USC football vs. Nebraska: Who has the edge?

USC vs. Nebraska

When: 1 p.m. Saturday

Where: Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum

TV/radio: FOX (Ch. 11)/710 AM

Records: USC 4-5 (2-5 Big Ten), Nebraska 5-4 (2-4)

Injuries

USC: QUESTIONABLE: CB Jacobe Covington (undisclosed), S Kamari Ramsey (undisclosed)

Nebraska: OUT: OT Turner Corcoran (hamstring); QUESTIONABLE: G Micah Mazzcua (undisclosed), DB Malcolm Hartzog (hamstring); PROBABLE: QB Dylan Raiola (back),

What’s at stake? Bowl eligibility – possibly – for USC. The value of making a bowl game, head coach Lincoln Riley said Thursday, has been “minimized” slightly, pointing to diminished practice time in modern collegiate-football scheduling. Still, though, it was a goal that USC’s locker room is “very aware of,” as Riley affirmed, saying he’d talked about it with players after the Trojans’ loss to Washington a couple weekends ago.

“I think you’ve got to be fair with the guys,” Riley said, “and set the stage on where we’re at and what we have left to attain.”

USC sits at 4-5, two wins away from a certain berth to a bowl game. Its final two opponents are the suddenly surging UCLA Bruins and eighth-ranked Notre Dame. A win over Nebraska, losers of their last three games, provides a little breathing room and the best path forward to a still-valuable slate of postseason practices.

Who’s better? A bit hard to say, because both of these programs could look markedly different than the versions we’ve seen all season. With the Nebraska’s offense scuffling, racking up just 58 points across its last four outings, head coach Matt Rhule took drastic measures: first bringing in former Houston head coach Dana Holgorsen to consult on the Cornhuskers’ offense, then hiring Holgorsen as offensive coordinator and Nebraska’s play-calleragainst USC.

You had to go off what you saw on tape, USC defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn pointed out Wednesday, asked about the sudden adjustment to scheming defensively. And Holgorsen is known widely as an Air Raid disciple, growing from the same Mike Leach and Texas Tech tree as Riley, his best offenses at Houston and West Virginia before that thriving on heavy volume through the air and a balanced rushing attack to counter.

Nebraska doesn’t quite field a dynamic ground game, averaging 3.6 yards a carry. But it’s quite possible Holgorsen could unlock former five-star freshman quarterback Dylan Raiola, who shone in an early 4-1 start before a stretch of rough performances amid Nebraska’s offensive struggles.

The Cornhuskers’ defense will prove a challenge for new USC starter Jayden Maiava as well, surrendering an average of just 19.1 points a game. Overall, this one’s a bit of a wash.

Matchup to watch: Nebraska’s Ty Robinson and the Cornhuskers’ edge rushers against USC’s offensive line. Let’s get cute here: Maiava, supplanting Miller Moss as USC’s new starting quarterback, brings a little more natural playmaking ability when schemes break down. But the redshirt sophomore is still young, is playing in his first game for USC in a fairly big spot, and was slightly turnover-prone in his first extended stretch of time last year at UNLV.

USC’s front, since an uneven start, has largely steadied thanks to the improved play of youngsters Elijah Paige and Alani Noa. They’ll need to keep Maiava fairly clean Saturday, warding off wrecking-ball Robinson, who leads the Cornhuskers with 26 pressures from the interior.

USC wins if: The defensive line can get a couple sacks and keep Raiola, and Holgorsen, from getting comfortable … if stud running back Woody Marks gets 20-plus carries to ease the load on Maiava’s shoulders … if Maiava doesn’t turn the ball over more than once.

Prediction: USC 34, Nebraska 24. Here’s betting the quarterback change and USC’s throwback jerseys light a spark on Saturday.

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