Pac-12 Championship Game 2017: Early Preview, Predictions for USC vs. Stanford
The least meaningful Power Five championship game will take center stage Friday night at Levi's Stadium.
The only reward the USC Trojans and Stanford Cardinal are playing for is the Pac-12 Championship trophy.
Not only will the Pac-12 be shut out from the College Football Playoff, but the conference champion won't even get a chance to play in the Rose Bowl since it is a national semifinal game this season.
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USC had a more straightforward path to Santa Clara, California, as it breezed through most of its schedule, including a 42-24 win over the Cardinal on September 9.
The Trojans' only slip-up in conference play was a brutal Friday night loss to Washington State on September 29, a game in which quarterback Sam Darnold completed half of his passes and failed to throw a touchdown.
Darnold, who was seen as a favorite to win the Heisman Trophy at the start of the season, worked through a rough patch in September to become a reliable force in the pocket.
However, interceptions continue to be one of Darnold's biggest issues, as he's only had three games in which he hasn't thrown to a member of the opposing team. In comparison to two other top quarterbacks, Darnold's turnover rate is high, as ESPN's Peter Burns pointed out before Week 13 began:
Luckily for the Trojans, they have another star in the backfield who can take the pressure off Darnold. Running back Ronald Jones II may not have received the national attention other tailbacks have, but he's had as much of an impact as Saquon Barkley at Penn State and Bryce Love at Stanford.
In his past four regular-season games, the junior running back averaged 168.5 rushing yards, and eight of his 16 touchdowns were scored during that span. Jones also had success against Stanford, with 116 yards on the ground and a pair of scores in a game that saw USC total 623 yards.
On the other side of the field on Friday night will be Love, who deserves a trip to the Heisman ceremony. The junior running back finished the regular season with 1,848 rushing yards, and he had a carry of 30 or more yards in each game he participated in. In the first meeting with USC, Love ran for 160 yards and a touchdown.
Love will receive all the attention heading into Friday, but we could be praising a familiar face by the time the game ends. Stanford head coach David Shaw sometimes gets lost in the discussion of the nation's best head coaches, but he always has his team prepared for the big stage.
After Week 13's win over Notre Dame, the Cardinal have won six consecutive home games against opposition in the AP Top 10, per the team's official Twitter account:
Although the game is at a neutral site, Stanford's campus is close to Levi's Stadium, and the Cardinal are banking on getting more support than the Trojans, especially since their road record is less than stellar at 2-3.
Stanford is 3-0 in the Pac-12 Championship Game, with its most recent victory coming in 2015 over USC. We wouldn't be surprised if a similar result plays out, especially if the Cardinal can pressure the turnover-prone Darnold into a few interceptions.
Prediction: Stanford 23, USC 16
Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.
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