A top-25 battle in the Big Ten is on tap for Saturday as USC visits Illinois. USC enters the game undefeated and already with two wins in the conference. Meanwhile, Illinois is coming off its first defeat of the year, as the Illini fell to Indiana. Both teams are trying to prove that they are Big Ten contenders, and these are bold predictions on the upcoming Week 5 clash.
USC has been great this year. The team opened the year against one of the newest FBS teams, dominating Missouri State 73-13. The next week, USC welcomed Clay Helton back, but USC dominated Georgia Southern, winning 59-20. The Trojans then opened up Big Ten play on the road, beating Purdue 33-17. Then, last week, USC defeated Michigan State 45-31.
Meanwhile, Illinois is now 3-1 on the year. After dismantling Western Illinois 52-3, the Illini hit the road and defeated Duke 45-19. This jumped Illinois into the top ten of the AP Top 25. The next week, Illinois took care of Western Michigan and prepared for a tough road test against Indiana. The game was tied at seven mid-way through the first quarter, and then Indiana dominated. Indiana won the game 63-10. Now, Illinois looks to rebound against another tough opponent.
USC dominates early
USC has made a habit of opening up big leads in games. In Week 1, the Trojans scored touchdowns on all five of their first-half drives, and also had a defensive touchdown, opening up a 42-10 lead. They did not dominate as much against Georgia Southern. The Trojans fumbled on the first drive of the game, but still went on to score four touchdowns and a field goal while punting twice in the first half.
In Week 3 against Purdue, it was back to first-half domination. After a field goal on the first drive, the Trojans scored touchdowns on the next two. Then, the final drive of the half led to the end of the half. Finally, against Michigan State, the Trojans kicked a field goal on the first drive, prior to scoring three touchdowns and having one turnover on downs.
So far, in the first half, USC has completed 22 drives. This has led to 14 touchdowns, three field goals, a fumble, two punts, a turnover on downs, and one end of the half. The team also has a first-half defensive touchdown. Overall, the team has scored on 77 percent of the first-half drives for a total of 114 points.
Meanwhile, Illinois just gave up 35 first-half points to Indiana. The first one was on a blocked punt, and the other four were passing touchdowns by Fernando Mendoza. USC quarterback Jayden Maiava has passed for 974 yards and eight touchdowns in the first half so far this year. He also has three rushing touchdowns in the first half. This will all combine to a dominant first half by USC.
Luke Altmyer rebounds
Illinois coach Bret Bielema has had a ton of praise for quarterback Luke Altmyer this year. He is not coming off his best performance, though. Before the game with Indiana, Altmyer had thrown multiple touchdown passes, over 150 yards, and been sacked four or fewer times in each game. Against Indiana, he completed just 14 of 22 passes, his worst passing completion percentage of the year. Further, he passed for just 146 yards and one touchdown, both the lowest of the season. Finally, he was sacked seven times in the game.
USC has solid defense, ranking 37th in the nation in opponent points per game, while also 36th in opponent yards per game. Still, the pass defense has been the weaker point. The Trojans are 75th in the nation in opponent passing yards per game. USC does have a solid pass rush, though, so Altmyer needs to be protected better. Regardless, he will be better this week than against Indiana.
Jayden Maiava has a dominant performance
Maiava has been nearly perfect this year. He has completed 68 of 96 passes for 1,223 yards and nine touchdowns. The young quarterback has also not thrown an interception. He has also run for four touchdowns on the ground this year. USC is the number one offense in the nation in points per game, yards per game, and yards per play this year.
Maiava has done this while throwing just 26 passes in the second half. USC has built large enough leads that the offense has relied heavily on the ground game, and Maiava has been pulled multiple times this year.
Against a Big Ten opponent, especially a higher-quality one, it is unlikely Maiava gets placed on the bench in this game. USC may still focus on the ground game in the second half. Regardless, the quarterback will likely be able to throw more passes later in the game. That is just going to pad the stats. He is also expected to have Ja'Kobi Lane back in this game.
Illinois is ranked 86th in the nation in opponent passing yards per game and 105th in opponent passing yards per play. Indiana quarterback Mendoza just completed 21 of 23 passes for 267 yards and five touchdowns against Illinois. Maiava is going to be even better.
