Most Important College Football Game for Each Top 25 Team During 2016 Season
By Zach Bigalke
18. Stanford Picks Apart USC 27-10 (Sept. 17)
Stanford had one of the more roller-coaster seasons in 2016, as they lost their grip on the Pac-12 North yet still managed to set themselves up for a shot at another 10-win season pending their bowl game. They struggled at times against the better teams on their schedule, losing by 38 at Washington and by 26 at home to Washington State. They could muster no offense against Colorado in a 10-5 defeat in Palo Alto. Their only win over an eventual College Football Playoff Top 25 team came early in the season when they took down USC.
Of course, this was a Trojans squad that had not yet decided to go from Max Browne to Sam Darnold at quarterback. Then again, Stanford was still playing Ryan Burns at QB instead of Keller Chryst. Against a stout USC defense, Christian McCaffrey wreaked havoc. The all-purpose threat finished the game with 260 total yards and two separate highlight-reel touchdowns both in the air and on the ground. The Cardinal defense held USC more than 130 yards and nearly 23 points below their season averages on offense to rack up the most decisive victory of the year on the Farm.
As USC kept moving up the College Football Playoff Top 25, the selection committee saw fit to concurrently bump Stanford onto its list as well. The Cardinal closed out the regular season with five straight wins, fueling its return into the polls after tumbling out of the picture in October, but this game was the one that secured the final ranking for David Shaw’s crew.