Pac-12 Game Preview: Stanford vs. USC

There’s no doubt the Stanford Cardinal (9-1, 6-1) are riding high off their upset win over previously unbeaten Oregon last week, but their road to a second straight Pac-12 title isn’t free of more obstacles, including the pesky and very talented USC Trojans (7-3, 4-2), whom they take on in Los Angeles tonight.

The currently fourth-ranked Cardinal have enjoyed recent success against the Trojans with wins in the teams’ previous four meetings, but this USC team is not likely to go down easy, as it is not only hoping to play spoiler, but fuel its own chances of reaching the Pac-12 title game from the South division.

With so much at stake, both teams are expected to bring their ‘A’ games, which is why the unranked Trojans are only four-point dogs against one of the best and most balanced teams in the country.

Of course, odds makers are also giving USC a fighting chance because it has home field and a wealth of talent on both sides of the ball that its win-loss record doesn’t necessarily account for. Trojans quarterback Cody Kessler has caught fire during the team’s recent three-game winning streak – completing 74.3 percent of his passes in that span – while sophomore receiver Nelson Agholor has proved to be USC’s X-factor with two punt return touchdowns in the past few games.

While USC certainly has a chance to break some big plays, Stanford’s methodical offense and band of bruisers up front could wear the smaller Trojans down, as they did last week against the high-powered Ducks. Stanford running back Tyler Gaffney should be expected to carry most of the load, as he enters tonight’s battle with 211 totes on the season for 1,043 rushing yards. Limiting his production with be perhaps USC’s biggest challenge.

However, if USC is able to force Stanford into some third-and-longs and create turnovers, it will have a great chance to win tonight at home. While the Trojans have been ripped apart by potent passing attacks this season, they have played much better against the run lately and can certainly produce on offense against Stanford. Taking USC to win outright would be risky, but I like the Trojans to cover +4 points at home tonight.