PALO ALTO, Calif. _ College football's elite programs get only so many chances in the long slog of a season to earn their reputations. For USC, this early trip north to play No. 10 Stanford represented one of those moments to show its mettle against a known equal on a primetime stage.
The Trojans will have to wait for the next opportunity after whiffing big in a 17-3 loss to the Cardinal in which USC felt competitive throughout but couldn't quite get there on the Stanford Stadium scoreboard.
"All our hopes and aspirations and dreams are still out there," USC coach Clay Helton said, "and our team understands that."
The Trojans, 1-1 and 0-1 in the Pac-12, now know they have a multitude of improvements to make if they're going to emerge as a team with meaningful games to play in late November.
Coming in, USC thought it had put in the work the last eight months to avoid being humbled again. The Trojans thought their 24-7 loss to Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl was behind them. On their way to the Pac-12 championship last season, they had beaten Stanford twice, but the Cardinal, who improved to 9-5 against USC since 2007, were back to their old ways.
Because when playing Stanford too, teams only get so many chances. David Shaw's team squeezes the game and makes every mistake feel more torturous.
USC trailed 7-0 near the end of the first half and had a drive moving into scoring territory at the Cardinal's 40 yard line. At that point, the Trojans' formula for victory was holding strong _ they had more rushing yards than Stanford and had forced the Cardinal into several third-and-longs. There was a growing sense that freshman quarterback JT Daniels, who had exited the game in the first quarter with a bruised hand, was working himself back into a rhythm.
The Trojans had third-and-2, and, coming off a completion to Tyler Vaughns, rushed to the line for a quick run play. But Stephen Carr was stuffed, forcing fourth down. USC called timeout, feeling just how crucial this exchange would be. It would end up of those plays Stanford simply doesn't let you get back. Daniels dropped back to pass and was stripped by Joey Alfieri, giving Stanford the ball at its own 49 with 1:18 left.
The Cardinal's response was very on-brand. Stanford drove 51 yards in five plays and scored on a 9-yard fade pass from KJ Costello to tight end Cody Parkinson.
Stanford suddenly led 14-0, setting the game's eventual winning margin by halftime.
The Cardinal, now 2-0 and 1-0 in the Pac-12, didn't do anything the Trojans couldn't handle or didn't see coming.
Stanford didn't turn the ball over, a Shaw staple. Somehow, the Cardinal always have an all-world punter and future NFL tight ends and _ news flash _ they still do. Sure, Bryce Love ran it 22 times for 136 yards, but that was not the story of the game. Fifty-nine of those yards came on one carry.
"This is our third time in the last year competing against each other," Helton said. "We have a lot of respect for that team and how they played. They were making us go a long way. It never felt like we could get the field flipped the whole game. They played clean football. Our defense I thought did a great job of holding up and giving us an opportunity to stay in the game."
As late as the final minutes of the fourth quarter, Daniels kept pushing to get USC back into the game. He hit Amon-ra St. Brown for a 28-yard gain that moved the Trojans to the Stanford 15. On the next play, though, he underthrew St. Brown on a corner route that should have been a touchdown to pull USC within a touchdown. Instead, it was intercepted.
Daniels would throw another interception on USC's final drive.
"The quarterback is going to learn from the good times and the bad," Helton said. "And every rep that he gets, he's going to get better from it. He's a very smart person and a very talented person and will grow from tonight."
