Stanford will not test the Trojans

The Trojans have been fairly environmentally friendly these past couple years, but I think it’s finally time that they just chop down those trees.

Saturday’s game against Stanford is not going to resemble one of the dramatic three-point margin-of-victory barn burners we’ve seen the last two times these teams have met. Nor is it going to be decided by the 50-point margins that USC inflicted on Arkansas State and Idaho, but when the clock hits zero, it will surely be remembered as one thing — a blowout.

The Trojans have cruised through their first two games of non-conference play, while Stanford has struggled early on including a dismal performance resulting in a loss at Northwestern. For that reason, I expect USC to win by a three touchdown or so margin — it could be the first time since 2008 that the team beats the Cardinal by double digits.

The Stanford team coming into town is a physical one — probably the most durable squad USC will face this season — but they are lacking the playmakers that led to a lot of their success last year, especially on offense.

The Cardinal will be without wide receiver Ty Montgomery, who caused a lot of havoc in last year’s meeting, and the team’s leading rusher from last season in redshirt senior running back Remound Wright has struggled to get the running game going, for only 39 yards thus far this season.

Being a program that typically prides themselves on their ground-and-pound running game that milks possession time, the Cardinal are averaging less than 110 yards per game to begin the season.

In the passing game, Kevin Hogan very well might also be one of the most mediocre quarterbacks in all of college football, though his performance against Northwestern showed that he has the potential to slide below average.

Against the Wildcats, Hogan completed only 20 of 35 passes for just over 150 yards to go along with an interception. If Hogan plays anything like that against USC, Stanford head coach David Shaw is going to need to look elsewhere for answers, and as fine as an academic institution Stanford is, I don’t think there’s any level of critical thinking that will solve the problems USC is going to cause him.

His defensive unit comprises some big-time linebackers including Blake Martinez, Kevin Anderson and Peter Kalambayi, but good luck stopping a USC offense that features a Heisman Trophy candidate, a committee of running backs and a couple of the most dynamic and explosive players in college football right now — JuJu Smith-Schuster and Adoree’ Jackson.

The Cardinal will hit hard and probably try to get under the Trojan’s skin, but if they’re unable to slow down the USC offense, Kessler and his weapons are just going to blow by them.

Though this game is their first in conference play and is even considered to be a rivalry game, it won’t be the first true test for the Trojans that many people are saying it will.

Save all that talk for next week on the road at Arizona State and the rest of USC’s schedule, which is ranked the third toughest remaining schedule, according to the ESPN Power Index.

Saturday night, though, will serve as a statement game.

Perfect timing, too. With the game being played in primetime and under the national spotlight, this is USC’S ideal moment to assert their No. 6 national ranking to the College Football Playoff Committee and the rest of country.

Some people have said that USC’s ranking is too high and “undeserved” with their poor quality of opponents thus far. On Saturday night, they will show why they are knocking on the front door of the top five.

Stanford had their chance to have fun nearly a decade ago when it marched into the Coliseum as a 41-point underdog and pulled off a one-point upset against, ending a 35-game home winning streak for a USC team that was ranked No. 1 in the Coaches Poll at the time.

Double-digit favorites once again, you can expect the Trojans to actually cover the spread this time and by much more than 10 points.

Darian Nourian is a senior majoring in print and digital journalism. He is also the sports editor of the Daily Trojan. His column, “Persian Persuasion,” runs Fridays.