Penn State-USC picks from the ESPN College GameDay crew: Who has the Lions, Trojans?
It’s almost time for No. 4 Penn State (5-0) to take on USC (3-2) at the LA Memorial Coliseum. First, though, we have a college football weekend tradition to review: How the ESPN ‘College GameDay’ crew picked one of the marquee matchups of the day, even if the Trojans fell out of the top 25 this week after suffering its second loss of the year last Saturday.
“Our job is right now in the moment is to build and prepare each week and try to put out a team that is capable and likely of winning, as much as we possibly can,” Trojans coach Lincoln Riley said this week.
“We’ve got our head down, we’re working ,we’re continuing to build. This team has had an opportunity to win every game up to this point. We’ve won a couple, we’ve had a couple that [we] were disappointed we came up short. We’re getting ready to play a great opponent this week and really excited about that opportunity.”
Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on CBS. The network’s top crew of Brad Nessler (play-by-play), Gary Danielson (color commentary), and Jenny Dell (sideline reporter) will be on the call. Before that, let’s review the GameDay picks below.
How did the ESPN College GameDay crew pick Penn State-USC?
Actress Kaitlin Olson was the guest picker as the show was broadcast live from Eugene ahead of Ohio State–Oregon. Here’s the full breakdown:
Kirk Herbstreit: Penn State
Desmond Howard: Penn State
Nick Saban: Penn State
Pat McAfee: Penn State
Celebrity guest picker Kaitlin Olson: Penn State
Top 10
- 1Trending
Kirby shoves MSU QB
The UGA coach is going to regret this
- 2
Herbie backs Ducks
Kirk Herbstreit message to Oregon, Ohio State
- 3
Spitting ejection
Traeshon Holden spits on Ohio State DB, gets ejected
- 4Live
Alabama escapes
Tide survives wild finish vs. Gamecocks
- 5
Lincoln Riley snaps back
USC head coach takes exception to question
“USC, you think about the Trojans and the offense, I just think when you look at their offense, they don’t have big guys up front,” Howard said. They’re not physical. In the trenches they’re not big enough. They’re not physical.”
Added Saban:
“They can’t utilize the talent they have. And Penn State to me is a very complete team. They’re kind of a complete complimentary team that I think is going to be a very difficult matchup for them.”
How did the BWI staff pick the game?
Nate Bauer: PSU: 34, USC: 27
Sean Fitz: PSU: 24, USC: 19
Thomas Frank Carr: Penn State: 28, USC: 17
Matt Herb: USC: 27, PSU: 21
Greg Pickel: PSU: 27, USC: 23
Ryan Snyder: PSU: 28, USC: 24
