Stanford Football: 5 reasons the Cardinal will beat USC in Pac-12 title

4. Stanford has a better starting quarterback than they did in September

When USC and Stanford played back in September, Keller Chryst was still entrenched as the starter for the Cardinal. It wasn’t that Chryst played badly against the Trojans, as he went 15-of-28 for 172 yards and two touchdowns.

Chryst’s bigger woes came as the season advanced. After losing to USC in the second game of the season, the quarterback failed to get over 200 yards in any of his other starts. Chryst also threw four interceptions against four touchdowns, putting the Cardinal at a disadvantage even as they won most of their games.

Eventually Chryst’s struggles opened the door for redshirt freshman K.J. Costello to take over the starting role. Since then, he has helped power a Stanford offense that is still not putting up huge numbers through the air but looks far more confident when it does throw the ball. Costello has a completion rate seven points higher than Chryst, with nine touchdowns against two interceptions.

While the Stanford defense is familiar with the threat they face in Sam Darnold, the Trojans have yet to face Costello on the field. He did not get any snaps against USC back in September. In the Pac-12 championship game, Stanford’s improvement at quarterback since September could be the missing ingredient that kept them from besting the Trojans last time.