The college football world gets its first up-close look at highly-touted USC true freshman quarterback JT Daniels (at least we think) when the No. 15 Trojans open their season on Sept. 1 as huge NCAAF betting favorites against UNLV.
QBs coach Bryan Ellis said decision making, more than timing and accuracy, will be the determining factor between Daniels, Matt Fink, and Jack Sears (himself a former touted recruit) stand. Daniels has the highest upside, has shown tremendous poise in camp and he knows the offense despite only being on campus for a couple of months. Daniels has big shoes to fill with how good Darnold was the past few years.
The starting tailback job isn’t as clear between senior Aca’Cedric Ware and Stephen Carr. The former five-star Carr has the talent to take the job outright, but it will probably resemble a committee. Ware probably gets the early start. USC has a terrific group of receivers in Tyler Vaughns, Michael Pittman, and Amon-Ra St. Brown. Vaughns and Pittman are perhaps the top duos in the Pac-12, while the freshman St. Brown lived up to his five-star status in camp.
Defensively, senior inside linebacker Cameron Smith was named a second-team preseason All-American by the Associated Press. Smith is coming off his first 100-tackle season (111 total tackles) and enters his senior year with a 273 career tackles, three fumble recoveries and four interceptions.
How to Bet UNLV at USC College Football Week 1 Lines & Game Info
Dalton Baker: a relentless Rebel seizing the opportunity@unlvfootball pic.twitter.com/g0X6wcedCg
— Jon Tritsch (@hometownJT) 23 de agosto de 2018
- When: Sept. 1, 4 PM ET
- Where: LA Memorial Coliseum
- TV: Pac-12 Network
- Stream: Pac-12 Plus
- Radio: TuneIn
- College Football Week 1 Lines: USC -25.5 (Total 62.5)
Utah State vs Michigan State NCAAF Week 1 Odds & Pick
Why Bet on UNLV?
Coach Tony Sanchez is just 12-24 in three seasons at UNLV. While his teams have won at least one more game each year, the Rebels still have yet to qualify for a bowl game. Last year, the Rebs were 5-7 – a win in the regular-season finale would have made them bowl-eligible but they lost at Nevada 23-16. This year’s UNLV team is more equipped than ever to post a winning record and play in its first bowl game since 2013. Quarterback Armani Rogers garnered Mountain West Freshman of the Year honors despite missing two games with a concussion. He the sixth Rebel to be named a conference freshman of the year and fourth since the Mountain West formed in 1999. Rogers Jon Denton (1996 as part of the WAC) as the only UNLV quarterbacks to be named a league freshman of the year. Rogers broke the program records for both rushing yards in a season by a freshman and rushing yards in a season by a quarterback with 780. Also shattered the school record for rushing yards in a game by a quarterback with 193 in a victory at New Mexico. He set the UNLV record for rushing touchdowns by a freshman in a season with eight and ranked 64th in the nation in rushing with 78.0 yards per game. He passed for six more scores, completing 99 of 189 attempts for 1,471 yards and five interceptions. Rogers was one of only five players in the nation who averaged at least 140 yards passing per game and 75 yards rushing per game in 2017 — joining Lamar Jackson (Louisville), Quinton Flowers (USF), Nick Fitzgerald (Mississippi State) and Khalil Tate (Arizona). The Rebels also have one of the MW’s best running backs in Lexington Thomas. After running for 1,330 yards last year, Thomas is just 1,250 yards away from becoming UNLV’s all-time leading rusher. UNLV rushed for 230.7 yards per game in 2017 (19th in the nation). UNLV recorded 19 takeaways and committed 12 turnovers, which ranked them 25th in the nation in turnover margin per game. Ball security has been a strong suit of the team under Sanchez.Why Bet on USC?
USC finished atop of the Pac-12 at 11-3 but ended the 2017-18 season with an underwhelming 24-7 loss to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. The Trojans saw a significant talent drain after winning their first Pac-12 title since 2008 last season, with quarterback Sam Darnold, running back Ronald Jones II, wide receiver Deontay Burnett and defensive lineman Rasheem Green all declaring for the NFL draft early. USC starting cornerback Jack Jones was also deemed academically ineligible for 2018 and removed from the team for an off-the-field incident. Technically, USC coach Clay Helton hasn’t announced his starting quarterback yet, but it will be an absolute stunner if it’s not true freshman J.T. Daniels. If it’s base on the competitors’ performances in camp, it’s going to be him. In the two scrimmages, he completed a combined 17 of 21 passes for four touchdowns. His pedigree as the Gatorade national football player of the year out of Santa Ana Mater Dei (where Matt Barkley also starred) preceded him, but he has matched the hype at just 18 years old.
QBs coach Bryan Ellis said decision making, more than timing and accuracy, will be the determining factor between Daniels, Matt Fink, and Jack Sears (himself a former touted recruit) stand. Daniels has the highest upside, has shown tremendous poise in camp and he knows the offense despite only being on campus for a couple of months. Daniels has big shoes to fill with how good Darnold was the past few years.
The starting tailback job isn’t as clear between senior Aca’Cedric Ware and Stephen Carr. The former five-star Carr has the talent to take the job outright, but it will probably resemble a committee. Ware probably gets the early start. USC has a terrific group of receivers in Tyler Vaughns, Michael Pittman, and Amon-Ra St. Brown. Vaughns and Pittman are perhaps the top duos in the Pac-12, while the freshman St. Brown lived up to his five-star status in camp.
Defensively, senior inside linebacker Cameron Smith was named a second-team preseason All-American by the Associated Press. Smith is coming off his first 100-tackle season (111 total tackles) and enters his senior year with a 273 career tackles, three fumble recoveries and four interceptions.
How to Bet San Diego State at Stanford NCAA Football Week 1 Odds
Latest College Football Week 1 Betting Trends
- Nevada-Las Vegas is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
- Nevada-Las Vegas is 8-15 SU in its last 23 games
- The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Nevada-Las Vegas’s last 6 games on the road
- Southern California is 3-9 ATS in its last 12 games
- Southern California is 20-3 SU in its last 23 games
- Trojans are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games in September
- Trojans are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 non-conference games
- Rebels are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games in September
- Rebels are 1-4-1 ATS in their last 6 vs. Pac-12
