Saturday, September 7
Los Angeles, Calif.
7:30 PM
USC
vs
Stanford
Players Mentioned
TB
/ Football
QB
/ Football
ILB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
WR
/ Football
TB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
S
/ Football
QB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
USC Football Opens Pac-12 Play Against No. 25 Stanford at Home
September 01, 2019 | Football, Features
*USC plays the Pac-12's first conference game (for the ninth straight year) when it hosts No. 25 Stanford under the lights in the Coliseum on ESPN.
*In fact, this is the sixth consecutive year that USC begins league play versus the Cardinal, and the seventh time in 8 years.
*Stanford is USC's oldest rival, dating to 1905.
*USC has won just 25% of its past dozen games versus the Cardinal, but has captured 2 of the past 3 in L.A.
*The game could feature teams led by backup quarterbacks, as both USC's JT Daniels and Stanford's K.J. Costello were injured in their openers (Daniels is out for the season with a knee injury).
*In its opening win over Fresno State in the renovated Coliseum, USC's offense showed it can pass (272 yards) and run (175) the ball. With Daniels out, Troy will turn to poised first-year freshman QB Kedon Slovis, whose high school quarterback coach was Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. Slovis will have one of the nation's best receiving corps to pitch to, including WRs Michael Pittman Jr., Tyler Vaughns (11 grabs, 150 yards in the opener), Amon-Ra St. Brown and Velus Jones Jr. (he had a 100-yard scoring kick return last week). TBs Vavae Malepeai and Stephen Carr were productive in the opener carrying the ball (190 yards combined) and catching it out of the backfield. Troy's defense made big plays when it had to, getting 3 turnovers (including a late endzone interception by S Isaiah Pola-Mao to stave off a driving Bulldog unit looking to possibly tie the game) and 3 sacks. ILB John Houston Jr. had 13 tackles, while DE Drake Jackson showed well in his USC debut (he was the first Trojan true freshman to start an opener on the defensive line since 2007).
*The dynamic wideout St. Brown brothers (USC's Amon-Ra and Stanford's Osiris) will share the field.
*Head coach David Shaw (whose uncle was a USC All-American) and his Stanford team (celebrating its 125th football season) beat Northwestern at home last Saturday. The Stanford offense, which lost 4 starting linemen from last fall, came into 2019 being led by outstanding QB K.J. Costello, who has thrown for 5,000- plus yards and 44 TDs in his career. But he suffered a concussion in the opener and was replaced by QB Davis Mills. RB Cameron Scarlett and TE Colby Parkinson are the Cardinal's most experienced runner and receiver, respectively. Defensive standouts include CB Paulson Adebo, the nation's deflections leader last year (24), OLB Jordan Fox, DT Michael Williams and S Malik Antoine. PK Jet Toner has 36 career field goals.
*It's Joint Forces Day at the Coliseum, with 10,000-plus military families in attendance. The AFCA Coaches Trophy will be on display. USC golfer Gabriela Ruffels, who won the 2019 U.S. Women's Amateur last month, will be saluted, as will the national champion 1999 USC women's water polo team (which won the program's first of 6 titles).
*USC's highly-ranked women's soccer team hosts a pair of contests the day before and after the football game.
*In fact, this is the sixth consecutive year that USC begins league play versus the Cardinal, and the seventh time in 8 years.
*Stanford is USC's oldest rival, dating to 1905.
*USC has won just 25% of its past dozen games versus the Cardinal, but has captured 2 of the past 3 in L.A.
*The game could feature teams led by backup quarterbacks, as both USC's JT Daniels and Stanford's K.J. Costello were injured in their openers (Daniels is out for the season with a knee injury).
*In its opening win over Fresno State in the renovated Coliseum, USC's offense showed it can pass (272 yards) and run (175) the ball. With Daniels out, Troy will turn to poised first-year freshman QB Kedon Slovis, whose high school quarterback coach was Hall of Famer Kurt Warner. Slovis will have one of the nation's best receiving corps to pitch to, including WRs Michael Pittman Jr., Tyler Vaughns (11 grabs, 150 yards in the opener), Amon-Ra St. Brown and Velus Jones Jr. (he had a 100-yard scoring kick return last week). TBs Vavae Malepeai and Stephen Carr were productive in the opener carrying the ball (190 yards combined) and catching it out of the backfield. Troy's defense made big plays when it had to, getting 3 turnovers (including a late endzone interception by S Isaiah Pola-Mao to stave off a driving Bulldog unit looking to possibly tie the game) and 3 sacks. ILB John Houston Jr. had 13 tackles, while DE Drake Jackson showed well in his USC debut (he was the first Trojan true freshman to start an opener on the defensive line since 2007).
*The dynamic wideout St. Brown brothers (USC's Amon-Ra and Stanford's Osiris) will share the field.
*Head coach David Shaw (whose uncle was a USC All-American) and his Stanford team (celebrating its 125th football season) beat Northwestern at home last Saturday. The Stanford offense, which lost 4 starting linemen from last fall, came into 2019 being led by outstanding QB K.J. Costello, who has thrown for 5,000- plus yards and 44 TDs in his career. But he suffered a concussion in the opener and was replaced by QB Davis Mills. RB Cameron Scarlett and TE Colby Parkinson are the Cardinal's most experienced runner and receiver, respectively. Defensive standouts include CB Paulson Adebo, the nation's deflections leader last year (24), OLB Jordan Fox, DT Michael Williams and S Malik Antoine. PK Jet Toner has 36 career field goals.
*It's Joint Forces Day at the Coliseum, with 10,000-plus military families in attendance. The AFCA Coaches Trophy will be on display. USC golfer Gabriela Ruffels, who won the 2019 U.S. Women's Amateur last month, will be saluted, as will the national champion 1999 USC women's water polo team (which won the program's first of 6 titles).
*USC's highly-ranked women's soccer team hosts a pair of contests the day before and after the football game.
Click Here for full game notes
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