Jim Barnes’ college forecast: Bet on Texas, USC to respond to change

Did teams person a atrocious week, oregon did they amusement who they truly are?

Texas and Southern California looked arsenic atrocious arsenic they could past week aft coagulated opening wins. The Longhorns were crushed 40-21 astatine Arkansas and changed starting quarterbacks, and USC mislaid 42-28 astatine location to Stanford and fired manager Clay Helton.

Texas and USC are acold removed from their days arsenic top-tier nationalist powers, but they’re inactive a batch amended than they showed past week. The important changes astatine backmost for Texas and manager for USC should refocus the teams for the inferior opponents successful beforehand of them.

Junior Casey Thompson had to hold a agelong clip to get the starting motion for the Longhorns, including a crippled and a fractional this play aft freshman Hudson Card won the occupation successful grooming camp. Unlike Card, Thompson has the quality to marque plays with his feet, and helium rushed for 44 yards and 2 touchdowns successful the precocious stages against Arkansas.

Rice mislaid 44-7 past week to Houston and is conscionable the benignant of squad for the Longhorns to get good against. Lay the 25½ with Texas.

USC has a tougher duty astatine Pac-12 foe Washington State, but the Cougars haven’t shown overmuch this play successful a 26-23 opening nonaccomplishment to Utah State and a perfunctory 44-24 triumph implicit Portland State.

USC interim manager Donte Williams is connected the younger broadside astatine 39 and is the archetypal Black antheral to pb the Trojans. Here’s betting that they respond to him, astatine slightest for the archetypal crippled out. Lay 8½ with USC.

Three different plays for this week:

Ball State +7: Does Wyoming get recognition for gathering a 42-16 pb connected Northern Illinois oregon demerits for blowing it? The Cowboys scored precocious to propulsion retired a 50-43 triumph (and screen -6½ for me) aft Northern Illinois scored 4 consecutive TDs to instrumentality a 43-42 lead. I’m not comfy laying a touchdown with Wyoming again. Ball State couldn’t bent with Penn State successful a 44-13 nonaccomplishment past week, but the Cardinals should find overmuch easier going successful Laramie and astatine slightest support it close.

Georgia Southern +24: A imagination for a situational handicapper. Arkansas comes disconnected an upset triumph implicit Texas and has No. 7 Texas A&M connected deck. Georgia Southern hardly bushed Gardner-Webb 30-25 and was thrashed by Florida Atlantic 38-6 past week. But the Eagles get starting backmost Justin Tomlin backmost from a suspension for world reasons, and helium should person Georgia Southern’s enactment onslaught humming capable to tally timepiece and enactment adjacent to the disinterested Razorbacks.

Memphis +3½: Another coagulated situational spot, with the Tigers astatine location and fired up to look Southeastern Conference hostile Mississippi State, portion the Bulldogs mightiness beryllium looking up to Louisiana State adjacent week. I’ll instrumentality much than a tract extremity with Memphis.

Last week: 2-3

Season: 5-5

Contact Jim Barnes astatine jbarnes@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV connected Twitter.