures to be a top 3 receiver in next year's draft class, and leads the team with 54 catches for 810 yards and 8 touchdowns this season.

Travis Dye going down a few weeks ago has hurt the true ceiling of this offense, but backups Austin Jones and Raleek Brown have picked up the slack in his absence, making defenses pay attention to them as well as the elite receiving options. All together, this Trojans offense is a scary beast to face, but they have playmakers on the defense as well despite not putting up the greatest defensive numbers.

The defense is led by star edge rusher Tuli Tuipulotu, who leads the country with 12.5 sacks. The defense as a whole is plus-23 in turnover margin as well, which makes them just as dangerous on that side of the football.

Utah Utes Betting Analysis

On the other side of this matchup, the Utes' statistics don't look nearly as gaudy as the top-heavy Trojans' do. They are led by QB Cameron Rising, who has focused mostly on finding his top tight end in Dalton Kincaid to move the chains. Rising has 2,627 passing yards to go along with 22 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, but also likes to contribute on the ground, rushing for nearly 400 yards and 6 touchdowns as well.

On the ground, the Utes are led by RB Tavion Thomas, who has rushed for 687 yards and 7 touchdowns this season. They also have had healthy contributions from Rising as well (his rushing stats are above). Micah Bernard is their third-down pass-catching back and he has 38 targets, which ranks third-highest on the team.

The passing attack is more of a committee-style approach, with the aforementioned Kincaid leading the way with 90 targets, 850 yards and 8 touchdowns this season. Devaughn Vele comes next with 81 targets and has nearly 600 yards as well, though Kincaid is nearly always the primary read and should see a ton of looks, as he had a career game in the first matchup earlier this season.

On the defensive side, Utah profiles as much stronger than USC, ranking 28th in the country in points per drive allowed. However, the Utes did allow stronger games to the better offenses they played, and obviously allowed over 500 yards to the Trojans the first time around. I'm just not sure that Utah can have the miracle performance that they had in the first matchup and I believe that the Trojans will get the better of them this time.

Sam Wagman

Sam Wagman is a fantasy football and sports betting content expert who has loved sports his entire life. He started covering all of the Philadelphia sports teams back in 2019 and switched over to fantasy football and sports betting in 2021, mostly delving into football and golf betting. He joined the VegasInsider team in 2022 and has written for sites like Footballguys and Fantasy Points as well. Sam is a diehard sports fanatic to the end and can frequently be found playing different sports. He likes golf the most, and is currently trying to break 80 before he breaks his clubs. He loves his dog Rocky, the beach, and driving with the windows down, though he's at his happiest when he's yelling at the TV for his bets to hit or his fantasy team to win. More from Sam Wagman