USC eyes redemption against Stanford for Pac-12 title game
Clay Helton had his interim tag removed earlier this week, and in his first game as the team’s permanent head coach, he and the Trojans are faced with the task of stopping No. 7-ranked Stanford in Saturday’s Pac-12 title showdown at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. If they’re able to do so, they have the chance to come away with the program’s first conference crown since the 2008-2009 season, which would earn them a trip to the Rose Bowl.
USC (8-4, 6-3 Pac-12) is hoping to avenge its loss earlier this season to the Cardinal (10-2, 8-1), who marched into the Coliseum and handed USC its first loss of the season. In that game, fifth-year senior quarterback Kevin Hogan powered the Stanford offense to 474 yards and bullied their way to a 41-31 upset of the then-No. 6 ranked Trojans.
“It’s the most physical game I’ve ever played in,” redshirt sophomore safety Chris Hawkins said.
Two different roads
Since that game, though, both teams have gone in two different directions.
Despite losing its first game of the season to Northwestern, Stanford won eight of its last nine games en route to running away with the North title — its third in four years — despite a late push by Oregon. Last week, it not only derailed then-No. 6-ranked Notre Dame’s College Football Playoff hopes after knocking off the Irish on a go-ahead field goal as time expired, but also continued to build its case for playoff consideration.
The No. 24-ranked Men of Troy, on the other hand, experienced a tough stretch, losing to Washington at home on a Thursday night, which led to the firing of Steve Sarkisian only a few days later. That’s before before Helton stepped in and turned the Trojans’ entire season around, leading the team to wins in five of its last seven games on its way to winning the Pac-12 South title after defeating crosstown rival UCLA last Saturday for the first time in four seasons.
Though each team’s journey to the conference championship has been drastically different, both teams will be riding into the game with momentum, coming off wins against perennial rivals.
“This was the plan to be here from Week One and I don’t like the way that we got here, but I mean I’ll take it,” junior linebacker Su’a Cravens said.
The Trojans, however, might have gotten a little extra motivation to win Saturday’s game with Helton in the position to notch his first win as the official leader of the program.
Formula for Success
Ever since taking over for Sarkisian, Helton has strived to instill a formula of “running the ball, stopping the run and not turning it over,” which has contributed to much of the Trojans’ success.
In the seven games for which Helton has been at the helm, USC has out rushed its opponents in every game by an average of just under 140 yards, in addition to holding a plus-nine turnover margin.
The Men of Troy have also taken a page out of Stanford head coach David Shaw and the Cardinal’s book by slowing down the tempo of the game via the ground the game, which has allowed them to control the ball for the most part. The Trojans have won the time-of-possession battle in each one of its last seven games, except at Colorado. Last week against UCLA, they ran the ball 59 times on their way to out possessing by a third of the game.
The USC ground game has featured a committee of running backs over the course of the season and has been anchored by leading rushers Ronald Jones II, who surpassed Charles White to become the leading freshman rusher in USC history, along with and junior Justin Davis.
Nonetheless,Saturday’s matchup will feature a display of two ground-and-pound teams with similar playing styles. USC will have to try and put the brakes on one of the hottest running backs in the country, in sophomore running back Heisman Trophy contender Christian McCaffrey.
Stopping McCaffrey
Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Year McCaffrey, who is also a semifinalist and finalist for a number of other postseason awards of the, broke a conference single-season record by totaling 3,035 all-purpose yards during the regular season.
In addition to setting a few other school records, the Colorado native posted nine-consecutive 100-yard rushing games. He finished second in the Pac-12 in rushing this season with an average of 136.7 yards per game, only behind Oregon’s Royce Freeman.
There’s no doubt that he will be a focal point in the defensive coordinator Justin Wilcox and the USC defense’s game plan to stopping the Stanford offense.
“He’s a great player, very versatile and that’s pretty much what you get when you going against a good guy like that,” sophomore cornerback Adoree’ Jackson said.
Last time USC played the Cardinal, McCaffrey put up 249 all-purpose yards, including 115 yards on the ground.
What we need to focus on is the execution during the game and the results … you know those things come with that,” Wilcox said.
Hogan, who completed nearly 80 percent of his passes and threw for 279 yards and two touchdowns against USC earlier this season, will also serve as a threat both with his arms and his legs.
“We’ve got to be able to mix up defensive calls to throw them off-base too,’’ Helton said. “I know Justin has a great plan, and I like where these kids are at, especially with the confidence they gained last week.’’
Saturday’s game will kick off at 4:45 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPN.