Cardinal get 2nd crack at Trojans
When Stanford lost to thenNo. 6 USC 42-24 in the second week of the season, the Cardinal had no answer for Sam Darnold, who threw for 316 yards and four touchdowns.
Now, they get another chance, with a different quarterback and a defense that lately has made a habit to getting timely stops and turnovers.
In the September game, the host Trojans controlled both lines of scrimmage. Ronald Jones rushed for 116 yards, cartwheeling into the end zone at the end of a 23-yard run. And he was outdone by freshman Stephen Carr, who added 119 yards rushing.
Bryce Love ran for 160 yards, including a 75-yard touchdown. Stanford was quarterbacked by Keller Chryst then. He completed 15 of 28 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns.
Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly, whose team pummeled the Trojans 49-14 last month, said it will be a match of Stanford’s physical style and USC’s athleticism.
Stanford coach David Shaw said he thought his team played well against the Trojans, but “they were lights out.”
Defensive lineman Harrison Phillips said, “We’re a lot better defense now. It’s going to be a fun matchup.”
However, that defense might be without starting lineman Eric Cotton and linebacker Joey Alfieri, both of whom were hurt in the first quarter Saturday night.
Okereke makes impact again: Continuing his seasonlong improvement at inside linebacker, Stanford’s Bobby Okereke shared the team lead in tackles, nine, with safety Justin Reid.
In the first half, Okereke dropped Josh Adams for a third-down loss to force a punt, had a quarterback hurry to help force a three-and-out and tackled Adams for no gain on 3rd-and-1 to force another punt. A Burns sighting: Backup quarterback Ryan Burns, almost a forgotten man, took part in Stanford’s second scrimmage play and provided a block that helped spring Love for a 12-yard gain. Lead foot: Jake Bailey ,as usual, provided hang time and length on most of his punts for the Cardinal. After a 30-yarder in the first half, he launched punts of 50, 51 and 51, all with zero return yards. He averaged 50.4 on seven punts.