College Football Picks Week 9: Stanford Cardinal vs. USC Trojans, Pac-12 Preview

The No. 4 Stanford Cardinal (7-0) begin their challenging end-of-season schedule Saturday night when traveling to take on the No. 20 USC Trojans (6-1) inside the Los Angeles Coliseum.

Oddsmakers had no choice but to send out the visitors as 8.5-point favorites, considering the Cardinal are the only team to boast a perfect against-the-spread record nationally.

Stanford has covered all seven games this year by an average of 14.6 points a contest.

The run is even more impressive considering that the betting odds have been inflated against the current Pac-12 Conference favorites due to having Heisman Trophy front runner Andrew Luck under center.

With all the publicity that he garners, the team's running game has failed to gain proper recognition, ranking 17th nationally in averaging 219.4 yards a game.

Running back Stepfan Taylor led the charge on the ground in last week's 65-21 win over the Washington Huskies as 18-point home favorites, gaining 138 yards on 10 carries.

The end result was a school-record 446 rushing yards, but it came against a defensive unit that had already surrendered 309 yards on the ground against the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Sept. 17 in Lincoln.

USC possesses a strong rush defense statistically, allowing 91.1 yards per game, but many of its opponents were forced to abandon the run early in its first seven games.

That simply won't be the case against a team that has historically started fast, scoring first in 19 of its last 20 games, playing a major part in building the nation's longest win streak of 15 games.

Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley and wide receiver Robert Woods will need to win this football game, which is entirely possible.

The talented pass-catch duo connected 12 times for 224 yards and three touchdowns in last year's 37-35 loss inside Stanford Stadium as 10-point road underdogs.

Second-year head coach Lane Kiffin certainly established a ground game early on in USC's 31-17 win over Notre Dame last week, punishing the Irish in gaining 219 yards on 44 carries.

He will need to maintain that balanced approach if the program has any chance of pulling off the upset, coming in as home underdogs of 7.5 to 10 points for just the second time since 1992.

Pick:  USC Trojans (+8.5)