Recapping Stanford's loss against USC

In what could have been a huge win for Stanford they laid a major goose egg

In what many were expecting to be a tightly contested game, Stanford was simply unable to prevent costly mistakes against No. 10 USC. 

With celebrities such as Jerry Rice, Andrew Luck, and Nneka Ogwumike all over sidelines and the game in a primetime slot, Stanford faltered majorly. The tone of the game was set almost immediately after Tanner McKee had one of his first passes picked off. This led to one of the many times that the Trojans offense went down the field and scored. It also wasn't the only turnover of the day, as McKee would throw another interception in the red zone, E.J. Smith would fumble in the red zone once , and added another fumble in the second half. 

This brings both Smith's fumble total, and McKee's interception total to three apiece through the first two games. The early turnovers made a game that could have been tied at 21, a game that saw a two touchdown deficit that never got any closer.  Giving the ball away to a team whose offense didn't reach a third down until late in the first half is not ideal to say the least. 

Stanford's defensive performance was the talk of last week's win over Colgate, but this week the defense was absolutely exposed. Caleb Williams had no issues working the USC offense down the field, as he and Pitt transfer Jordan Addison were absolutely lethal. Williams finished the day 20-of-27 throwing for 341-yards and four touchdowns, while Addison hauled in seven catches for 172-yards, two touchdowns, while averaging over 24-yards per catch.

Stanford needed to stop USC a couple times at least in the first half to stay in the game, but the Trojans scored every single chance they got. It wasn't until the third quarter that Stanford held USC to a field goal, and the following drive a missed field goal. It also wasn't until midway through the fourth that Stanford forced a punt, when they were trailing by 20.  

All in all, Stanford's offense was never able to consistently move the ball down the field, and the handful of times when they did the Cardinal would end up shooting themselves in the foot. USC had 17 points off of turnovers, which was ultimately the difference. The Trojan offense was as electrifying as advertised, but when the Cardinal fail to answer until it was much too late there is nothing that can be done.

Stay tuned for stories such as what went wrong today, what Stanford needs to improve on moving forward, What David Shaw had to say, and more tomorrow!

Stats Comparison:

Total Yards: Stanford 505, USC 441

Passing Yards: Stanford 220, USC 341

Rushing Yards: Stanford 221, USC 164

Penalties: Stanford 5-42, USC 9-104

Turnovers: Stanford 4, USC 0

Time of possession: Stanford 24:15, USC 27:10