Greg McElroy picks USC-Illinois winner in Week 5

The Week 5 college football slate features a ranked-versus-ranked Big Ten matchup with the USC Trojans traveling to face the Illinois Fighting Illini, and Greg McElroy has already planted his flag.

During Wednesday’s episode of Always College Football, the college football analyst and former Alabama quarterback leaned on recent form and on-field matchups, pointing squarely to issues that surfaced for Illinois a week ago and strengths USC has shown through four games. He framed it as a collision between an offense that can overwhelm opponents on the ground and through the air and a host team still searching for answers along the line of scrimmage and in the secondary. McElroy’s case revolves around pressure and balance.

USC has been disruptive up front, productive on standard downs and deadly once its run game gets rolling. Illinois, meanwhile, must flip the script after a rough performance that featured protection breakdowns and a ground attack that stalled out.

As McElroy summarized it: “I don’t see it happening. I’m taking SC. I can’t unsee what I saw last week from the Illini. I think SC has too much firepower. I think they’ll be able to run the football and I think their defense can harass Luke Altmyer because that offensive line for the Illini, I just don’t trust them at this point of the season.”

McElroy Cites USC Pass Rush, Illinois Injuries And Trojans’ Ground Game

McElroy opened the matchup breakdown with the trench math: “Can the Illini’s offensive line protect Luke Altmyer from USC’s aggressive pass rush? Sixteen sacks. Sixteen sacks given up so far for the Fighting Illini. That is 130th in the FBS, including seven sacks last week.”

He noted USC owns 16 sacks and 80 total pressures with a 43% pressure rate, then connected it to an Illini secondary that is “depleted kind of across the board,” highlighting the uncertainty around multiple defensive backs and the task of defending Jayden Maiava, Makai Lemon and a deep receiver group.

Beyond the pass game, McElroy spotlighted USC’s rushing surge: “Waymond Jordan and Eli Sanders make up arguably the most underrated backfield tandem in the sport… this team’s averaging over 250 a game on the ground. It’s a top 12 rushing attack.”