5 Keys to Victory for Stanford over USC

Stanford is ranked sixth in the BCS poll and visits the Coliseum on Saturday to face the USC Trojans. Coach David Shaw's Cardinal are 7-0 and have averaged over 48 points per game behind all-world QB Andrew Luck while holding opponents to under 13 points per game.

The Trojans are coming off perhaps their biggest victory of the Lane Kiffin era, a 31-17 win at Notre Dame last Saturday.

USC has a dynamic offense featuring QB Matt Barkley, the apparently un-coverable WR Robert Woods and RBs Marc Tyler and Curtis McNeal, who led Troy to more than 200 rushing yards against Notre Dame.

Meanwhile, the Trojans' oft-maligned defense held the Irish to 41 net rushing yards and appears to be peaking just in time for Saturday's showdown, which promises to be Stanford's toughest test yet in 2011.

Let's see how Stanford can prevail on Saturday.

Power Running Game

Stanford pulverized Washington last week with 446 rushing yards. While USC stopped Notre Dame cold, holding the Irish to only 41 net yards, USC hasn't seen anything in 2011 like Stanford's power running game.

The Cardinal wear down opposing defenses with a huge OL and a rotation of four tailbacks and two fullbacks. OL David DeCastro and Jonathan Martin and starting TB Stepfan Taylor and FB Ryan Hewitt have garnered lots of headlines, but the other linemen and RBs are just as talented.

Take for instance the backup fullback, Geoff Meinken. He is listed at 6'4" and 255 pounds, which is as big as any USC linebacker. He is the only Stanford RB without a TD this season but is a fearsome blocker with a mean streak and a nose for contact that has earned him a spot on special teams as well. He wears No. 10.

The last time Stanford visited the Coliseum in 2009, it pounded Troy for 325 rushing yards in its 55-21 win. The Cardinal will need a similarly dominating rushing attack on Saturday to control the flow of the game and keep the ball away from USC's explosive offense.

Tight Ends

Stanford's power running game opens up play-action passing for its great QB, Andrew Luck.

USC's defense allowed seven completions to Notre Dame's tight end Tyler Eifert. That bodes well for Stanford, which has the best trio of TEs this side of the NFL in Coby Fleener, Zach Ertz and Levine Toilolo.

Stanford coach David Shaw often deploys two TEs and sometimes has all three TEs on the field, and who can blame him. Fleener is 6'6", and no LB or SS has yet been able to cover him on deep post patterns. He is averaging a gaudy 22-plus yards per carry and has seven touchdown catches.

Ertz is also 6'6" and is seemingly always open in the middle of the field. Toilolo is a giant at 6'8" and is averaging over 21 yards per carry.

USC's sophomore CB Nickell Robey is fast, but stands only 5'8". USC's LBs Chris Galippo, Hayes Pullard and Dion Bailey are quick and athletic, but like Robey are dwarfed by the Stanford TEs. Want to bet Coach Shaw tries to isolate the TEs on them?

Stop Barkley-to-Woods

Stanford QB Andrew Luck is being hyped almost to the point of oversaturation—all of which seems justified, given his incredible performances so far this season.

Just take a look at these 2011 stats: 68.2 completion percentage, 19 TD passes, only four INTs and nearly eight yards per attempt. Wow, that is impressive.

But wait, those glittering numbers aren't Luck's 2011 statistics--they belong instead to USC's own superstar QB, Matt Barkley!

The WR on the receiving end of many of Barkley's passes is WR Robert Woods, who is lapping all FBS WRs with a jaw-dropping 72 catches for over 128 YPG and eight TDs.

Stanford's defense has held opponents to under 13 points per game, fourth best in FBS, and the Cardinal have sacked opposing QBs 25 times, despite losing top tackler and pass-rusher LB Shayne Skov to a season-ending knee injury last month.

However, injuries and some inexperience have affected the Stanford secondary, which has only three INTs this season. The Cardinal will need to pressure Barkley and must hope that Woods, who was reportedly limited in practice on Wednesday, is not 100 percent.

Overcome the Coliseum Aura

USC was invincible at home in the Coliseum during the Pete Carroll "pre-probation" era. Recently, the Trojans' home field has lost some of its aura and mystique.

Stanford has been a big part of the unmasking of the Coliseum. In 2007, first-year head coach Jim Harbaugh and the Cardinal were coming off a 1-11 season and visited USC as 40-plus point underdogs. Stanford proceeded to pull off a shocking 24-23 upset.

Since then, the Trojans have lost five more times at the Coliseum, notably the 55-21 beatdown at the hands of Stanford in 2009. Late in that game, up 48-21, Coach Harbaugh went for a two-point conversion, prompting a testy Carroll to ask Harbaugh during the post-game handshake, "What's your deal?"

The deal is, Stanford has not been intimidated by the Coliseum, and the Cardinal must once again overcome USC's home-field advantage on Saturday.

In Luck We Trust

You've just seen Matt Barkley's shining stats for 2011. Andrew Luck's numbers—72 percent completion, 20 TDs, three INTs, over nine YPA—are even better, especially when you consider that Stanford's WR corps, while formidable, lack a playmaker of Robert Woods' capabilities.

Luck has incredible statistics and well-documented play calling and decision-making skills that have made him a consensus top pick for the 2012 NFL draft.

Equally important to Stanford's success is his intensely competitive will to win.

Luck's father, Oliver, played in the NFL and is the AD at West Virginia. His younger sister plays for Stanford's fifth-ranked women's volleyball team. Competing and winning runs in the family.

Luck turned down an eight-figure NFL contract in order to play for Stanford in 2011 and pursue a national championship. A Cardinal victory in Saturday's showdown at USC will be a huge step toward that goal.