USC vs Rutgers Prediction: The Trojans' Big Ten Road Trip
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It’s been a fun start to the USC (3-0) season with brilliance on offense, tweaking and playing around with the defense, and no real drama in a three-game homestand as part of a run of five of the first six games in Los Angeles.
It has to make one long road trip, 2,700 miles and three time zones away to Piscataway as the one blip in the first half of the season.
It hasn’t been a fun start to the Rutgers (0-2) season. UMass and Boston College were supposed to be the easy fits in the team’s season puzzle, and now that’s gone. Beat USC, though, and start the Big Ten season out with a bang, and everything changes.
USC vs Rutgers: Quick Hits
- USC gets home games against Oregon and Washington next before going to Penn State.
- Rutgers gets a break against Howard before dealing with a visit from Indiana.
- It’s the second time these two have met. Rutgers made the trip the other way in 2024 in a late-night 42-20 loss in LA.
How To Watch USC vs Rutgers
Date: Saturday, September 19, 2026
Game Time: 3:30 PM ET
TV: CBS
Location: SHI Stadium, Piscataway, NJ
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Why USC Will Win
Jayden Maiava continues to play like a veteran quarterback who’s used to the Lincoln Riley system, hitting 81% of his throws with ten touchdowns and just one interception.
The offense has made it look easy so far. Fresno State and Louisiana are almost certain bowl-bound teams, and the Trojans ripped through both without an interruption.
Meanwhile, Rutgers got picked clean by Pop Watson of UMass, who hit 86% of his throws, and struggled to hold up against Boston College. The Scarlet Knight offense that hasn’t consistently shown up yet needs to keep up.
Why Rutgers Will Win
Start with the road trip factor. It’s unfortunate that this isn’t a noon kickoff that would’ve made it 9 am in USC time, but this really is a long trip and a disruption to a routine that worked so well so far.
USC is missing freshman sensation receiver Trent Mosley with an injury. The other top seven receivers so far are also underclassmen, and to keep harping on this, for some, this is their first away game.
USC vs Rutgers Prediction, Betting Lines
For all of the good things USC has done, the pass defense had a few problems with Louisiana quarterback Lunch Winfield when he made plays on the move. Rutgers needs to find a little bit of early momentum with the offense, get something positive, and, mostly, it has to stop screwing up.
The Scarlet Knights turned it over four times in each of the first two games. That’s not going to happen in this, but USC will still get pushed a little bit before taking over in the second half.
USC 42, Rutgers 20
Latest Consensus Line: USC -21.5, o/u: 59.5
ATS Confidence (out of 5): 3
Must See Rating (out of 5): 3
Consensus line based on BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, and FanDuel. Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
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