Stanford Outlasts One-Dimensional USC Trojans

The Trojans were one-dimensional tonight.  But what a brilliant dimension it was.

Stanford’s Jim Harbaugh loaded the box determined to stop the Trojan running game.  If anyone was going to beat the Cardinal, it would have to be Matt Barkley and not running back Allen Bradford.

Barkley nearly obliged. 

The Trojan sophomore quarterback had a career night throwing for 385 yards and three TDs, completing 28 of 45.

On the receiving end of 12 of those completions and all three TDs was true freshman Robert Woods.  The speedster racked up 219 yards.  His longest was a beautiful 61 yard catch-and-run.

But for the second week in a row, a short field goal with no time left to beat the Trojans 37-35.

For the Trojans, they were done in by the usual problems, a porous defense and personal fouls.

While Lane Kiffin’s play-calling was nothing short of brilliant, Monte Kiffin’s defense could not stop Andrew Luck and the Cardinal all evening.

Stanford punted only once, and that was on the first series of the game.  Again, their inability to get off the field on third down cost the Trojans the game.  Stanford converted on six of eight third downs.

Nevertheless, there was some slight improvement on the defensive side of the ball.

The Trojans did manage to cause three fumbles and recovered all three.  While Stanford rushed for nearly 200 yards, the USC defense did tighten up their run defense as the game wore on.

Another bright spot for the defense was the play of Shane Horton, who replaced Malcolm Smith after Smith was sidelined with a knee injury.  Considering the lack of depth at linebacker, it was good to see Horton, a converted safety, hold his own out there.

But in the end, Luck, who completed 20 of 24 passes for three scores, was bad luck for the young Trojan secondary.

And so were the penalties.  The Trojans were penalized eight times for 53 yards.  But four of those penalties came on third downs and enabled the Cardinal to keep their scoring drives going.

So, it is back to the drawing boards for Monte Kiffin and his decimated Tampa 2 defense.  Hopefully, he will find a way to stop the Cal Bears after they torched UCLA 35-7.

But for all the Trojans and their fans, don’t let two heart-breaking losses get you down.  Remember to “Hold Your Head Up…Hold Your Head High.”