{"id":442174,"date":"2026-08-24T18:14:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-24T18:14:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/442174\/"},"modified":"2026-08-24T18:14:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-24T18:14:42","slug":"san-jose-st-vs-usc-prediction-odds-and-key-players-to-watch-for-college-football-week-0","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/442174\/","title":{"rendered":"San Jose St. vs. USC Prediction, Odds and Key Players to Watch for College Football Week 0"},"content":{"rendered":"

A major season is ahead for No. 14 USC and head coach Lincoln Riley, as the Trojans have sky-high expectations in the Big Ten with potential Heisman candidate Jayden Maiava leading the way at quarterback.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Last season, Maiava combined for 30 touchdowns (24 passing, six rushing) while the Trojans went 9-4 and eventually lost in the Alamo Bowl to TCU.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now, USC has a cupcake game to open the season against the Mountain West\u2019s San Jose State.<\/p>\n

The Spartans were just 3-9 last season and 0-6 on the road, closing out the campaign on a four-game skid. San Jose State is turning to Hawaii transfer Luke Weaver at quarterback this season, but oddsmakers expect it to struggle on Saturday.<\/p>\n

The Trojans are favored by 38.5 points in the latest odds for Week 0, and they\u2019d love to start the season with a dominant win. USC has a few easy games to open the campaign before a key Big Ten showdown with Oregon at the end of September.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a look at the Week 0 matchup for USC, including the latest odds, a player to watch and my game prediction.\u00a0<\/p>\n

San Jose St. vs. USC Odds, Spread and Total<\/p>\n

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook<\/a><\/p>\n

Spread<\/p>\n

San Jose St. +38.5 (-118)USC -38.5 (-102)<\/p>\n

Moneyline<\/p>\n

San Jose St.: N\/AUSC: N\/A<\/p>\n

Total<\/p>\n

59.5 (Over -110\/Under -110)San Jose St. vs. USC How to WatchDate: Saturday, Aug. 29Time: 3:00 p.m. ESTVenue: Los Angeles Memorial ColiseumHow to Watch (TV): NBCSan Jose St. record: 0-0USC record: 0-0San Jose St. vs. USC Key Player to WatchJayden Maiava, Quarterback, USC<\/p>\n

After completing less than 60 percent of his passes in the 2024 season with the Trojans, Maiava had a massive 2025 campaign, throwing for 3,711 yards, 24 scores and 10 interceptions. He also made noise with his legs, rushing for 157 yards and six scores.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maiava has a chance to get in the Heisman conversation if the Trojans can make the College Football Playoff, and he returns to an offense that was No. 5 in the country in EPA\/Play last season, including No. 1 in EPA\/Pass.<\/p>\n

This USC team will go as far as Maiava takes them, and if he can clean up his turnovers, he has a chance to really improve his draft stock in 2026.\u00a0<\/p>\n

San Jose St. vs. USC Prediction and Pick<\/p>\n

San Jose State opened the 2025 season on the road against Texas, losing that game 38-7.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It has a rather inexperienced quarterback in Weaver (105 career pass attempts at Hawaii) heading into this matchup against a USC team that should have an elite offense with Maiava under center.<\/p>\n

This is a tough game to bet because of the massive spread, but oddsmakers are expecting nearly 60 points to be scored in this game. If that\u2019s the case, I love USC\u2019s chances over covering the number, especially since San Jose State scored less than 20 points in all four of its games to end the 2025 season.<\/p>\n

In fact, the Spartans were outside the top-100 in the country in EPA\/Play on offense.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maybe Weaver turns that around, but I don\u2019t expect this team to compete with a USC squad that has College Football Playoff aspirations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pick: USC -38.5 (-102 at DraftKings)<\/a><\/p>\n

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.<\/p>\n

If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.<\/p>\n

Claim the latest\u00a0DraftKings promo code<\/a>\u00a0offer today. Sign up and get\u00a0$150 in bonus bets instantly when you make your first $5 bet.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A major season is ahead for No. 14 USC and head coach Lincoln Riley, as the Trojans have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":442175,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[88,90,89],"class_list":["post-442174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=442174"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/442174\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/442175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=442174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=442174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=442174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}