Stanford Football: 3 takeaways from loss to USC in Pac-12 Title Game

1. Stop J.J. Arcega-Whiteside and you shut down Stanford’s passing game

USC held star Stanford receiver J.J. Arcega-Whiteside to 87 yards on two catches. Even though both drives that Arcega-Whiteside had those big two catches, USC would score on the following drive, or just seal the victory. With quarterback K.J. Costello getting bothered by a thumb injury on his throwing hand, he was not able to deliver his most accurate ball either.

There was too much reliance on an injured Love in this one. Stanford could not get anything consistent going in the passing game. Yet, there were some good moments including two nice touchdown catches from Kaden Smith.

The Trojans are just too talented on both sides of the ball for the Cardinal to beat them with anything shy of their best effort. USC came in with a solid gameplan and was ready for a Stanford team that was motivated to get some revenge.

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Costello was held to under 200 passing yards on the game. Head coach David Shaw an added level of trust in Costello with keeping him in the game late in the fourth quarter instead of going with the experienced senior Keller Chryst. This USC defense was able to do just enough to keep Stanford in check and win the Pac-12 Championship