USC Football: Trojans Gain Ground In AP Poll

USC football gained ground in the Week 2 AP poll after their 59-9 drubbing of Idaho at the Coliseum.

The Trojans moved up two spots to No. 6, taking advantage of falls from Oregon and Auburn ahead of them.

With a close 28-31 loss to Michigan State, who jumped to No. 4, the Ducks were dropped five spots down to No. 12. Auburn did not actually lose in overtime to Jacksonville State but they were certainly punished for their struggles in the 27-20 win against the FCS opponent, tumbling from No. 6 to No. 18.

USC rival Notre Dame might have risen higher than No. 8 if not for their difficulty beating Virginia 34-27. It took a touchdown in the final seconds to put away the Cavaliers as the Irish lost starting quarterback Malik Zaire for the season due to a foot injury.

Georgia got the nod at No. 7 over Notre Dame despite their own concerning performance against Vanderbilt in their 31-14 SEC opening victory.

UCLA got a boost from No. 13 to No. 10 on the back of another easy win, this time over UNLV 37-3.

Meanwhile, Arizona also rose from No. 22 to No. 20 with a 44-20 win over Nevada, while the final Pac-12 team ranked in the poll was Utah at No. 21 as they handled Utah State 24-14 on Thursday.

USC slotted in at No. 7 in the Week 2 coaches poll. As is the case with that ranking, there will not be much of an opportunity to rise next week even though they will be facing a much more difficult opponent in Stanford.

Ahead of the Trojans, No. 5 Baylor takes on Rice, Michigan State battles Air Force, No. 3 TCU has SMU and No. 1 Ohio State faces Northern Illinois.

No. 2 Alabama hosting No. 15 Ole Miss presents the greatest opportunity for a team ahead of USC to falter.

Click here to check out the complete AP poll for Week 2.

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