Tag: USC Trojans

Three takeaways from Stanford vs. USC

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Photo credit: @StanfordFball

By: Ana Kieu

The Stanford Cardinal downed the USC Trojans by a final score of 17-3 at Stanford Stadium on Saturday night. The majority of folks believed that these two teams would’ve fought each other until the very end, but that wasn’t the case, as Stanford took an early lead and never looked back. USC’s lone score came in the middle of the third quarter on Chase McGrath’s 35-yard field goal to reduce the deficit to 14-3, but the Trojans were unable to mount a comeback on the road.

With the win, the Cardinal climbed its way back to No. 9 in this week’s AP Top 25 poll. Not only that, freshman offensive center Branson Bragg tweeted a shoutout to his current team and wrote, “I chose the right place to spend the next 4-5 years of my life.” In case you need a refresher, Bragg is a four-star center from Texas who committed to Stanford this summer. The Cardinal also chose the right center to be a great blocker up front.

Here are three takeaways from Stanford vs. USC. As always, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for reading.

3. The early bird gets the worm
As I’ve mentioned in the introduction, Stanford took an early lead and never looked back.

Prior to the game, @gostanfordnotes tweeted that Stanford has won 18 of its last 21 games when scoring first. After the game, @gostanfordnotes tweeted that Stanford has won 19 of its last 22 games when scoring first. Do you see a pattern here?

Trojans quarterback JT Daniels was arguably the more talented quarterback coming into Saturday’s game, but the Cardinal tormented Daniels for most of the night. It’s obvious that Daniels needs help from the his backfield.

This was the first time the Cardinal held the Trojans under 10 points since 1992 when the Cardinal prevailed over the No. 11 Trojans in a 23-9 rout under head coach Bill Walsh.

2. The Bryce Love factor
Cardinal running back Bryce Love had himself a night with 136 rushing yards and 1 touchdown–a 6-yard rushing touchdown–that gave his team a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter to kick off the rivalry matchup. Love also averaged more than 6 yards per carry versus the Trojans.

Love, a front-runner in the Heisman Trophy race, bounced back after a dismal start in the Cardinal’s season opener against the San Diego State Aztecs. Love rushed for just 29 yards in the opener.

Love may not be the ideal size as he stands at 5-foot-11 and weighs 202 lbs, but his explosiveness and visions likely will make him one of the first-round picks in the 2019 NFL Draft.

1. The dominant Cardinal defense
The Cardinal defense stifled the Trojans in the 17-3 rout on Saturday. Every time the Trojans terrorized, the Cardinal defense responded in a big way. Moreover, the Cardinal defense to less than three points in this series since a 13-0 shutout at the Coliseum in 1941.

If you need a refresher, you catch watch the video below.

The Cardinal will host the UC Davis Aggies on Saturday, September 15 at 11:00 am PDT on Pac-12 Network.

Stanford routed USC 17-3 at Stanford Stadium on Saturday night

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Photo credit: @StanfordFball

By: Ana Kieu

STANFORD, Calif. — The No. 10 Stanford Cardinal invited the No. 17 USC Trojans to Stanford Stadium for a Pac-12 showdown on Saturday night. The two teams were certainly ready to go head-to-head, but only one team managed to prevail in the end.

Like most other rivalries, the Stanford vs. USC rivalry is quite a ferocious battle. Seven of the past 12 meetings have been decided by eight points or less. Moreover, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Richard Sherman showed some love to his alma mater, Stanford University, on Twitter. Sherman is a Compton, Calif. native who played college football at Stanford from 2006-2010. Sherman also graduated with a degree in communications in 2010.

USC won the coin toss and deferred for the second half. The Trojans kicked the ball to start the first half.

The Cardinal got on the board first, thanks to Bryce Love’s 6-yard rushing touchdown. Jet Toner’s kick for the extra point was good. Stanford took a 7-0 lead at the 10:26 mark of the first quarter.

The Cardinal led the Trojans 7-0 after the first quarter.

Bobby Okereke was a bad man during the second quarter. Okereke helped the Cardinal’s defense spin around and forced a punt. Also, Trenton Irwin made his third catch of the night–the 100th of his career–and kept doing his thing.

Things got interesting late in the second quarter. K.J. Costello threw a pass to Colby Parkinson, who scored what looked like a 9-yard passing touchdown. The Trojans challenged the Cardinal’s play, but the call on the field stood. Toner kicked in the extra point. Stanford took a 14-0 lead with just 34 seconds left in the quarter.

The Cardinal led the Trojans 14-0 at the end of the first half. This was the first time Stanford pitched a first half shutout since Aug. 26, 2017 against Rice in Sydney, Australia. Moreover, Stanford allowed just 82 combined passing yards in the first half this season.

The Trojans finally got on the board early in the second half. Chase McGrath kicked in a 35-yard field goal to reduce the Cardinal’s lead to 14-3 at the 11:24 mark of the third quarter. Stanford threatened USC in the redzone prior to that eye-opening play.

Thanks to Toner’s 30-yard field goal, Stanford extended its lead to 17-3 with 6:04 left in the quarter.

The Cardinal’s strong safety, Ben Edwards, went down due to an apparent trip, but managed to get up off the ground. The game resumed its regular action after a delay that lasted for a couple of minutes.

The Cardinal defeated the Trojans by a final score of 17-3. Stanford has now won 19 of its last 22 games when scoring first. In addition, Stanford improved to 15-5 in games in which Love found the end zone.

Notes
On the Cardinal’s offensive line, A.T. Hall made his 27th career start and Nate Herbig made his 21st career start.

Red shirts were handed out to all fans in attendance, courtesy of Stanford Medicine.

Kailee Wong served as the Cardinal’s honorary captain for #BeatSC week. Wong was inducted into the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame Friday night.

JJ Arcega-Whiteside, the third-best receiving game in Cardinal history, shared his Stanford story for the masses on Labor Day.

Up Next 
The Cardinal host the UC Davis Aggies on Saturday, September 15 at 11:00 am PDT on the Pac-12 Network.

Stanford to host USC for Pac-12 showdown on Saturday

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Photo credit: @StanfordFball

By: Ana Kieu

The Stanford Cardinal look to continue their dominance on home field after last Saturday’s 31-10 rout of the San Diego State Aztecs at Stanford Stadium. SDSU has a chance versus Sacramento State this Saturday, but let’s focus on the Cardinal’s upcoming game versus USC, who is currently ranked No. 17. Stanford, on the other hand, is currently ranked No. 10. That being said, Stanford looks like they got the upper hand, but this is college football, and anything could happen.

It’s #BeatUSC week in the Palo Alto area, and the Cardinal appear to be confident coming into Saturday’s home game. A couple of things happened on the Stanford campus this Monday. First, head coach David Shaw, defensive end Dylan Jackson, and wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside held a press conference to address the media members on Stanford’s top-25 matchup with rival USC. Secondly, Arcega-Whiteside earned the Pac-12 Player of the Week with 3 touchdowns, 6 catches, and 226 yards. It was a well-deserved honor for Arcega-Whiteside, who’s on fire (or en fuego) as a Spanish-born WR with a 34-inch vertical leap along with hands that can catch passes for touchdowns.

Arcega-Whiteside told GoStanford.com, “As a receiver, that’s what you want, all you can ask for.”

Let’s not forget that running back Bryce Love had a 75-yard touchdown against USC at the Coliseum last year. I don’t know if Love will repeat that play, but it’s likely that he’ll do something on the field.

Since the Pac-12 Network is at Stanford all this week for Saturday’s The Pregame, so they decided to let placekicker Jet Toner take over their Snapchat @pac12conference. So if you’re on Snapchat, give the Pac-12 a follow if you haven’t already done so.

The Cardinal host the Trojans on Saturday at 5:30 pm PDT on FOX.

USC holds off late charge from Cardinal in 69-64 victory; Cardinal drop their second straight game

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By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Wednesday, January 24, 2018

photo by usctrojans.com: USC Trojans Jonah Matthews leads the Trojans in scoring on Wednesday night at the Galen Center in Los Angeles over the visiting Stanford Cardinal

Southern California won its fifth men’s basketball game in a row Wednesday at Galen Center in Los Angeles, squeaking out a 69-64 Pac-12 victory over Stanford.

Jonah Mathews scored 18 points and Chimezie Metu added 12 points and 10 rebounds, as the Trojans (16-6 overall, 7-2 Pac-12) are off to their best start in league play since 2002.

The win also puts the Trojans into a tie for first place in the Pac-12 with idle Arizona (6-1), who they lead by percentage points going into Thursday’s games.

Stanford had a chance to tie the game in the final four seconds when Daejon Davis missed a 3-point attempt. USC, which has won 10 of its last 12, closed out the game with an Elijah Stewart dunk.

Michael Humphrey made a 3-pointer and Davis had made a pair of free throws late to pull the Cardinal to within 67-64.

The Cardinal (11-10, 5-3) were led by Reid Travis, who scored 16 points. Michael Humphery and Dorian Pickens scored 14 apiece for Stanford.

Stanford trailed 41-26 at halftime, but put together a 15-7 run to open the second half, cutting the Trojans’ lead to 48-41. USC led the entire game, and were up by 10 points with 5:12 to play.

Southern California held the Cardinal to 36 percent shooting in the first half, and forced Stanford into 16 turnovers – which is what the Trojans are averaging this season. The Cardinal shot 44 percent for the game.

Up Next: Stanford’s Los Angeles trip concludes on Saturday, when the Cardinal visit UCLA.

Cal Bears Basketball Podcast with Morris Phillips: 11 years in the waiting first time USC & UCLA knocks off Cal; It was an easy win for UCLA

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Photo credit: TheAthletic.com

On the Cal Basketball Podcast with Morris:

1 First time in 11 years that Cal is beaten by USC and UCLA

2 The Trojans and the Bruins didn’t have to put up too much sweat in facing Cal this week

3 UCLA got a 13-2 start on Cal from the opening tip in their 107-84 win

4 The 107 points and 17 threes were UCLA’s best offensive effort of the season

5 As Cal licks its wound and prepares for Washington Thursday and Washington State on Saturday

Morris Phillips covers Cal Bears Men’s Basketball for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Stanford completes comeback to edge USC 77-76

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Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By: London Marq

PALO ALTO–The venue was packed at Maples Pavilion as Stanford hosted the USC Trojans in a much-anticipated PAC-12 matchup. After their best performance of the season last Thursday against UCLA, the Cardinal would have an opportunity to improve to .500 on the season.

It was a tail of two halves, as the Trojans were in control early. Metu was the leading scorer from USC. His 20 points helped the Trojans gain an 11-point halftime advantage. Four total players from USC scored in double digits.

The Cardinal came alive in the the second period. They were strong particularly on defensive. Holding an explosive Trojan team to less than 30 points in the second half, they were able to close the gap. The Cardinal defense fueled their offense. Reid Travis pulled in a double-double with 29 points and 10 boards.

His strong performance put Stanford in position for a spectacular finish. At the tail end of the game, the Trojans scored a go-ahead basket to lead by two. With 1.7 seconds left on the clock, Stanford in-bounds the ball to Dajeon Davis. Davis nailed a walk-off 3-pointer from beyond half court before being mobbed by his teammates.

This makes two big wins in a row for the Cardinal, against two notable conference foes. The look to keep up the consistency against Washington State on Thursday.

Stanford defeated USC 77-76.

Up Next: The Cardinal visit the Washington State Cougars on Tuesday at 6 pm PT.

Beat LA? Not Cal: Bears get swept by USC and UCLA at home for first time in 11 years

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Photo courtesy of Kelley L. Cox/KLC Fotos

By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY–For the first time in more than a decade, both UCLA and USC have victories at Haas Pavilion in the same season. And with the Cal Bears still struggling to find their footing against Pac-12 competition, neither the Bruins or Trojans had to sweat.

UCLA got their opportunity to take advantage of the Bears on Saturday afternoon, and did so from the opening tip, racing to a 13-2 to advantage on their way to a 107-84 win, featuring a season-best 13 made three-pointers. The 107 points and 17 threes were both season-bests for the Bruins, while the defenseless Bears allowed at least 90 points in a game for the sixth time this season.

Thomas Welsh led the Bruins with 19 points, 14 rebounds despite playing with a protective mask for the first time following a collision with Stanford’s Reid Travis on Thursday. Aaron Holiday added 21 points and freshman Kris Wilkes had 16 as six Bruins scored in double figures. UCLA bounced back from a crushing double overtime loss at Stanford on Thursday with 58 percent shooting from the floor against Cal.

“That’s key especially playing on the road in the Pac 12,” Welsh said. “You have to get ahead early and I think we did a good job of that tonight.”

The Bears were led by Justice Sueing with 22 points, and Marcus Lee with 19 points, 15 rebounds. But the home team’s offense was absent in UCLA’s quick start, as Cal shot just 26 percent in the first half while falling behind 54-33.

“We try to put the best lineup out there to give us the best fight, give us the best chance from the start of the game,” coach Wyking Jones said. “You see me juggling the lineups a bit, so we can put guys out there that will bring it from the start. It’s just a situation that for some reason, we don’t have good starts. We weren’t aggressive in the first half, we didn’t look to attack the zone like we did in the second half.”

The Bears (7-9, 1-2 in Pac-12 play) dropped two at home after winning four of five, including their stirring comeback at Stanford last week. Unlike their tentative effort against Trojans, the Bears were scrappy and determined, making a brief, second half run that cut UCLA’s lead to 13 at one point. But the Bruins seized control again, by making 9 of 11 from distance in the second half to pull away.

The Bears travel to Seattle on Thursday to meet Washington.  It will mark the Bears’ second trip to the Emerald City in less than a month, after an earlier road win over  Seattle University.

Stanford Cardinal Podcast with Matt Harrington: After Thursday’s UCLA stunner Cardinal hope to top act with win over USC on Sunday

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Photo credit: @StanfordMBB

By Matt Harrington

PALO ALTO–It was a little bit of a stunner what Stanford did in their victory over the UCLA Bruins 107-99. They have to look at their potential UCLA is upset with their performance but Stanford needs to look at the game on Thursday as this is your potential. In the final minutes of that double overtime game the Cardinal had four freshman on the floor including the Cardinal’s Dorian Pickens.

The Cardinal shouldn’t be under pressure anymore and after going through a game like that and a lot of time to develop they’ve have grown into the role. Stanford has to look at that as their potential. The Cardinal have got Dorian Pickens back. This is his second game back now. He had a career night that’s what the team’s capable of when they’re healthy.

Matt Harrington does the Stanford Cardinal podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Trojans Upset Cardinal on Ogwumike’s Record Setting Night

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By Joe Lami

For the first time ever the Stanford Cardinal will not be going to the Pac-12 Tournament championship game, as the USC Trojans defeated the Cardinal 72-68 in the semi-finals on Saturday night.  Stanford the number one seed and the favorite to win the Pac-12 Championship, is now unsure of how their NCAA Tournament is going to look.  If the Cardinal came out of the Pac-12 Tournament unscathed, they would have received an almost sure bid to a number one seed in their host west region.

The first half ended with the score tied at 32.  Stanford dominated the paint in the first half, with 18 points.  However, the Trojans led the first with points off of turnovers, bench points and 2nd chance points.

Coming out of the half, the Trojans jumped on the Cardinal early, going on a 14-4 run in the first 5:30.  Stanford would be able to crawl back slowly, and would eventually take the lead back with 6:46 remaining.  The Cardinal would push the lead to three, at 60-57 with 5:06 to go and be able to hold it for a couple of minutes.  However, the Trojans would once again march back, much in part to Cassie Harberts’ ten straight points.  This would get the USC lead to as high as seven before the Cardinal would find another bucket with 61 seconds to go.

The Cardinal pressed in the final minute to get the deficit as low as two, but the Trojans would be good enough at the foul line to be able to ice the game away and advance to the Pac-12 Championship game, where they will face the Oregon State Beavers.

Chiney Ogwumike led the way for the Cardinal with 30 points and 21 rebounds.  The 30 points ties her with Stanford Alum, Candice Wiggins as the all-time Pac-12 scorer with 2,629.  Unfortunately for Ogwumike, she scored career point 2,629 with over seven minutes remaining in the game, and couldn’t find another to break the record in game where every point mattered.

Stanford had an awful day from the field, finishing the game at just 32%.  Lili Thompson finished with 13 points, going 4 of 11 shooting.  Amber Orrange was the only other double digit scorer for the Cardinal, as she finished the night with 11 points and 3 of 11 shooting.  Mikaela Ruef was held scoreless for the first time in recent memory, as the fifth year senior went 0 for 8 from the field, but she did bring down five rebounds.  Taylor Greenfield was the only Stanford player to come off of the bench and contribute points, as she finished the game with five.

The Trojans didn’t shoot that much better, as they finished the game shooting just 39%.  USC also saw three different players get into double digits.  Alexyz Vaioletama led the way with 19 points.  She also contributed 15 rebounds, with five of them coming on the offensive side of the glass.  Guard, Ariya Cook, finished the game with 15 points.  Game MVP, Cassie Harberts only had 13 points, but ten of them came at the most opportune time, as she scored ten straight with under three minutes to go to give the Trojan’s a lead good enough to win the game.

The win for the Trojans gets them that much closer into the NCAA tournament, as ESPN’s Charlie Creme has the ladies of USC on his first four teams out of the tournament.  However, with this win it might just be enough to break the bubble and earn a bid.  That is if they don’t receive the automatic bid on Sunday afternoon by winning the Pac-12 Tournament.  Oregon State, their opponent on Sunday is looked at as already in the NCAA Tournament according to Creme.

Number four-ranked Stanford has their record drop to 29-3, and now they are a little unsure on how they will be entering the NCAA Tournament.  Some questions arise, is Stanford still a number one seed?  Does Stanford still deserve to be in the west region, their host region?  Only time will tell what the selection committee decides, but for now we sit back and prepare for another great day of Championship basketball on Sunday.

Huestis King of the Block on the Farm as Stanford Rolls Past USC 80-59

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By Matthew Harrington

At the time of the year when teams are piecing together the final bullet points of their March Madness resumes, the Stanford Cardinal did exactly what it needed to do Thursday night; It won. The 80-59 victory over visiting University of Southern California at Maples Pavilion didn’t captivate audiences like North Carolina’s stunner over Duke earlier in the evening, but Stanford still managed to finish just good enough to come out ahead against the Trojans (10-16, 1-12), firmly entrenched in the Pac-12 standings cellar, to continue to roll towards an at-large bid in the big dance.

The Cardinal shooting touch appeared to be more or a flail Thursday, as Stanford (17-8, 8-5 Pac-12) finished 28 of 69 from the floor, including a lackluster 2 of 19 from beyond the three-point line. Stanford turned that negative into a positive however, besting USC in the rebound battle 45-40. Stanford’s tenacious forward Josh Huestis led the boards barrage, picking up almost half (7) of the Cardinal’s 18 offensive rebounds. USC finished with 10 off their own glass. The Cardinal owned the turnover battle, forcing 18 Trojan errors to 7 of its own.

For Huestis, the night proved a memorable one as the senior stalwart notched a double-double with 11 points and while setting a new career-best in rebounds with 18. With his denial of a Strahinja Gavrilovic lay up two minutes into play the Great Falls, Mont. native moved past Tim Young as the Cardinal all-time blocks leader. Huestis finished the night with three rejections for a career total of 169, two more than Young.

Along with Huestis, three of Stanford’s other four starters hit double-digits in scoring, with guards Anthony Brown (13) and Chasson Randle (18) joining forward Dwight Powell (14) on the list of scorers with ten-plus points. USC guard Pe’Shon Howard led the Trojans with 13 points, while Julian Jacobs chipped in 11. The Trojans were without junior guard Byron Wesley, team leader in scoring (17.6) and rebounds (6.9) due to a violation of team rules.

The Cardinal suffered an early scare when USC’s Strahinja Gavrilovic fouled Powell hard in the head at the 5:36 mark of the first. Powell would leave the game but ultimately returned with about seven minutes left in the half sporting a headband wrapped around some stitches and a new number. Powell’s traditional 33 jersey, now blood-soaked, was shed in favor of one with a 32 stitched on back.

The preeminent fear after Powell’s injury was a continuation of dismal first-half shooting display as the Cardinal only hit 10 of 35 field goals in the first 20 minutes. They managed to hold a 32-23 at the half on the strength of their ability to force turnovers, nab offensive rebounds and a six-point outburst from Powell’s injury sub, Robbie Lemons.

The Cardinal finished the final 20 minutes with a much better shooting performance by outscoring the visitors 48-36, including a stretch where the Trojans were limited to one basket and three free throws made. With Stanford leading 51-42 7 minutes in to the half, the Cardinal went on a dominant 21-8 run till Roschon Prince hit a lay up with 4:17 left in regulation. Stanford coasted from there on out for the 80-59 win to sweep the season series against their Southern California rivals.

Next on the schedule is the University of California Los Angeles for a Saturday tilt at Maples, game number two of the remaining four games at home. The Cardinal also have two road games sandwiched between Saturday’s contest and a return home March 5th against Colorado, the final two-game home stretch of the campaign.