College Football Week 9 Betting Preview: Clemson and USC on Quit Watch?

Each team enters the college football season with goals. For some, its make a bowl game, for others its win a National Championship.

As the season plays out, some teams hit a point where its goals can't be realized, and the bottom falls out. For teams like Clemson and USC, the goal this season was to compete in the College Football Playoff and potentially a National Championship.

However, following heart breaking losses in Week 8, the teams are now likely fringe candidates to make their respective conference title games.

However, there's still a lot of football to be played, so how will teams operate now that the season's importance has been diminished?

Sure, one loss doesn't define a season, but Clemson has lost three ACC games and USC has lost two in a row. Each team may begin to operate differently down the stretch of the season.

I tend to look for teams that may be quitting on the season as fade candidates in the later part of the season, and Week 9 may provide some insight on how to bet on some high profile teams that may be flat moving forward.

Clemson vs. North Carolina State Prediction and Pick

Clemson lost its third game of the season after blowing a fourth quarter lead to Miami, who was starting its backup quarterback. The loss was capped by the Tigers failing to score from the two-yard line on four straight plays to lose in overtime as the team is now drawing dead to even make the ACC title game.

The offense was supposed to take a big step forward under new offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, but that has hardly been the case. The team is 96th in explosive rush rate and bottom 10 in explosive pass rate nationally and is outside the top 100 in red zone touchdown percentage.

The loss to Miami encapsulated a year filled with mishaps from Clemson's offense and led to more questionable comments from head coach Dabo Swinney postgame.

So, what does this all mean?

The team travels to Raleigh, North Carolina to face North Carolina State this week as 10-point favorite. The Wolfpack made a quarterback change a few weeks back to dynamic quarterback M.J. Morris, who will have the bye week to prepare for the still sturdy Clemson defense that is top 15 in success rate and yards per play allowed.

However, how are we trusting Clemson's offense to do the heavy lifting on the road with a total of 44? The Wolfpack defense is top 15 in sacks this season and top 40 in success rate allowed. The team may have its fair share of offensive struggles, but this is a lofty expectation for a Clemson team that has only covered in two games this season.

I'm going to trust the Wolfpack at home with some extra prep to give Clemson trouble and potentially upset them at home. Keep in mind that North Carolina State offensive coordinator Robert Anae was at Syracuse last season when the Orange took Clemson down to the wire.

It's been tough to trust this NC State offense this season, but with a stout defense and extra prep, I can see the bottom falling out for Clemson, which this rating doesn't imply.

PICK: North Carolina State +10

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USC vs. California Prediction and Pick

USC nearly erased a double-digit deficit to keep its PAC-12 title hopes alive against Utah, but allowed a final minute drive that set up a Utes field goal. Following the game, USC didn't make any of its players available post game following a second straight loss.

The team now travels to Berkley to face a lowly Cal team that is fresh off of its bye and has looked renewed on offense with freshman Fernando Mendoza taking over under center. The team put up 40-plus points at home against Oregon State before running into Utah on the road. It's worth noting the dynamic freshman QB did get banged up against Utah ahead of the BYE week, he was replaced by former starter Ben Finley.

USC's season is over and it hasn't covered a PAC-12 game yet. The team has been rightfully downgraded, but I'm not sure we have found the bottom yet as a team full of future NFL players may begin to think about respective futures and let go of the rope on the remaining handful of games.

The Trojans are outside the top 100 in EPA/Play and tackling this season and have allowed 28 or more in five straight games, including three games of 40 or more.

While Cal is far from an elite PAC-12 club, the team rallied to lose 41-35 on the road last year against USC and is top 50 in explosive rush and pass defense this season, making it difficult for the Trojans to get easy scores.

Further, it's worth noting the Trojans grueling schedule, which included a cross-country trip to Notre Dame two weeks ago, an emotional and taxing game against Utah, and PAC-12 favorite Washington coming to Southern California next weekend. Cal may be frisky off the bye with an outside shot at bowl eligibility on the line.

PICK: Cal +11

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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