USC
Stanford
Players Mentioned
No. 17 USC Begins Pac-12 Title Defense With Rematch at No. 10 Stanford
September 02, 2018 | Football, Features
*This is the fifth consecutive year that USC begins league play versus the Cardinal, and the sixth time in the past 7 years.
*Stanford, USC's oldest current rival (dating to 1905), had been Troy's nemesis of late, having won 7 of the 9 meetings until USC's sweep last year.
*USC is coming off a 22-point season-opening home win over UNLV, its 17th straight victory in the Coliseum. Trojan head coach Clay Helton has won nearly 75% of his games at Troy (his 21 wins in his rst 2 full seasons were more than any USC coach). QB JT Daniels, a true freshman who graduated a year early from high school to join the Trojans this summer, impressed in his debut versus UNLV when he became just the second USC true frosh quarterback to start an opener (his 282 passing yards were the most ever by a Trojan in his rst outing). WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, Daniels' high school teammate and fellow rst-year freshman, was also eye-opening, getting game bests in receptions (7, with no Trojan ever having more in their frosh debut) and receiving yards (98) while catching Daniels' rst TD toss. USC's 3-headed rushing attack--TBs Aca'Cedric Ware (he notched his fourth career 100-yard game while averaging 10.0 yards versus UNLV), Stephen Carr and Vavae Malepeai--led the way to 219 ground yards. The Trojan offensive line, even without injured C Toa Lobendahn, allowed just 2 sacks by the Rebels and opened holes for all those rushing yards. Defensively, 2-time team tackle leader ILB Cameron Smith once again topped USC in stops last Saturday, while erce OLB Porter Gustin showed no rust after missing much of 2017 and this fall's camp with an injury. PK Chase McGrath tied a USC game record with his 5 field goals versus UNLV.
*Stanford, which opened its 2018 campaign with a comfortable Friday night home win over San Diego State, is led by David Shaw (whose uncle was a USC All-American), the winningest coach in Cardinal history. Stanford's offense revolves around exciting RB Bryce Love, a unanimous All-American in 2017 when he ran for 2,118 yards with 19 TDs and now is a top Heisman Trophy contender. Efficient QB K.J. Costello aims many of his passes at WRs JJ Arcega-Whiteside (he had 226 receiving yards with 3 TDs last week against the Aztecs) and Trenton Irwin, a duo that combined for 91 receptions and 11 touchdowns last fall. Anchoring the offensive line is OG Nate Herbig, a 2017 All-Pac-12 first teamer. ILB Bobby Okereke, who notched 162 tackles last year, leads the Cardinal defense.
Click Here for Full Game NotesÂ
