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

SANTA CLARA, CA - DECEMBER 05: Ronald Jones II #25 of the USC Trojans scores a touchdown, dragging Dallas Lloyd #29 of the Stanford Cardinal into the endzone during the third quarter of the NCAA Pac-12 Championship game at Levi's Stadium on December 5, 2015 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

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(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

3. The Cardinal are great at protecting the football

One regular hallmark of David Shaw’s Stanford teams is the fact that they rarely shoot themselves in the foot with costly penalties. This season has been no exception, as they have done a great job of protecting the football on offense.

Over the course of the year, Stanford has thrown just six interceptions in its 12 games. Four were thrown by Keller Chryst as he cooled off from a solid start. That opened the door for K.J. Costello to take over under center, and the redshirt freshman has only coughed up the ball twice to opposing secondaries.

Stanford currently ranks fifth in the nation in terms of turnovers lost. In addition to the half-dozen picks thrown by its quarterbacks, the Cardinal have also fumbled away the ball just four times. Averaging less than a turnover per game was a key reason why they were able to outlast the two Washington schools to reclaim the Pac-12 North in 2017.

The turnover battle will be an important factor on Friday night. If the trends hold firm, Stanford will not give away the ball more than once. That will allow them to stay in the contest and in position to pull off another huge upset.

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