USC Trojans vs Purdue Boilermakers Prediction, Odds and Picks for Saturday, 09/13/25

Both 2-0 coming into this Week 3 clash, USC and Purdue meet on Saturday in West Lafayette to open their Big Ten schedules. The Boilermakers are in uncharted territory coming into this contest, as head coach Barry Odom is first coach to lead the Boilermakers to a 2-0 start in his first season with the program in over 100 years. I’m not sure what to make of that stat, but I know Big Ten teams should beat Ball State and FCS Southern Illinois, so at least Purdue is living up to conference expectations after a 1-win season last year. 

Speaking of last year, the Boilermakers did not beat a single FBS opponent. When ranked teams visited Purdue, they met little-to-no resistance. In fact, the Boilers were 0-3 ATS when hosting ranked teams in 2024, and they failed to surpass 10 points in any of those games. Moreover, they didn’t finish within 30 points of any of those opponents (Notre Dame, Oregon, Penn State). Fast forward to this season, where Purdue has almost a completely new roster being led by a new coach that has yet to play a team anywhere near the skill level of USC. 

The Trojans have been absolutely electric this season, logging a total of 132 points and 1,352 yards combined against Missouri State and Georgia Southern ahead of this week. Like Purdue’s opponents, you can’t really take much from games against a brand new FBS team and a Sun Belt team, but it’s hard to envision Purdue’s defense standing up against such a high-powered USC offense for 4 quarters. While cross-country travel is a concern for the Trojans, and probably will be the reason why this is not a 4 or 5-star bet, I’m going to back the team scoring nearly 6.5 points per trip inside the opposing 40-yard line and ranking 1st nationally in yards per play against a team that is not nearly as good as its record indicates. 

USC vs Purdue predictions: USC Trojans -21 (-110) at the time of publishing. Playable to -22.5.

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