Stanford Football vs. USC: Preview, predictions, live stream

In perhaps the biggest Pac-12 game of the year, the Stanford Cardinal and USC Trojans will face off in an early-season clash.

It is not often games this early in the year will have major implications regarding a conference race, but either the USC Trojans or Stanford Cardinal will come out with a huge leg up regarding how the Pac-12 Conference shapes out.

Fortunately for us college football fans, there is a decent chance that the two teams could meet again this year, as both are in different divisions in the Pac-12. With only a few serious contenders in the conference, those entering the back end of the schedule with even one loss could be a deciding factor in who comes out of the league. Nonetheless, both will have other opportunities throughout the year to stay relevant.

The Trojans lead the overall series by a wide margin, boasting 59 wins to Stanford’s 32. Despite the lopsided numbers, the Cardinal have owned the series recently- winning the last three and seven of the last nine. Stanford’s last three wins from 2014-2016 have all been by double digits.

Here’s how you can watch Saturday’s Stanford vs USC game:

Date: Saturday, Sept. 9
Time: 8:30 p.m. ET
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Venue: Memorial Coliseum
TV: FOX
Live Stream: Fox Sports Go

Keys to Victory

The Trojans and Cardinal are coming off polar opposite games in Week 1. Stanford breezed through their first game on international ground, defeating Rice 62-7 over in Sydney, Australia. USC, on the other hand, needed all 60 minutes to get passed Western Michigan, whom they trailed for a good portion of the game, and used a late surge to pull ahead and defeat the Broncos 49-31.

USC’s struggles could have actually been the best thing for them. With all the hype surrounding sophomore quarterback Sam Darnold, the game against Western Michigan served as a nice wake-up call for the Trojans.

Getting ready to take on a fairly easy schedule, an early season test is good preparation for perhaps their toughest opponent of the year. With that being said, USC’s defense will need to perform a lot better and give Darnold and the offense better opportunities to score.

For Stanford, the opposite applies as their first game against Rice really does not show how good this Cardinal team is. A second game in a row away from home will test Stanford in all facets of the game. Luckily for the Cardinal, they have a veteran leader at quarterback in Keller Chryst that has been there before.

In order to secure a victory, the defense must make his job easy by forcing early three-and-outs and turnovers and putting Chryst in the offense in plausible scoring situations.

Next: National contenders after week 1

Prediction

It is hard to say if USC’s struggles were just a first-game fluke or signs of more to come. Let’s not forget the fact that Western Michigan went undefeated a year ago and made a New Year’s Six bowl game. The Trojans will come out fired up and ready to go and Darnold and company will be much sharper.

With that being said, Stanford’s veteran presence and leadership under center will negate the electric atmosphere and big time talent the Trojans have to throw out there. Chryst will go mistake-free and the defense will do just enough to get it done on the road.

Final score: Stanford 38, USC 35

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