College football upset picks: 5 teams on upset alert in Week 1

College Football Upset Pick No. 1: USC Trojans

Rank: 15 | Opponent: San Jose State Spartans | Time: Saturday, Sept. 4, 5:00 p.m. ET

Comparing A and B, there is no shot that San Jose State should even be in the ballpark of USC. The Trojans, outside of one year under Clay Helton, have been consistently recruiting at a high level and have an extremely talented roster that’s also led by a proven quarterback in the high-octane offense with Kedon Slovis.

But with that talent, we’ve not seen any kind of consistent results for USC. In virtually every high-leverage situation under Helton, they’ve crumbled. It’s a big reason why many fans (and non-fans) have called for Helton to be replaced as the head coach. On the contrary, Brent Brennan has proven he’s a great coach at the Group of Five level.

San Jose State opened the year in Week 0 with an expected but emphatic win over Southern Utah. They have a veteran team with quarterback Nick Starkel, formerly an SEC player, and a slew of skill position players who can play. This is a team that will execute at a high level with a bit of juice and, if an opponent isn’t doing the same, they can get them.

From what we’ve seen from Helton, there’s no guarantee he has the Trojans clicking in the season-opener, even if they are the obviously more talented team. Subsequently, USC can’t be considered a surefire winner to begin their season.

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