AN EARLY SHOWDOWN
TWO OF CONFERENCE’S BEST TEAMS MEET IN PALO ALTO
KEYS FOR USC
All eyes on Daniels. Freshman quarterback JT Daniels will face the toughest defense of his life when the Trojans open conference play at Stanford. Daniels, who graduated high school early to arrive at USC this season, had a solid debut for the Trojans by completing 22-of-35 passes for 282 yards and one touchdown in a 43-21 win over UNLV. Not surprisingly, Daniels favorite target was former high school teammate Amon-Ra St. Brown, who had seven catches for 98 yards and a score.
Stop the run. USC allowed two 100-yard rushers against UNLV, not a good sign with Heisman Trophy runnerup Bryce Love up next. The Rebels averaged 7.2 yards per rush in the loss to USC.
KEYS FOR STANFORD
Get Love going. Bryce Love ran for 2,118 yards last season while reaching 100 yards on the ground in 12 of 13 games. His senior season got off to a surprising start when San Diego State limited him to 29 yards on 18 carries during Stanford’s 31-10 victory Saturday. Love will look to get closer to his numbers from last year against the Trojans when he ran for 160 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries.
Pass the challenge. While UNLV was able to contain Love, that allowed sophomore quarterback K.J. Costello to have the best game of his two seasons with the Cardinal. Costello was 21-for-31 for 332 yards and four touchdowns, including three scoring passes to JJ Arcega-Whiteside.
PREDICTION
Stanford 23, USC 17. The Cardinal and Trojans open conference play against each other for the fifth year in a row with the home team winning each of the past two years.