Love leads No. 10 Stanford past No. 17 USC
STANFORD, CALIF. — Bryce Love ran for 136 yards and a touchdown and No. 10 Stanford made talented quarterback JT Daniels look like a freshman in a 17-3 victory over No. 17 Southern California on Saturday night.
The Cardinal (2-0, 1-0 Pac12) got an early touchdown run by Love and then tormented Daniels much of the night, holding USC to its fewest points since being shut out by Washington in 1997.
“We have a saying around here that ‘there’s a party in the backfield,’ ” coach David Shaw said. “I don’t think we were that team last year. I challenged them to be that team this year. It’s not just one guy getting there, it’s groups of guys getting there.”
Stanford took control of the game late in the second quarter with a strip sack on fourth down against Daniels that set up K.J. Costello’s 9-yard touchdown pass to Colby Parkinson that gave Stanford a 14-0 lead.
Daniels made an impressive debut last week for the Trojans (1-1, 0-1) when he threw for 282 yards and a touchdown against UNLV. But duplicating that against Stanford proved far more difficult with the Cardinal using blitzes to pressure and confuse Daniels at times.
Daniels went 16 for 34 for 215 yards with interceptions on his final two passes of the night. He was forced to leave the game for one possession in the first half after a hard hit by Joey Alfieri.
“Every experience is a learning experience; some are good and some are notso-good,” USC coach Clay Helton said. “Our QB is going to learn from every rep he gets. He’ll get better and the staff will learn how to work around with him. He’s smart and talented.”
It was another big play by Alfieri that proved big late in the first half. Helton went for it on fourth-and-2 from the Cardinal 40, but Alfieri came free on a blitz and knocked the ball loose for Bobby Okereke to recover at the Stanford 49
“We called a stunt and I looped around and just came free,” Alfieri said. “Guys were eating up blocks. I was lucky enough to come free. Don’t miss the easy layup, like the coaches always say.”
The Cardinal drove down field to score on Costello’s TD pass with 34 seconds left in the half.
Love provided most of the rest of the offense after getting held to 29 yards on 18 carries last week against San Diego State. His 28-yard run sparked the opening drive that ended with his 6-yard score. He added a 59-yard run in the third quarter to set up a field goal.
The Trojans had plenty of chances to score but couldn’t deliver and ended up with their fewest points against Stanford since getting shut out in 1941. They drove to at least the Cardinal 40 six times and ended up with just one field goal.
“We’d get down there and we’d miss some opportunities,” Helton said. “It was a variety of things. Bottom line we have to push it in.”