Southern California Trojans at Boston College Eagles

#21 Southern California	31
Boston College	37

Trojans Eagles Game Recap

Boston College 37, No. 10 USC 31: Tyler Murphy rushed for 191 yards on 13 carries and scored a touchdown as the Eagles totaled 452 yards on the ground while overrunning the visiting Trojans.

Myles Willis and Jon Hilliman each finished with 89 rushing yards for Boston College, which limited USC to 20 yards on the ground thanks to five sacks. Hilliman scored two of the five rushing touchdowns for the Eagles (2-1).

Trojans quarterback Cody Kessler completed 31-of-41 passes for 317 yards and four touchdowns, but USC didn’t have a ball carrier with more than 31 rushing yards. Starting running back Javorius Allen was the leading receiver for USC (2-1) with nine catches for 118 yards and a touchdown.

The Eagles scored 24 unanswered points after falling behind 17-6 early in the second quarter, maintained a two-score cushion with Murphy’s 66-yard run with 3:30 left and then sealed the win by recovering an on-sides kick with just over a minute remaining. Hilliman scored on a 1-yard touchdown run, Sherman Alston broke loose on a 54-yard score and Hilliman added a 3-yard scoring burst to move Boston College ahead 27-17 with 7:06 left in third quarter.

The Trojans had surged to a 10-0 lead behind an 8-yard touchdown pass from Kessler to George Farmer and Andre Heidari’s 52-yard field goal. Tyler Rouse scored on a 4-yard run to get the Eagles on the scoreboard but they missed the extra point and the Trojans moved ahead 17-6 on a middle screen to Allen that went for a 51-yard touchdown.

GAME NOTEBOOK: USC finished 5-for-16 on third-down conversions and the Eagles were 2-for-11. … USC linebacker Hayes Pullard sat out the first half after he was ejected from last weekend’s win against Stanford for targeting. … The Trojans had won the previous four meetings against Boston College.

Preview: Southern California Trojans at Boston College Eagles

USC tries to avoid a letdown when the No. 10 Trojans travel to Boston College for a non-conference game Saturday night. USC is coming off a confidence-building 13-10 victory against then-No. 10 Stanford last weekend in a Pac-12 opener, getting a field goal from Andre Heidari with 2:30 left and forcing a game-clinching fumble in the final seconds. Boston College missed out on a 2-0 start last weekend by losing to Pittsburgh 30-20 in its ACC opener, following a 30-7 win against Massachusetts.

USC athletic director Pat Haden will surely lie low after he was fined $25,000 for confronting game officials during the win against Stanford. The incident followed the ejection of USC linebacker Hayes Pullard for targeting, and Pullard will also miss the first half against Boston College as part of the punishment. The Trojans are already without another suspended defensive standout, cornerback Josh Shaw, who suffered a pair of sprained ankles a week before the season opener and then lied about the cause.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN. LINE: USC -17

ABOUT USC (2-0): The Trojans continue to await the return of running back Tre Madden from turf toe and once their second-leading rusher from last season returns to the backfield USC will have its 1-2 punch from last season available. Javorius Allen continues to do a solid job handling a majority of the workload in the meantime, totaling 287 yards and a touchdown while averaging 6.4 yards a carry. Justin Davis, currently the second leading rusher for the Trojans, is averaging only 2.5 yards on his 20 carries.

ABOUT BOSTON COLLEGE (1-1): Tyler Murphy has already accomplished something no other Boston College quarterback has done in program history and that’s rush at least 100 yards in a game, something he accomplished against Massachusetts. He’ll need to be much more efficient with his throws than he was against Pittsburgh after he completed 10-of-28 with two interceptions. Dan Crimmins, at 6-5, 237 pounds, gives Murphy a big target at wide receiver and they’ve already hooked up nine times this season.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Boston College players are set to wear accessories trimmed in a red bandanna design in memory of Welles Crowther, a former Boston College athlete who died in one of the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001.

2. The last time the Trojans played at Boston College was 1988, when they made their debut on ESPN.

3. The Eagles are one of 16 schools in the country that returned its entire coaching staff from last season.

PREDICTION: USC 30, Boston College 16

Away Spread Consensus 57% Trojans (-17.0) Home Spread Consensus 43% Eagles (17.0)

Total Over Consensus 50% Over (58.0) Total Under Consensus 50% Under (58.0)

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Wagering Trends

Eagles are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
Eagles are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 vs. Pac-12.
Trojans are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games as a road favorite of 3.5-10.0.
Over is 4-0-1 in Eagles last 5 games as a home underdog of 3.5-10.0.
Over is 5-0-1 in Eagles last 6 home games.
Over is 4-0-1 in Eagles last 5 games as a home underdog.
Over is 6-0 in Eagles last 6 games after accumulating less than 170 yards passing in their previous game.
Over is 4-0 in Eagles last 4 games following a ATS loss.
Over is 3-0-1 in Eagles last 4 vs. a team with a winning record.
Under is 4-0 in Trojans last 4 vs. ACC.
Under is 4-0 in Trojans last 4 games as an underdog.

#21 Southern California

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Boston College