On Saturday, Stanford football fell to #10 USC at home by a final score of 41-28. USC quarterback Caleb Williams went 20-27 for 341 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions for a 229.1 passer rating while wide receiver Jordan Addison had 7 receptions for 172 yards and 2 touchdowns. Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee went 20-35 for 220 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions while running back E.J. Smith had 88 rushing yards and 26 receiving yards for a combined 114 all-purpose yards and 2 touchdowns (1 rushing & 1 receiving). USC improves to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the Pac-12 while Stanford falls to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the Pac-12.
“Bottom line, you can’t turn the ball over and beat good football teams,” Stanford head coach David Shaw said after the game. “That’s a really good football team. A lot of really good players. We gave them opportunities, and they took advantage of them. Got an outstanding quarterback, got one of the best receivers in college football, and you can’t keep giving them chances.
“Offensively, outside of turning the ball over, there’s some really, really good things, some really good things. Outside of the two tipped interceptions, I thought Tanner played well. Up until the end when we were trying to force it and get the ball down the field. E.J. Smith had a great game outside of two fumbles. Two of our best players had two turnovers.
“That being said, defensively I thought we played them pretty straight up as long as we could, but we put the defense in a lot of bad positions. Too many bad positions. We had opportunities to keep the ball a little bit longer, score some more points. Could have gone into halftime with the lead if we didn't turn the ball over.
“So that, to me, is the story of the game. We gave the ball away against a really good football team, and they took advantage.”
Stanford started off with the ball after winning the toss, hoping to jump out to an early 7-0 lead. McKee connected with Michael Wilson in the first play from scrimmage for a 12 yard completion and first down, moving the ball to the Stanford 37 yard line. Following a two yard run from Smith, McKee threw a pass that was tipped and picked off by the Trojans. Tight end Benjamin Yurosek was the intended receiver, but it was thrown a bit too high, bouncing off Yurosek’s hands and the hands of a USC defender before landing into the hands of defensive back Max Williams. Williams returned the ball for 32 yards to the Stanford 33 yard line. Just one minute had ticked off the clock.
USC made quick work of the Stanford defense to go up 7-0, scoring a touchdown in four plays. Running back Travis Dye rushed up the middle for 7 yards, Williams scrambled to the right for a 10 yard gain, Dye rushed for another 11 yards, and then Williams found tight end Lake McCree for a five yard touchdown. 7-0 Trojans lead with 12:38 to go in the 1st quarter.
Following a touchback, Stanford would get the ball on their own 25 yard line. E.J. Smith got things going with a nice 15 yard run to the Stanford 40 yard line. On 1st and 15 from the Stanford 43 yard line, Smith then rushed to the right for a gain of 18 yards to the USC 39 yard line. Smith continued to do work. On 4th and 1 from the USC 19 yard line, he got the first down and rushed to the 16 yard line before getting a 13 yard reception to get the ball to the USC three yard line.
On 3rd and goal from the 4 yard line, Tanner McKee threw a pass to Brycen Tremayne in the corner of the end zone that was initially called a touchdown before getting overturned. Tremayne appeared to get his foot down from one angle, but the refs saw another angle that confirmed his other foot hit the line, making him out. The drive would end in another interception from McKee as Stanford went for it on 4th and 2 following an offsides call on USC. McKee tried to find Elijah Higgins for a jump ball in the end zone, but it was instead picked off by Mekhi Blackmon and returned out of the end zone to the USC 17 yard line.
“Yeah, just roll out to the right, check the flat,” McKee said of the pass to Tremayne. “They covered it pretty well. They kind of had a linebacker that was kind floating in the end zone. Brycen did a good job of finding that back end line.
“Just really unfortunate that it’s a game of inches, that we didn’t hit that. But regardless, we’ve got to come back and answer. Sometimes we’re going to get calls; sometimes we’re not. We’ve got to come back, and we’ve got to score it regardless.”
“Yeah, I'm kind of looking forward to seeing that myself on the big screen,” Shaw added. “I thought I saw grass between his foot and the white line. That's just what I thought I saw. I couldn't get a close view on the jumbotron, and if that happened, it doesn't matter what the second foot did. So I'm curious to see that for myself.
“But they reversed it. We’ve got a 6’3”, 236 pound receiver/F tight end on-on-one in the end zone, and we’ll take that every single time. Ball bounces funny, bounced up in the air and they got it. You know, ball bounced off of Ben’s fingertips going down the middle versus too high. I don't know how many times we’ve made that throw in practice and in games last year. Ball gets tipped, tipped again, intercepted.
“So two tipped interceptions, both in scoring position, and then fumbled the ball inside the 5 yard line. I mean, that’s the ball game. You don’t come back from that against a good football team. You’re taking away 21 points. At the minimum those are two touchdowns inside the 5 yard line and a field goal; at minimum it’s 17 points.
“Now we could’ve put 17 points on the board in the first half, different ballgame. So those are momentum killers, and those are the fastest way to lose a football game is turn the ball over.”
USC would make Stanford pay on the next drive. Caleb Williams connected with Mario Williams for a 7 yard completion before finding Austin Jones for a 13 yard reception. Caleb Williams then rushed for eight yards before Jones rushed up the middle for 10 more yards to the Stanford 45 yard line. The drive ended in a 22 yard touchdown pass from Caleb Williams to Jordan Addison, making it a 14-0 USC lead with 4:03 to go in the quarter.
Stanford would start their next drive on the 7 yard line as there was a hold during Casey Filkins' 13 yard return on Sam Roush. Stanford would get the ball to their own 29 yard line thanks to a 10 yard rush from Smith as well as receptions from Elijah Higgins and John Humphreys. McKee would then throw a pass to Tremayne that resulted in a pass interference call on USC. With the ball now on the Stanford 44 yard line, McKee handed the ball off to Yurosek for a nice sweep that picked up a gain of 50 yards to the USC 6 yard line. From there, Stanford was able to find the end zone as McKee found Smith for a touchdown reception from 3 yards out. 14-7 with 46 seconds to go in the 1st quarter.
USC would start with the ball on their own 25 yard line following a touchback. On the opening play of the drive, Williams connected with Addison for a 75 yard touchdown completion that went over the top of the defense. Kyu Blu Kelly tried to make the stop, but he just wasn’t able to break the play up. 21-7 USC lead with 46 seconds to go in the quarter.
Stanford would get the ball on their own 25 yard line to start, hoping to respond. On 3rd and 15 from their own 20 yard line, Stanford picked up the first down as McKee connected with Higgins for a 23 yard completion to their own 43 yard line. That would end the quarter.
Thanks to a 19 yard run by Smith and a 15 yard reception by Yurosek, Stanford had the ball on the USC 23 yard line and a fresh set of downs. On 3rd and 10, McKee connected with Tremayne for an 18 yard reception to the USC 5 yard line. On 3rd and goal from the 4 yard line, Smith would fumble, giving the ball back to USC on their own 2 yard line. USC caught a major break.
USC would take full advantage as they would score a touchdown on the next drive. After Caleb Williams connected with Mario Williams for a 43 yard reception to the Stanford 15 yard line, the two of them would connect again for a 15 yard touchdown reception. 28-7 USC in full control with 9:02 to go in the half.
To Stanford’s credit, they went right back to work as Filkins got things going with a nice 32 yard kickoff return to their own 33 yard line. McKee and Higgins would then connect for a 19 yard reception before McKee found Wilson for an 18 yard reception. McKee then scrambled to pick up 15 yards. Stanford now had the ball on the USC 15 yard line. McKee then threw the ball to a wide open Sam Roush, who dropped the pass. Fortunately, E.J. Smith would take Stanford the rest of the way, going 15 yards in four plays for the touchdown. 28-14 USC lead.
After getting the ball on the 25 yard line, USC once again made quick work of the Stanford defense. On 2nd and 3 from the USC 46 yard line, Caleb Williams threw a pass to Jordan Addison for 13 yards. Later on in the drive, on 1st and 10 from the Stanford 27 yard line, Dye rushed up the middle for an easy touchdown. 35-14 USC lead.
USC would take that 35-14 lead into halftime despite having one more drive at the very end of the half. Stanford’s defense got the stop it needed while also being aided by the clock running out. Stanford was in a hole.
USC got the ball to start the second half and picked off right where they left off as the first play from scrimmage was a 48 yard reception by Addison to the Stanford 36 yard line. To Stanford’s credit, the defense held stout from there, holding USC to a field goal.
The rest of the quarter was pretty quiet as Stanford’s offense was not able to get rolling. On 2nd and 10 from their own 32 yard line, Stanford handed the ball off to Smith, who fumbled the ball, giving it back to USC. USC initially thought they had a touchdown after the recovery, but it was determined that Jacobe Covington’s knee was down. 3:09 was left in the 3rd quarter as USC now had the ball on the Stanford 29 yard line.
USC’s drive got backed up by a pass interference call against Brenden Rice, forcing them to settle for a field goal. That would be the final score of the quarter as it was now a 41-14 USC lead going into the 4th quarter.
Thanks to an 18 yard rush from Higgins before the end of the 3rd quarter, Stanford started the 4th quarter with the ball at midfield in a 3rd and 4 situation. After Filkins gained one yard, he then got four yards when he needed three to keep the drive alive. Tremayne would then draw a 15 yard flag for pass interference, getting Stanford the ball on the USC 31 yard line. From there, Stanford would find the end zone as Filkins took them the rest of the way, getting the final 10 yards by himself. It was now a 41-21 game with 10:21 to go.
Stanford would then force a punt on the next drive, getting them the ball back on their own 30 yard line with 7:54 to go. On the first play from scrimmage McKee found Filkins for an 11 yard reception after which Filkins rushed for 9 yards to get to the 50 yard line. McKee then connected with Humphreys for a 13 yard reception to the USC 37 yard line. On the next play, Filkins McKee connected with Filkins for a 14 yard reception to the 23 yard line.
McKee then got sacked, casting doubt on Stanford’s ability to get another touchdown. However, Stanford got back-to-back pass interference calls as McKee tried to get Humphreys and Higgins on one-on-one matchups. On 1st and goal from the 2 yard line, McKee was able to run it in himself. 41-28 with 5:03 to go.
Stanford then attempted an onside kick but failed due to an illegal touching. From there, USC would hang on to win 41-28 as there were no more scores the rest of the way. Stanford could have scored one more time, but the clock was not on their side as the ghost of Christmas present said time was up.
For USC, they did what they set out to do. They got the win. It’s the first Pac-12 win of the Lincoln Riley era and while the second half was not as pretty as they would have liked it, they dominated the first half and pretty much had the game won at halftime.
“We're really excited about the win,” Riley said. “We came down here for one reason. This series has been really one-sided over the last 15 years, especially here, so we took that personal.
“Kind of the two sides of you right now, I'm thrilled for the victory, and that overshadows, I think -- not overshadows. That's definitely the number one thought and take-away. Just look at 12 months ago. Look at 12 months ago. This is a good Stanford team and a lot's changed. I'm proud of the way our guys responded. Getting road victories in conference are like gold. I told you all that at the beginning of the week, and that was huge for us.”
For Stanford, this was a disappointing loss in that there are some plays they’d like to have back: McKee’s interceptions, Smith’s fumbles, and then Tremayne not getting the foot down in the end zone really seemed to be a major turning point. From my vantage point it did look like a touchdown, but the officials must have seen something conclusive that indicated that wasn’t in fact the case. Stanford’s offense moved the ball really well and looked great aside from the turnovers. It was the defense that was the concern. They gave up too many big plays last year and that was the problem again today. Time will tell if they’ll be able to address that going forward.
One thing Stanford did do better in the second half was their defense. Especially their pass rush. While some of that may be attributed to USC easing on the gas, freshman David Bailey was able to secure his first career sack, technically half sack with Stephen Herron. When Stanford’s pass rush gets going, their defense really feeds off that.
“I can’t answer that question just yet,” Shaw said when asked why the pass rush was better in the second half. “We’ll see what happened on the film. I know there were a couple opportunities that, even in the first half, where Caleb just escaped. There were two plays on the top of my mind right now. One was David Bailey, I think another one was somebody else—we’re beating down on him and he just escaped before—he felt it coming before we got close to him.
“But I think that’s something that’s going to grow throughout the year. Stephen Herron, David Bailey, Jackson Moi, got in there, got some penetration. Everybody I mentioned to you is either a sophomore or junior or freshman football-wise. That’s exciting.”
“I would say some of the things we did in the second half is honestly just play things the way we’re supposed to play them,” Stanford safety Jonathan McGill said of how they played defensively in the second half. “We kind of hand a little bit of adjustments, kind of got a chip on what they were trying to do in some of our coverages, what they were trying to attack.
“So just being able to have that open dialogue with Coach Akina in the back end, being able to, hey, he’s looking at this for his first look, he’s looking at this for his second look. Just being able to have those tendencies and openly have an open dialogue about it. It’s an opportunity to kind of game a couple things that were different than what we normally run.
“But in terms of kind of just the momentum, I feel like we kind of just settled in as a defense later into the game, and it took us way too long to get to that point. I felt like we kind of didn’t do anything really different besides just execute our assignment and just do our job.”
Touching quickly on the offense, Stanford employed what’s called a slow-mesh RPO where they had McKee delay a hand off to either Smith or Filkins, creating an RPO (Run Pass Option). Sometimes they ran, sometimes they threw, and it really seemed to work effectively for much of the game. This wasn’t something we saw from them last year, so that was a pleasant surprise that had many fans excited.
“Those were off-season projects for us,” Shaw said of implementing the mesh. “Offensively had a chance to meet Coach Caldwell over the off-season. Just met him and asked him about some things they did. They’re very close-knit there. They don’t give out a lot of information. So he just gave me some advice, watch the film.
“So I went back through, watched what they did, and said, hey, you know what? I think that could fit our players, fit our quarterbacks. He did some similar things in high school with a little bit slower mesh than most RPOs, so he was very comfortable with it. Great fit for our running backs and opportunities to get our outside guys one-on-one if the safety-if the seventh defender gets in the box.”
“Yeah, it's their RPO game,” Riley said when asked about how they defended the mesh. “It's unique, kind of how long they take, especially to not have any linemen downfield calls with that, I would consider that not a minor miracle, but a major miracle. But you've got to defend it. You've got to defend it.”
Up next for Stanford is a bye week. They will get the week off before facing Washington on the road on Saturday, September 24th.
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