LOS ANGELES (GMC) -- You've seen this game before, so often that the formula has become expected. Two teams appear to be evenly matched as they trade scores in the early going, but even before the half is over, one team begins to assert itself. In the second half, that team begins to pull away by running the ball relentlessly, passing for key first downs when necessary, dominating time of possession, making adjustments on defense, and eventually turning a close game into a decisive victory.
That's the formula Stanford has used for years, but on Saturday night at the Coliseum it was the USC Trojans who followed that script and came away with a convincing 42-24 win over the Cardinal.
Things looked promising in the beginning. Stanford took the opening possession and managed two first downs on a nice pass from Keller Chryst to Trenton Irwin and then a 20-yard burst from Bryce Love, but the drive eventually fizzled. On 3rd and 5 from the USC 46, Chryst dropped back and looked towards Irwin again, but he was pressured and hit as he threw, causing the ball to flutter harmlessly out of bounds.
The Trojans took over on their own 20 and showcased two of the most potent weapons in the Pac-12, quarterback Sam Darnold and tailback Ronald Jones. Darnold is one of the frontrunners for this year's Heisman (because he goes to USC and not Stanford, it's actually plausible that he could win), but he started the series by handing the ball to Jones on the first four plays of the drive, then completed a short pass before giving it to Jones twice more. Jones was doing nothing spectacular, but his short gains established a rhythm for the Trojan offense and allowed them to build momentum and keep the Stanford defense on their heels.
Darnold went back to the air after crossing midfield, completing passes to Tyler Petite and Velus Jones to move the ball to the Stanford 21, and four plays later he floated a pass over outstretched arms and into the hands of wide receiver Steve Mitchell for a four-yard touchdown and a 7-0 USC lead.
Needing to answer back, the Cardinal did so immediately. On 1st and 10 from the 25, Chryst turned and pitched directly back to Love. Left tackle David Bright, left guard Nate Herbig, and center Jesse Burkett slanted to their right and into the middle of the USC line, while right guard Brandon Fanaika pulled around to his left to join fullback Daniel Marx and tight end Dalton Schultz in neutralizing the left side of the Trojan defense. What resulted was a massive chasm. (Or, as Vince Lombardi would call it, an alley.) Love ran hard into that alley and ran 75 yards untouched to the end zone to tie the score at seven. It was a lightning strike, the kind of play that serves as a reminder of the potency of the Stanford offense and the brilliance of Bryce Love.
One the few Stanford fans in Section 5 of the Coliseum was sitting two rows in front of me. Only the two of us were standing as Love broke into the clear, and when the Stanford fan heard me cheering, he turned around and we enjoyed a high five, shamelessly reaching over the heads of the Trojan fans between us to slap palms. There are few things more delicious than celebrating a touchdown in another team's stadium.
Darnold and the Trojan offense, however, weren't intimidated. Darnold completed passes of 4, 19, and 9 yards on the first three plays of USC's next possession, but the highlight of the drive came at 2nd and 5 from the Stanford 34. Darnold enjoyed excellent protection all night long, but on this play he was flushed to his right by Casey Toohill. Instead of tucking and running, Darnold kept his eyes downfield and waited for one of his receivers to come open. While on a dead run, Darnold spotted Mitchell inside the 10 yard line and delivered a perfect strike that gave the Trojans a 1st and goal at the Stanford 4. It was the type of play that very few quarterbacks can make, whether they're playing on Saturdays or Sundays. Unfortunately for the Cardinal it would be just one of many Darnold would make over the course of the game. Three plays later Ronald Jones dove into the end zone for a touchdown, and the Trojans were up 14-7.
Cameron Scarlett gave the Stanford offense a boost with a 46-yard return of the ensuing kickoff, so after Chryst hit wide receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside with a 20-yard pass on the final play of the first quarter, the Cardinal seemed ready to answer. Already over 100 yards rushing in the game, Bryce Love rumbled for 21 more before being pulled down just a yard short of the end zone. Facing 1st and goal from the USC 1, Coach David Shaw sent in the jumbo package, and the entire offensive line, including tight end Dalton Schultz, dug in so low at the line of scrimmage that their knees were almost touching the ground. They all dove hard to get beneath the Trojan line at the snap, all except Schultz, who scrambled out of the scrum and walked alone towards the left corner of the end zone where Chryst found him with one of the easier touchdown passes of his career. Once again, the game was tied.
It wasn't unusual that the Stanford defense had yielded touchdowns on USC's first two possessions, so I wasn't worried. I fully expected that defensive coordinator Lance Anderson's adjustments would begin to show up, and the Trojan offense would begin to slow down. On the first play of scrimmage, however, freshman tailback Stephen Carr, backup to Ronald Jones, burst through the left side and sprinted for 52 yards before safety Justin Reid finally pushed him out of bounds at the Stanford 23. Two plays later Darnold hit Deonta Burnett on a crossing pattern that looked innocent enough until Burnett shrugged his way through tackle attempts by Reid and Ben Edwards, then dove through another attempt by Alijah Holder to get to the pylon for a touchdown and a 21-14 lead.
That was the moment, I think, when I began to feel like this game might be different.
The Cardinal did nothing on their next possession to reassure me, earning just one first down before punting the ball back to the Trojans, and then Darnold went to work once more, moving the Trojans out of a deep hole and out to the Stanford 32. Facing 3rd and 7, however, Darnold felt pressure and backpedalled a bit, forcing a throw off his back foot deep down the right sideline. The view from my seat in the fifth row was slightly obscured by the Stanford bench, so I assumed Darnold would find his target, just as he had been all evening. Instead, I saw a Stanford defender leap from out of nowhere before disappearing again behind his celebrating teammates. Darnold had seen Burnett pulling away from his defender, but he hadn't seen Justin Reid closing hard from the middle of the field. It was the Stanford safety who made the interception, sending the Trojans off the field without points for the first time all night.
A touchdown on this series would tie the score and make up for Stanford's empty possession to start the game, and for a moment it looked like they'd get the score they needed. After moving the ball to the USC 21, Chryst brought the offense to the line of scrimmage with two receivers to his left, Arcega-Whiteside out wide and Connor Wedington in the slot. The two of them seemed to be a bit confused with their alignment, and Chryst attempted to adjust them, but when Arcega-Whiteside turned to ask the sideline official if he was lined up legally, everything seemed to be okay.
Wedington shot up field at the snap, give his defender a shake to the post, then cut back to the pylon. Chryst threw one of his best passes of the night, putting the ball right on his chest, and the Cardinal looked to be in business at the 1-yard line. But there was a flag back at the line of scrimmage; Arcega-Whiteside had lined up illegally. Shaw disagreed and called the official over for an explanation. All of this was taking place directly in front of us, and I could read the official's lips clearly as he spoke to Shaw: "I told him to move up." The Cardinal would eventually settle for a 36-yard field goal from Jet Toner, and the Trojan lead was cut to 21-17.
When Darnold and the Trojans came back out onto the field with 2:43 to play in the half, they initially seemed content to run out the clock and head to intermission with the lead. But then Darnold started working on his Heisman résumé again. On 2nd and 20 from his own 26, Darnold went to play action and looked deep. Steve Mitchell lined up in the left slot and did nothing much more than run a straight line down the field with Stanford safety Frank Buncom running alongside, perhaps half a step behind him. Undeterred, Darnold dropped a perfect strike into Mitchell's lap, just around or over Frank Buncom's outstretched arm for a 49-yard gain. The coverage would've been good enough against a normal quarterback, but Sam Darnold isn't normal.
With the Coliseum still buzzing, Darnold took the next snap and rolled easily to his right. Burnett had gotten a little bit of space as he mirrored Darnold's roll and headed towards the right sideline. Darnold simply flicked the ball to the pylon in a place where only his receiver could make a play, and Burnett made a play, diving for a spectacular catch for a touchdown that gave the Trojans a 28-17 lead.
After such a high octane first half, it was odd that neither offense scored in the third quarter. The Cardinal turned away the Trojans on their first possession of the second half when cornerback Alijah Holder made a play that will surely find a place on Stanford's 2017 highlight reel. On 2nd and 8 from the Stanford 34, Darnold launched a long pass towards his tight end, Tyler Petite. Again, it looked like Petite had a bit of space, but Holder closed on the play, tipped the ball into the air with his right hand, and gathered it in at the goal line before returning it 32 yards.
It was a play that reminded us that we're watching the best secondary in the history of Stanford football. The problem, though, is that even an elite secondary becomes porous when an elite quarterback like Darnold with potentially elite receivers like Burnett and Mitchell have time to operate. Darnold's two interceptions had come on phenomenal plays by Reid and Holder, but more often it was Darnold and his receivers who were providing the highlights. All night long it seemed as if Darnold was putting balls exactly where they needed to be, and his receivers made several spectacular plays.
On the night Darnold would complete 21 of his 26 passes for 316 yards and four touchdowns, a performance that was reminiscent of Andrew Luck. The Stanford front seven did not play well; in addition to Darnold's success they also yielded a staggering 307 yards rushing. The Trojans rolled up 623 total yards, the highest number any Cardinal defense has given up under David Shaw.
Understandably, there will be an urge to blame that front seven. Although the defensive line and the linebackers certainly need help, whether with added bodies or different schemes, it would be foolish not to give USC some credit. Sam Darnold is the best college quarterback I've seen since Luck, with a set of physical tools that will likely vault him to the top of the 2018 NFL Draft. Beyond him, the Trojan offense features two athletic wide receivers and two running backs who are threats to score on every play. USC has only played two games, but they'll be a team to watch through the fall, a team which could end up playing for a national championship.
A play here or a play there wouldn't have made a difference for the Cardinal, but it's possible that improved play from the offensive line might have kept the game interesting for a lot longer. Bryce Love finished with 168 yards on just 17 carries for a sparkling 9.4 yards per carry average, but after his long first quarter score he had just 66 yards on 11 carries. Those are still good numbers, but not what you'd expect in three quarters of play.
In addition to that, Chryst was under pressure all night. He was sacked only twice, but he was hurried on several occasions, and by my unofficial count he had four passes tipped or knocked down at the line of scrimmage.
Keller Chryst didn't have to be as good as Sam Darnold, but he needed to have time to stand in the pocket and make plays. He needed a successful running game to eliminate 3rd and long. He needed playmakers to reel in any errant passes. He needed more, but on Saturday night he didn't get it.
There were few Stanford highlights in the second half after that Holder interception as the teams traded scoreless possessions until USC put together a 12 play, 90-yard drive to take a commanding 35-17 lead with 9:36 to play in the game. Perhaps shaken by their stupor, the Stanford offense answered with a touchdown of their own (a three-yard pass from Chryst to Arcega-Whiteside), but Ronald Jones capped a 75-yard Trojan drive with a 25-yard touchdown run to close out the scoring at 42-24.
The Stanford players dutifully walked to midfield after the final gun to shake hands with the Trojans, then turned towards the locker room and what will surely be a week of soul searching. I doubt if even the most optimistic Stanford fan expected the team to go undefeated, but the suddenness and thoroughness of this loss was enough to shake even the most confident corners of the fanbase.
The Cardinal was outplayed in all phases of the game, and the team was dominated on both sides of the line of scrimmage. But there is good news. Stanford won't face another quarterback as good as Sam Darnold (yes, I know that Josh Rosen, Jake Browning, and Luke Falk still await) with wide receivers as dynamic as Burnett and Mitchell. Also, the young offensive line promises to improve. Freshmen Walker Little and Foster Sarell didn't play as much as they did two weeks ago against Rice, but they still played, and their early success could eventually force Mike Bloomgren and David Shaw to install them as starters. Could those two phenoms be the answer to the questions surrounding the offensive line?
As for the front seven, watch for players like linemen Mike Williams and Jovan Swann and linebacker Curtis Robinson to follow similar paths, learning from losses like this to become better players.
The main thing to remember, though, is that the season is only two games old. Two years ago the Cardinal opened in Northwestern and came away with a loss that was far more disheartening than this one; that season ended with a victory in the Rose Bowl. USC fans would also probably remind Mighty Card Nation that the Trojans started the season 1-3 last year, including a 27-10 loss to the Cardinal, before rattling off nine straight wins and finishing as one of the best teams in the country.
The season is long, and things will get better.