by Jerry Feitelberg

The Stanford Cardinal will be in Los Angeles Saturday to face the Trojans of the University of Southern California. It will be the first game of Pac-12 Conference play for the teams. The Trojans have won both their games so far this season. They beat Arkansas State and Idaho scoring 114 points while allowing just 15. Stanford, on the other hand, lost the opener to Northwestern but rebounded to beat the University of Central Florida 31-7 behind a stifling defense and a great performance bu quarterback Kevin Hogan. Hogan had a career-best 341 yards passing against UCF.

The Cardinal needs to improve their red-zone offense if they are to beat the Trojans. Stanford’s inefficiency in the red-zone was a problem and so far this season, the Cardinal has scored just two touchdowns and two field goals in seven trips inside the 20-yard line. Last year against USC, Stanford had one touchdown and one field goal in five trips. The Cardinal defense will have to work hard to stop the Trojans’ quarterback Cody Kessler. The Cardinal will need to hard SC hard from the opening drive and swarm to the football as a unit if they are to beat them. Stanford’s punt coverage is excellent, but USC has Adoree Jackson can create big plays handling both kickoff and punt returns.
USC has been able to run the football well as they have a deep corps of running back. Four Trojan backs have scored in the first two games.

Kevin Hogan will handle the quarterbacking duties for Stanford. Hogan had a career game against UCF but did not do well against Northwester. The Cardinal will need him at the top of his game. The Cardinal running game needs to improve as they average just 3.16 yard per carry. Running backs Christian McCaffrey, Daniel Marx, Barry Sanders, and freshman Bryce Love will be challenged by the tough USC defense.

Usc quarterback Cody Kessler has completed 78.9 percent of his passes with seven touchdowns and zero interceptions. Kessler is in sync with his receivers and has a deep group of runnings backs. The Stanford defense will be Challenged. Blake Martinez, Ronnie Harris are leaders on defense for Stanford.

Stanford-USC games are always intense. Stanford will be in a hostile environment, but coach Shaw will have them prepared. Should be a fierce battle. Look for a close game between the two schools.