Breaks for both: Cardinal near home, USC is rested
Since Stanford’s 42-24 loss to USC in September — the Trojans’ best offensive performance of the year — the Cardinal have improved, mainly with the emergence of quarterback K.J. Costello.
USC has improved, too, in many areas, although it had to weather some misfortunes. Like the Cardinal, the Trojans lost at Washington State. They also surrendered three turnovers in a 35-point beating at Notre Dame.
The Cardinal (9-3, 7-2 Pac-12) jumped six places to No. 14 in the AP poll this week after beating Notre Dame, giving them eight wins in their past nine games. They get another crack at the No. 11 Trojans (10-2, 8-1) in the conference championship game at 5 p.m. Friday at Levi’s Stadium.
There’s very little chance that the winner will get a berth in
the College Football Playoff. The Rose Bowl is occupied by a CFP semifinal this year, but the Pac-12 winner would fit very snugly in a New Year’s Six bowl berth — probably the Fiesta Bowl in Arizona, for geographic reasons.
Stanford gets the advantage of playing Friday’s game just 17 miles from campus. “The fact we don’t have to travel is huge,” head coach David Shaw said Monday on a Pac-12 teleconference, “because traveling on a short week is difficult.” He said conference history has shown that the percentages of winning a short-week road game are “minuscule.’’
Meanwhile, USC gets its own break, having had a bye in the final week of the regular season.
“We were a tired and beat-up football team that needed a week to regroup and get healthy,” USC head coach Clay Helton said on the conference call.
He discounted the homefield advantage for Stanford because the game is just an hour’s flight for travel-happy USC fans. Shaw said the Trojans deserved the bye after playing 12 straight weeks of a rugged schedule.
USC quarterback Sam Darnold, an early Heisman Trophy hopeful, has overcome a period of turnovers, and such playmakers as 1,371-yard rusher tailback Ronald Jones II and 966-yard receiver Deontay Burnett have continued to make the Trojans explosive.
“We missed a lot of tackles in that first USC game,” Shaw said. “It’s not just us missing them. There are guys over there making you miss.”
Since the Stanford game, the Trojans have improved the most at wide receiver, Helton said, pointing to the development of redshirt freshman Tyler Vaughns and sophomore Michael Pittman Jr.
The Cardinal defense, already without starting cornerback Alijah Holder because of an injury, will be without defensive end Eric Cotton and might be without linebacker Joey Alfieri, Shaw said. Cotton appeared to injure his left foot against the Irish, and Alfieri might have reinjured his shoulder. Tailback Bryce Love is day-to-day, as he has been practically since spraining his ankle in the Oregon game. Personal issue: After the Big Game win, Shaw alluded to a family problem, which he wouldn’t divulge. He kept it confidential Monday, although he acknowledged such issues make coaches put things in perspective. “We have things going on in our lives that are more important than what happens on Saturdays and Fridays,” he said. Briefly: Shaw and Helton said they are excited that former Oregon and 49ers head coach Chip Kelly is back in the Pac-12 at UCLA. “What he did really changed the course of this conference and made everybody better,” Shaw said . ... In the heart of the head-coach hiring season, both staffs have widely admired candidates, Stanford associate head coach/offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren and defensive coordinator Lance Anderson and USC offensive coordinator Tee Martin. Shaw and Helton endorsed their assistants strongly. Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @tomg fitzgerald