Month: November 2013

Pistons nab first road win against “loudest” competition

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Photo Credit: Ed Szczepanski, USA TODAY Sports

By Pearl Allison Lo

On a night when the Sacramento Kings’ fans set two Guinness world records, Detroit got their first win in five games in a 97-90 win Friday.

A well-rounded Josh Smith led the Pistons as the Kings’ supporters created the “Loudest Crowd Roar at an Indoor Sports Stadium.”

Smith had 21 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals and 4 blocks.

Sacramento crushed the previous Guinness World Record of 106.6 decibels by the Milwaukee Bucks in 2008, soaring to a sound of 124.9 decibels in the first half, and then surpassing themselves in the second half with a record of 126 decibels.

DeMarcus Cousins led the Kings with a double-double, scoring 26 points with 13 rebounds, 2 assists and 3 blocks.  Detroit’s Andre Drummonds, whose sprained ankle put his status as uncertain before the game, was the only other player to have a double-double with 15 points and 18 rebounds.

The Pistons’ consistently strong three quarters set the pace for their win.

Detroit received the lead 16 seconds into the game with a two-pointer by Greg Monroe and held it throughout the first quarter until Ben McLemore tied the game at 34 with 8:41 left to go in the 2nd period.

Two turnovers and a foul gave the Pistons their largest lead (9 points) within that stretch, as Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 5 points within less than 30 seconds.  A  three by John Salmons put the game within four, but McLemore missed a flying dunk and Cousins lost the ball out of bounds.

After Sacramento’s third tie, they got their first lead with 4:52 left in the first half, as Cousins made a consecutive shot.  However, it was also short-lived as Monroe followed up with a basket.  He then missed a free throw but also stole the ball, which eventually resulted in two points by Josh Smith and then a free throw. This was part of a 10-1 run since the tie right before the Kings short lead, which also featured Rodney Stuckey hitting two technicals and a three-pointer.

With 1:19 left in the first half, Sacramento got a 51-50 lead upon a three by Isaiah Thomas.  However, Jonas Jerebko then tied it with a free throw and Detroit got the lead back after two fouls and a turnover by the Kings.

Greivis Vasquez’s second three in a row put the Kings back ahead 64-62 with 5:05 left in the 3rd.  The teams then went back and forth until a three by Brandon Jennings with 4:18 left in the 3rd put the Pistons ahead for good.  As part of a 14-4 run, Detroit finished the 3rd with a 10 point, 80-70 lead.  Stuckey hit another technical, Drummonds had 6 points, Smith had 2 blocks and both Drummonds and Smith worked hard along the glass.

The closest Sacramento got afterwards was reflected in the final score, despite the Pistons going scoreless the last 2:28 of the game.

Game notes: Thomas, Stuckey and Detroit’s Kyle Singler contributed double-digit points off the bench.  Fast break points and points in the paint for the Pistons and the Kings were reflected as 24-16 and 46-34.  Sacramento next plays the Memphis Grizzlies at 3pm PST.

 

Sharks hot to get mileage on current trip/Bulls look to have close games on homestand

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by Larry Levitt
DALY CITY–The San Jose Sharks are on very long road trip and I don’t mean long as in time although as in multiple days in an eight day, five game road trip but the amount of travel they criss cross the United States and Canada twice. The Sharks are doing rather well, they’re not really executing and playing a very good defensive game right now
To say they got lucky Thursday night and beat the Vancouver Canucks in an overtime goal by Dan Boyle is an understatement, they didn’t really deserve to win but then again they deserve to win a couple others they didn’t get the goals scored, for now it’s payback. The best line I heard was ”the hockey Gods might be even things up.”
When the Sharks had Ryan Clowe and Michal Handzus that was their go to team and when you trade them away and they traded them away for speed but they don’t have that skill. I love that quick shot of the Sharks Joe Pevelski and Logan Courture they really get their shot off their stick quickly. You got to give the goalie some credit too but they didn’t seem like they had much of a game plan going in the last game on Thursday.The Sharks did what they could, they got what they got getting one point even though you lose a game getting one point is better than none.
The scary thing about facing a team like Edmonton in last place, the Oilers have been shut out for the last three games in a row. So you know their going to be aching to get a goal and against a team that’s struggling defensively like the Sharks are. Edmonton has a young team their in transition for quite awhile. They’re suppose to be there now and they’re working at having a good team now. The Oilers are struggling so maybe it’s a good time for them to catch up to them and straighten out your own woes.
Two inured Sharks Raffi Torres and Brett Burns the two injured Sharks, Torres is the team’s spark plug but the Sharks have been doing pretty good without them. Raffi is supposed to be the big heavy hitter but they didn’t really need a big heavy hitter. They’ve really been playing okay without him. Burns is a bigger miss. I don’t understand why he’s been out so long. Burns has been out with a mouth injury and Torres out with a torn ACL.
For sure Burns is really missed and he’s out for more than just a chipped tooth it’s going to be interesting when we finally find out probably at the end of the season to find out how bad this injury is. Burns may have a broken bone that still needs to heal. They miss his speed, they miss his recklessness down on the ice that really plays havoc with other teams.
It was also reported that Burns is suffering from an injury that could be a concussion related so the Sharks are going to have to make due without him. When Torres comes back he can bring some offense he doesn’t have to be a heavy hitter. He’s a big guy, he’s a good skater he can shoot so their out there and the team has been getting along okay and the Sharks look forward to see what comes up.
San Francisco Bulls update: The Bulls are on a two game winning streak they won their home opener on Friday night and then they won in Stockton on Veterans day Monday night, they’re looking pretty good the thing that is most impressive getting the road win in Stockton on Monday night. The thing that’s most impressive is the goaltending and they have hot goaltending with Tyler Boskorowany he’s a big guy at 6’5 210 pounds he moves really well.
Boskorowany moves pretty well, he got caught out of position a few times in Stockton but recovered really well and saved a goal. If the team can learn to play with him he’s a new goalie for the team. If they can get used to his style and used to his defense that’s in front of him they can really be a good team. Boskorowany he talks a lot and they seemed to be thriving on that and a lot of the defenseman are pretty young and are pretty new to the league.
They have been performing quite well, offensively it’s pretty interesting that the Bulls have been had some really lousy luck in terms of losing some players that had been called up or an injury. Center Ryan McDonough and right winger Dale Mitchell with injuries and left winger Riley Brace with the call up to Worcester. Players like Chris Crane have been filling that gap, he was in the top half of the shots taken so he seemed primed to move up a line but offensively they’ve had some difficult loses of players but they seem to be holding it together anyway.
Larry Levitt does Pro Hockey commentary each week for Sportstalk

Stanford Ladies Return Home and to Their Winning Ways

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stanford womens bb

By: Joe Lami

The number three Stanford Cardinal returned to Maples Pavilion for the first time this season on Friday night, where they beat the Cal Poly Mustangs by the final score of 86-51. It was the first time that the Cardinal have played on their home floor since March 26th, where they hosted Michigan in a second round NCAA tournament matchup.

The Cardinal are coming off a two game east coast road trip which started the season with a record of 1-1.  After a win against Boston College, the Cardinal went to take on number one Connecticut, a game where they would fall 76-57.

Friday night’s game was back and forth between Stanford and Cal Poly for the first ten minutes, seeing six different lead changes.  It was a close game up until Stanford broke free and went on a 27-10 run to end the half.  The halftime score was 41-27.  Stanford continued to dominate the second half of play as well, outscoring Cal Poly 45-24.

Stanford was led by Chiney Ogwumike, who scored 36, a new career high.  She also brought down 11 rebounds in Friday nights’ win.  For Ogumike, its’ her third double-double in as many games and also the 61st in her career on the farm.  Ogwumike was also the only Stanford player to get into double figures, as the next closest player was Mikaela Ruef with nine.  Though Stanford only had one player in double digits, it was a complete team game for the Cardinal as ten different players got onto the scoring sheet.  All of Stanford’s starters got on the scoring sheet as well, as Ruef scored nine, Ogwumike had 36, Kailee Johnson scored seven and Lili Thompson and Amber Orrange each had six.

Stanford continues to struggle with turnovers however, where Cal Poly forced another 15, totaling 46 in only three games.  Luckily for the Cardinal, they were able to dominate the boards once again, outrebounding the Mustangs 47-37.The Cardinal up their record to 2-1 in the win, and they will cap off their short two game home stand on Sunday against the UC Davis Aggies with a scheduled tip for 2 p.m. before they go back on the road to take on Texas.

Raiders look for a win in Houston Sunday

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — With quarterback Terrelle Pryor still dealing with a knee issue, undrafted rookie quarterback Matt McGloin could be under center when the Raiders hit the field against the Houston Texas at Reliant Stadium Sunday.

Both Pryor and McGloin has taken snaps with the first team offense, but Oakland (3-6) should be prepared for the worst. Pryor didn’t have the explosiveness that we’ve been accoustomed of seeing in last Sunday’s 24-20 loss against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium.

Pryor finished the game 11 of 26 passing for 122 yards and no touchdowns, including the interception that setup the Giants game-winning touchdown.

Whomever is at quarterback for Oakland, they will have running back Rashard Jennings in the backfield starting his second game for the injured Darren McFadden (hamstring). Jennings finished with 88 yards on 20 carries against the Giants and looks more and more like the featured back in Oakland.

Jennings has 520 total yards from scrimmage this season, while McFadden has only 437 totals from scrimmage. Jennings is averaging two more yards per attempt than McFadden and with the quarterback position being unsettled, its imperative that Jennings is fed the ball a lot.

Houston is having a season to forget.

The Texans (2-7), most experts trendy Super Bowl pick out of the AFC heading into this season, have lost seven straight games after starting the season 2-0.

Quarterback Matt Schaub (8 TDs, 9 INTs) struggled the first six games, particularly getting the ball to wide receiver Andre Johnson (0 TDs), was replaced by rookie and Texas native, Case Keenum. Since Keenum (7 TDs, 0 INTs) took over at quarterback from Schaub in Week 6 at Kansas City, he’s thrown five touchdowns to Johnson. Oakland must know where No. 80 is at all times because Keenum loves to get the ball to one of the more dominant wide receivers in the league.

Johnson isn’t even the player that Oakland must key on in order to snap their two game losing streak.

That is defensive end, the terrorizing J.J. Watt.

Watt plays ferocious and loves to get after the quarterback. Watt has 6.5 sacks on the season with 42 tackles and no matter if it is McGloin or Pryor starting at quarterback, Watt will have his chances at making it a rough day for Oakland.

Oakland has a chance to win, but Houston looks like the better pick.

Stanford Regains Defensive Form, Tops Northwestern 71-58 at Home

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By Matthew Harrington

STANFORD, CALIFORNIA- The buzzword around Maples Pavilion Thursday night was “inside-out” as the Stanford Cardinal downed visiting Northwestern University 71-58 in a non-conference showdown. The Cardinal turned Monday’s lackluster defensive effort that saw Brigham Young University hang 112 points on Stanford inside-out to hold their Big Ten foe Thursday to a season-low 58 points while flipping the trend on what has been a historically tight match-up.

“We should never give up that many points, regardless of who we play,” said senior forward Josh Huestis of Monday’s loss to BYU. “Defense is something we take pride in. We were embarrassed Monday night so we got back to our roots and worked on defense. We made sure that was what we fell back on. That’s what we need to do to be successful.”

The Cardinal were so successful on defense that its offensive contributions were almost overshadowed. Stanford worked the ball from the outside in to help Huestis and center Stefan Nastic crack double-digits in scoring then worked the ball outside to Chasson Randle and Anthony Brown at the guard positions who put the ball inside the basket to the tune of 14 and 12 points respectively. Dwight Powell was the only one of the five Cardinal starters to not break double figures. The forward ended the night one-point shy with nine in the scoring column.

“We like to play inside-out,” said Brown. “Anytime (Nastic) can get easy baskets then the defense has to start sinking in and we can start making easy threes.”

Nastic, a junior, matched a career-high with 11 points while Huestis lead all Cardinal shooters with 18 points. Wildcat guard JerShon Cobb led all scorers with 19 points while teammate Drew Crawford added 15 on 6 of 15 from the field.

“We knew coming in to this game he was a guy we had to look out for,” said Huestis of Crawford. “He got going early. At half-time we made it a point to talk about that. We had to make sure we took him out of the game in order for us to be successful tonight.”

Crawford had a then game-high 13 points going at the half on 5 of 7 field goal attempts in a wild first half that saw the lead change hands six times , but Stanford went in to the locker room with a 29-27 lead that it would not relinquish.

“He’s the guy who gets them going,” said Brown. “If we can cut the head off then a lot of people have to step up. One of their guys stepped up and started make threes but other than that they started to fall apart.”

The Cardinal defense held Crawford to just two second-half points on eight attempts. With Crawford’s output diminished, so too went the Wildcat offense. From Nikola Cerina’s lay-up with 3:04 left in the first half to Cobb’s three-pointer with 9:33 left to play, the hosts held their opponents to six points on 14 attempts. In that span Stanford saw its lead grow from the slim two points to a comfortable 50-39 margin.

“I’m really happy with our guys defensively,” said Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins. “I’ve really challenged them the last few days. I really liked the way they responded. (Northwestern) can really shoot the basketball. Coach Collins (of Northwestern) inherited a Princeton offense so they’re all capable shooters. We knew we had to guard the perimeter. They knocked some down but for the most part we really contained their three-point shooters.”

Tonight marked the first meeting between Stanford and Northwestern in eight games where the final score was decided by more than 11 points. The 13-point margin of victory certainly eclipsed Stanford’s slim two-point advantage when the two teams met last season in Evanston. Stanford was victorious 70-68. Stanford now holds a commanding edge in the series 6-2.

The Cardinal will now leave the friendly confines of the Farm for its first road trip this season. They head to Denver to face the Pioneers in a Sunday morning tilt where coach Dawkins will surely hope they keep their defense from flipping outside-in while the offense continues to thrive from the inside to out on the perimeters.

Boyle’s back bar shot seals comeback OT win

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Photo Credit: Unknown

By Pearl Allison Lo

It was a swift and abrupt end for the Vancouver Canucks, after upon video review, the referee acknowledged San Jose Sharks’ Boyle’s goal had entered the net for a 2-1 win Thursday.

31 seconds after Vancouver’s Henrik Sedin went off for hooking at 2:07 of overtime, Boyle made the Sharks’ fourth time on the power play count. Boyle was aided by Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture for San Jose’s second consecutive overtime win, as they took the season series over the Canucks 3-1 in an early finale.

Couture had a chance with 3:11 left to go in the first period, moving across the ice against traffic, but his shot was muffled up front by goalie Roberto Luongo. The Sharks later controlled the majority of the possession as the first period neared its end. San Jose’s Marc Edouard Vlasic with three shots on goal, was the only one with multiple shots. Ryan Kesler led with almost half of Vancouver’s blocks with four.

The Sharks’ second power play was majorly controlled by the Canucks, and included an offensive blocked of a shot attempt by Luongo with his stick.

Vancouver’s Alexandre Burrows was called for interference to give San Jose their third power play at 11:10 of the second period. The set up for the Canucks’ go-ahead goal then started when Pavelski was called for interference 40 seconds later. After the then even matchup expired, Vancouver was given a 36 second man advantage, with which they capitalized.   After a faceoff win and Burrows’ wide shot, Kevin Bieksa was awarded his first goal of the season, slapping the puck in the net from 56 feet away. Bieksa was helped by Sedin with his 18th assist and Burrows.

The Sharks were outshot 20-9 in the second period.

In the third, it looked like the Canucks would be ending their two game losing streak amidst their momentum since the second period. However, with an extra attacker, San Jose was able to stay alive. Joe Thornton went down, but was able to pass it to Boyle, who eventually got it to Tomas Hertl, on Luongo’s left side, as Hertl scored with just over a minute left. Thornton had his 18th assist and Hertl had his 11th goal.

Re the goal, Boyle responded, “The puck came out and I was going to shoot originally, and then…guys kinda came together and I changed my mind at the last minute…”

Game notes: Vlasic led the team in shots at the end of the game with six and led in ice time, along with Boyle, as both stayed on for 22:34. Vancouver’s Dan Hamhuis led all skaters in ice time with 25:40. Thornton extended his points streak to six games. The Sharks will go for three in a row when they face the Edmonton Oilers at 7pm PST Friday.

Stanford beats Northwestern

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Stanford Cardinal rebounded form the trouncing they took Monday night at the hands of Brigham Young University. The BYU Cougars shredded the Stanford defense and the Cardinal was looking to turn things around Thursday night at Maples Pavilion. The Cardinal did just that as they played a very stout defense and they beat the Northwestern Wildcats 71-58. The Cardinal improved to 2-1 for the season and Northwestern, coached by first year head coach Chris Collins, dropped to 1-1. Collins is the son of former NBA star Doug Collins.

The first half was very close. The half ended with Stanford holding a slim two point lead 29-27.

The Cardinal was paced by center Stefan Nastic who had eight points and Chasson Randle added seven and forward Josh Huestis pitched in with five. The Wildcats were led by Drew Crawford who had thirteen points and four rebounds. Stanford’s Dwight Powell committed two personal fouls early in the first half and was on the bench for the rest of the period.

The second half belonged to Stanford. The Cardinal went on a 6-0 run to take a 41-32 lead with 12:46 left to play. Stanford kept increasing the lead as their defense shut down Northwestern. The Cardinal

continued to play well and had a seventeen point lead halfway through the second half. Northwestern made a run and closed the gap to nine but Stanford put on the pressure and coasted to a 71-58 victory.

The star of the game was Josh Heustis. Heustis, a senior from Great Fall, Montana, scored eighteen points. Anthony Brown had twelve, Stefan Nastic added eleven, while Chasson Randle, who had thirty-three Monday against BYU, was held to fourteen and Dwight Powell, who had twenty-eight Monday,

scored just eight points. JerShon Cobb and Drew Crawford were the stars for Northwestern.

Notes- Stanford plays its first road game of the year Sunday night when the meet Denver University

in Denver. The next home game is next Thursday when they face Texas Southern at 7pm at Maples Pavilion.

Iguodala buzzer beater tops Thunder, 116-115

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By Gabe Schapiro

Welcome to Oakland Andre Iguodala.

On Thursday night the Golden State Warriors (6-3) won in thrilling fashion, 116-115, over the Oklahoma City Thunder (5-3). Iguodala was already making a name for himself with the Warriors, and anyone he hadn’t already won over is officially on board now. With 2.3 seconds remaining and the team down two, the ball went to Iguodala who nailed a three from the corner to beat the buzzer, sending the crowd into a frenzy, and sending the crowd home happy.

In this one both teams hit the ground sprinting. The first quarter featured few missed shots from either side, as the Thunder started particularly hot, shooting and incredible 68.4% from the field. They were also totally owning the boards, hauling in 16 rebounds compared to Golden State’s four. The Warriors kept the game close, however, thanks to eight Oklahoma City turnovers and some nice shooting of their own. Klay Thompson had an early nine points to lead the way, as Golden State got points from eight different players in the first frame. After 12 minutes, which saw 11 lead changes, the Thunder had a slight 33-32 lead.

The second quarter saw both teams slowly come down to earth a bit, but the same fast paced and close action continued. David Lee started to come alive, chipping in 10 in the quarter. Thompson stayed hot and added seven more to his total. Stephen Curry started to catch fire, contributing six points and four assists. In another extremely evenly played quarter, the teams were dead-locked at 62-62 heading into halftime.

Coming out of the locker rooms the Warriors grabbed the momentum and started to pull away. Curry took over the game for stretches, as Golden State led by as many as 14. Heading into the final frame the Warriors held a 95-86 lead.

At the start of the fourth Golden State seemed to almost be coasting, as they had little trouble maintaining a comfortable lead. With about six minutes remaining, however, the Thunder started to make a run. They got hot and the Warriors got cold. Golden State managed to hold onto their lead despite their struggles and the occasional miscue, up until Russell Westbrook stuck a dagger into the hearts of Warriors fans, hitting a deep three with 2.3 seconds left to give them the two point lead. All was not lost, however, as in stepped Iguodala to save the day. On a quick in bounds pass from Thompson, Iguodala turned and hit the fade-away three-pointer from the corner, over the out-stretched arm of the defender. Nothing but net.

Iguodala finished with 14 points and nine assists. Thompson had team-high 27. Curry just missed a double-double with 22 points and nine assists. Harrison Barnes had a great game off the bench, contributing 16 points in 23 minutes.

In the losing effort Westbrook had a game-high 30 points to go along with nine rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Serge Ibaka had a double-double, posting 27 points and 13 boards. Keving Durant, who was relatively quiet by his standards, had 20 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds.

49ers in for another tough matchup in New Orleans

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By Gabe Schapiro

This Sunday at 1:25pm the San Francisco 49ers (6-3) will be taking on the New Orleans Saints (7-2) at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The 49ers sit in second place in the NFC West, two games behind the Seattle Seahawks. The Saints are in first place in the NFC South, one game up on the Carolina Panthers.

Last weekend San Francisco lost in a tough low-scoring affair against the Panthers, to a final score of 10-9, snapping their five-game winning streak. In many regards it lived up to the billing heading into the game, as it was truly a battle of the defenses. Three first half field goals was enough to give the 49ers the lead for much of the game, but it wasn’t enough to hold up. Carolina got a late field goal of their own with three minutes remaining in the game to give them the one point lead. San Francisco had another possession to try and retake the lead, but their offense simply couldn’t get anything going against the stingy Panthers defense.

The 49ers finished last weekends game with just 151 total net yards, a respectable 105 on the ground, but just a measly 46 through the air. As expected they tried to lean more heavily on Frank Gore and their rushing attack, but when forced to pass Colin Kaepernick couldn’t gain any traction. He completed 11-of-22 passes for 91 yards and an interception. He was also sacked six times. Gore finished with 82 yards rushing on 16 carries.

San Francisco will look to bounce back this week, but they will once again have their hands full with possibly an even tougher matchup against New Orleans. The Saints are tied for the fourth best record in the NFL, and feature a high-flying offense led by one of the best quarterbacks in the game, Drew Brees. Brees currently ranks second in the league in passing yards, touchdowns, and passer rating. He spreads the ball around a lot, but his primary target is Jimmy Graham, possibly the league’s best tight end in his own right, and the all-purpose weapon of Darren Sproles. As a unit they are the second highest scoring offense in football, behind only the record-breaking Denver Broncos.

It’s no surprise that the Saints once again have a high-powered offense, but what has been a bit of a new and unexpected development this season is how well their defense has performed. In both points and yards allowed they rank just one slot behind the 49ers, at fifth in the league in both categories. They don’t contain the stout personnel that Carolina does, but they are no longer a defense that can be scoffed at by any means.

The bright side for the 49ers is that the Saints primary weakness on the defensive side of the ball is stopping the run, where they tank 23rd. With Kaepernick still struggling, once again you can expect a heavy dose of Gore, Kendall Hunter, and the run game as they try to exploit New Orleans’ biggest weakness. Regardless, to keep pace with the Saints they will need a better more complete game from Kaepernick.

On the other side of the ball San Francisco will have their hands full containing the Saints offense. The 49ers have the defensive talent to do it, but they’ll need to be on top of their game. With Brees it is often just about containing him, rather hoping you will be able to stop him.  

This week San Francisco got great news when it was reported that Vernon Davis and Eric Reid both avoided a major injury, and are expected to suit up and be fine for this Sunday. Each player had to be removed from last weeks game with concussion-like symptoms. Reid will be a big plus in trying to slow down Brees, and Davis has been Kaepernick’s favorite red-zone target so far this season.  

Stanford vs USC Preview

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Stanford vs USC Preview

The Stanford Cardinal, coming off an impressive win against previously unbeaten Oregon last week, travel to Los Angeles to face the rejuvenated Trojans of the University of Southern California.

The Trojans had a turbulent start to the season going 3-2 under Lane Kiffin. The Trojans felt they

had enough of Kiffin and fired him in September. Firings usual come at the end of season and

SC must have had it up to their ears with Kiffin to make such a drastic move. This was not Kiffin’s first mid-season firing as the Oakland Raiders dismissed him a few years when the late Al Davis pulled the rug from under him as Raider head coach.

Stanford (8-1)will be looking to beat USC (7-3) for the fifth consecutive time Saturday night.

Stanford coach David Shaw said “ I think we are at that point in the season no where we cannot afford to go up and down. It’s November, and there’s only one way you can play in November and that’s all-out.”

The Trojans appointed Ed Orgeron as the interim head coach and the Trojans have won three in a row and four out of the five. USC creamed Cal last week 62-28 and have their rushing game going as they have 498 yards rushing in the last two games and 988 total yards in those two games.

Cody Kessler is the Trojan quarterback and he sparked the Trojans during the winning streak by completing 74.3 % of his passes for 9.24 yards per attempt with four touchdowns and one interception.

The running game is led by sophomore tailback Javorius “Buck” Allen who has gained 268 yard in 22 caries in the wins over Oregon State and Cal. Other players on the USC team to keep an eye on are

Nelson Aghlor who has returned two punts for touchdowns and Josh Shaw who blocked a punt and returned it 14 yards for the score.

The Cardinal defense stopped the Oregon running game cold last week and will have to do the same against the Trojans. Shayne Skov had eleven tackles for the Cardinal last week and did a tremendous job. Trent Murphy and A.J.Tarpley have been stellar for the Cardinal at linebacker and Henry Anderson’s return at defensive end has been a big boost for the Cardinal. Free safety Ed Reynolds has been named a semi-finalist for the 10th annual Lott IMPACT award for defensive players.

In the last three games the Stanford defense has shut down three very good quarterbacks. The stopped UCLA’s Brett Hundley, Oregon State’s Sean Mannion and Oregon’s Marcus Mariota.

The offense has done its job,too. The offense is led by quarterback Kevin Hogan who went 18 for 25 and 227 against UCLA but threw only 31 total passes in the games against Oregon State and Oregon.

The reason for that that was Tyler Gaffney’s impressive performance. Gaffney has rushed for 1043 yards so far and is third in the Pac-12. He averages 4.9 yards per carry and has 14 touchdowns to his credit. Gaffney has scored seven times in the past four games and set a team record 45 carries good for 157 yards in the win against Oregon.

There’s a lot at stake for the Cardinal. A win will keep them in contention for a BCS berth. USC wants

to snap the four game losing streak against the Cardinal and will be going all out to achieve that end.

Should be a great game. Don’t miss it.