A late field goal and superb defensive play late lifted the No. 14 USC Trojans over the No. 13 Stanford Cardinal Saturday 13-10 to mercifully put an end to a messy contest.
Stanford had won five of its last seven encounters with USC, but a new Trojans era under the guidance of Steve Sarkisian got under way with the upset in hostile territory.
Trojans' star running back Javorius Allen was the only consistent performer on the day, carrying the ball 23 times for 154 yards. Quarterback Cody Kessler finished with just 135 yards. Stanford's Kevin Hogan threw for 285 yards, but fumbled away his team's chance to win it at the very end.
USC's defense stepped up in a major way, too, holding the Cardinal to 10 points despite their seven trips inside the Trojans' 35-yard line.
Despite the prestige of the two programs involved, Stanford and USC combined for 18 flags that totaled 155 yards and the plans executed by the coaches were timid at best. USA Today's Paul Myerberg summed up the sloppy contest well:
The first conference game of the 2014 season between top-15 teams had plenty at stake, not to mention it featured the Pac-12's best cross-division rivalry.
Interestingly enough, the rivalry itself took it up a notch this past offseason when USC hired Sarkisian away from Washington—a team that lost to the Cardinal last year, which spawned a public spat when the now-Trojans coach accused David Shaw's players of faking injury to slow his offense. Of course, it's an issue both men claim is in the past.
"It was over," Shaw said, via ESPN.com. "It was in the past. He and I sat together at lunch and breakfast a couple times and talked about a bunch of other things. Our wives are getting to become good friends; they know each other well so there's no animosity whatsoever."
As much as fans surely wanted to see a revival of the Jim Harbaugh-Pete Carroll drama from year's past, they instead got a sloppy affair in which the coaches caused more harm than good at times.
Shaw's team throughout most of the contest looked nothing like his rosters that won the Pac-12 title in each of the past two seasons. The early errors over the course of the first half were bountiful. A wealth of penalties killed the opening drive, which was capped off by a blocked kick.
The list continued throughout the half. Only nine players on the field on special teams. Too many in the huddle on third down in the red zone. Then a delay of game on the very next play. As CBSSports.com's Jerry Hinnen points out, there were even questionable instances of conservative decisions:
But the biggest offender of all, bar none, in the eyes of observers, was Shaw's obsession with the wildcat attack in the first half as a way to get senior wideout Ty Montgomery the ball as a rusher.
By halftime, Montgomery—who finished with negative rushing yards and nine catches for 83 yards to lead the team—had rushed three times for negative 13 yards. Bleacher Report's Adam Kramer and reporter David Lombardi were miffed at Shaw's dedication to the approach:
It was an interesting strategy, to say the least, with Hogan—who entered with a 10-1 mark against Associated Press top 25 teams—playing so well.
Despite the wealth of issues for Shaw's team, the Cardinal still entered the locker room at the half with a three-point advantage. Sarkisian's fabled offense was 5-of-7 on third downs, but Kessler mustered just 37 passing yards while Stanford controlled the clock.
Which is where the spotlight switches to Sarkisian for a tad. He simply refused to open up the playbook for his talented crop of players. Kessler failed to average even four yards per attempt in the first half en route to finishing with his mediocre line.
On a certain level, the lack of creativity makes sense against a Shaw-led defense on the road. But on another, USC doesn't reel in so many elite recruiting classes to run an attack similar to Lane Kiffin's, right? Scott Wolf of the Los Angeles Daily News certainly didn't think so:
No matter, though, as Shaw's squad continued its error-laden ways into the third frame. Stanford's first drive resulted in a missed field goal, the second saw the team get stuffed by Leonard Williams and the Trojans' defense with one yard to go on fourth down.
It didn't exactly change the course of the game as it would any normal contest.
Not to be outdone, Sarkisian's side tied the game at 10 after the goal-line stand, but on the field goal, the Trojans were hit with a penalty. Sarkisian himself then got hit with an unsportsmanlike penalty for complaining. At the tail end of the subsequent return by Montgomery, the Trojans hit him out of bounds, drawing another flag and an ejection.
That ejection comically drew Trojans' athletic director Pat Haden out of his press box and to the field so he could argue with officials. Take it away, Lindsey Thiry of the Los Angeles Times:
So hey, maybe the coaches weren't fibbing about their indifference toward one another—Stanford fumbled the ball away on the very next play.
Confusing? Bill Plaschke of the L.A. Times has it in 140 characters or less:
Finally, when a team decided to play disciplined football and win the thing—Hogan hit a wide-open receiver for a touchdown with about eight minutes left—the Cardinal were called for a chop block.
So it went.
The hero for such a contest, as anyone could have predicted, wound up being a kicker. USC's Andre Heidari connected on a 53-yard attempt with 2:30 left in the game to take the game to its final score, before Hogan fumbled away Stanford's last chance.
The good news for Stanford is that the team gets to remain at The Farm for another week and recuperate, as a date with Army is on the schedule next before a conference matchup against Washington and then a trip to South Bend to encounter Notre Dame.
USC surely catapults into the top 10 and announces itself as a serious contender for the inaugural playoff. The Trojans will travel to Boston College to encounter an Eagles team coming off a loss to Pittsburgh, which may prove a tougher test than most realize if the Trojans experience a hangover or overlook their opponent with major conference tests on the horizon.
Note: All stats and info courtesy of ESPN unless otherwise specified.
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2189592-usc-vs-stanford-score-and-twitter-reaction
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