By Stephen Nover
UNLV plus 26 at USC
UNLV is a borderline bowl team and catch USC at a good time. The Trojans are breaking in several new players, including three offensive linemen and have replaced Sam Darnold with true freshman JT Daniels. I’m high on Daniels, I just question how good and turnover-free he will be in his first start.
Southern Cal has huge look-ahead games the next two weeks with road matchups looming against Stanford and Texas. So this is an excellent situational spot for UNLV.
The Trojans care far more about upcoming Pac-12 rival Stanford than a middle-of-the-road Mountain West Conference foe such as UNLV. The Rebels are going to be far more enthused about this matchup than USC. The southern California region is prime recruiting area for UNLV.
The Rebels own the firepower to hang in against USC. Rebels quarterback Armani Rogers is a dual threat, one of the best in the Mountain West. Rogers is from LA so he certainly won’t lack motivation. Rogers can make big plays and he has talented receiving targets and stud running back Lexington Thomas, who rushed for 1,336 yards while averaging 6.3 yards per carry last year.
USC lost much of its pass rushers from last season and will be without injured Porter Gustin, one of its best defensive players.
The Trojans haven’t been good as chalk versus lesser foes under Clay Helton, while the Rebels have proven to be an excellent road underdog covering 11 of their last 15 games as an away ‘dog under Tony Sanchez. UNLV is 6-1 in its past seven road contests.
