Nebraska football will once again wear the underdog role heading into a road matchup in the Big Ten.
The USC Trojans opened as 8½-point favorites over the Cornhuskers in early betting lines released Saturday night. The line adjusted to 9½ overnight, as sports bettors continued to favor the home-town Trojans over the visiting Huskers.
Both teams are coming off a bye following disappointing losses suffered in the first weekend of November. After a strong open, including a 27-20 win over then-rated No. 14 LSU in the season opener, USC peaked at No. 9 in the AP polls. Since falling 27-24 at Michigan on Sept. 21, the Trojans have gone 2-4 and have lost three of their four games away from Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC fell at Washington on Nov. 2, 26-21, placing the Trojans at 4-5 overall and 2-5 in Big Ten play.
All of USC’s losses have been by one score or less, with road losses at Michigan (27-24), Minnesota (24-17), Maryland (29-28) and Washington (26-21). The Trojans’ lone home loss was a 33-30 overtime defeat to then-No. 3 Penn State on Oct. 12.
USC has been a favorite to win outright in four of its five losses this season, with the outlier being the home loss to the Nittany Lions when the Trojans were listed as an underdog. After the loss at Washington, coach Lincoln Riley announced that backup quarterback Jayden Maiava would replace starter Miller Moss for the home tilt against Nebraska.
Nebraska (5-4, 2-4 B1G) was listed as a 9½-point favorite against UCLA in early betting lines for their Nov. 2 tilt, but the Bruins upset the Cornhuskers 27-20. The loss was the third in a row for the Big Red, having fallen at No. 8 Indiana 56-7 and No. 3 Ohio State 21-17 in the prior two contests.
Nebraska has been an underdog twice this season, having lost both matchups at Indiana and Ohio State. The Huskers were a 6½ underdog to the Hoosiers and were a three-touchdown dog to Ohio State. Nebraska has been listed as a Vegas favorite seven times this season, including the first six contests of the year. The Big Red have covered the spread in five of their nine games this season.
The over/under in total points for the Nebraska-UCLA contest is set at 51½ points by FanDuel. The Huskers have only totaled 58 points in their last four games combined. The offense has been the focal point of the bye-week, averaging only 4½ yards per play. Nebraska added offensive consultant Dana Holgorsen to its staff to aid the struggling attack.
Nebraska and its opponents have failed to cover the over three times this season. The under bet paid off in the Ohio State, Purdue and Rutgers games. Nebraska and UCLA did cover their Nov. 2 over/under, totaling 54 points combined against the 41½-point total.
The Huskers and Trojans are set to kick off on Saturday in Los Angeles at 3 p.m. CST, with television coverage on FOX.
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