The Fresno State Bulldogs bring their potent offense to the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl to face the USC Trojans.

Fresno State is all about putting points on the board and it led them to the Mountain West title with a victory over Utah State. That was a great performance considering this team saw their dream of an undefeated season go by the wayside on the final day of the regular season in a 62-52 loss to San Jose State. The Bulldogs were simply unstoppable offensively at 571 yards and 45 points behind Derek Carr and the top ranked passing attack that averaged 410 yards. Carr completed 70% of his throws for over 4,800 yards for 48 touchdowns and seven picks with Davante Adams, Josh Harper and Isaiah Burse combining for 290 catches for over 3,600 yards and 41 scores. The Bulldogs could run if they wanted too with the duo of Josh Quezada and Mateze Waller combining for over 1,400 yards on 273 totes and 13 TD’s. The defense gave up 425 yards and 29 points which was generally overkill.

There are always high expectations associated with USC football and they are in this order; win the National Championship. That hasn’t happened in awhile and new head coach Steve Sarkisian will be charged with changing that. The Trojans closed the season at 4-1 to go 9-4 despite an inconsistent offense that had scoring potential that never lived up to the hype on a weekly basis. Southern Cal totaled 392 yards and over 28 points did a little passing and a little throwing but didn’t excel at either. Cody Kessler threw for 2,623 yards on 64.5% for 16 touchdowns and six picks in a mistake free year through the air. Tre Madden (138-703) and Javorius Allen (108-699) carried the rushing attack with Allen reaching the end zone 13 times. The Trojans were a stout defense with 341 yards and 21 points given up and were in the top quarter of most categories. 

Fresno State averaged 45.7 ppg and USC averaged 28.5 ppg. USC definitely played the tougher schedule, but you can’t deny the sufficient up tempo offense that Fresno State possesses. USC’s defense was ranked 17th and only allowed 21.3 ppg during the regular season. Fresno State’s defense ranked 76th giving up 29.5 ppg. 

I think Fresno State looked great against Utah State in the MWC title game and I think they can hang with USC and that means grab +6 points here. 

Rickie Robbins

Rickie is a sports handicapper at Professors Picks and SportsCapping.Com