The USC Trojans have rebounded from a bad start and on Saturday night the team will host the Stanford Cardinal at the Los Angeles Coliseum for a Pac-12 conference matchup and the game will be going live at 8:00 pm on ABC and streaming online from California for a crucial conference game.
Stanford is coming in with some momentum after knocking off Oregon and that could end up being one of the biggest wins of the year for any of the top teams, as the Cardinal now leads the Pac-12 division over the Ducks and if they win out they will get the chance to play in the conference championship and to do that they will have to win on Saturday night in Los Angeles and then after that game against the Trojans the team has to play against Cal and Notre Dame at home and while those games should be winnable, they could be tough as well and any loss for Stanford would have big national title implications. The has won three straight games since being upset by Utah and now the team is looking to win its fourth game in as many chances and this is after playing three straight teams ranked in the top 25 and two of those were in the top 10 with UCLA and Oregon, who was ranked number three and that win put Florida State and Alabama in nice position for the national championship game.
Check here for live coverage of the USC and Stanford game.
Stanford comes in with a top defense that is allowing just 20 points per game and quarterback Kevin Hogan has been very solid and Stanford will be going up against a USC team that has been improving since Lane Kiffin was fired and they now have won three games in a row as well, including two on the road against Oregon State and Cal and before that the team defeated Utah. The team still has Stamford on the schedule and then they will play against Colorado and UCLA and that finale will be in LA at the Coliseum for the Trojans and if they win out they could sneak into the Pac-12 championship against Stanford, who has the inside edge in the North with the win over the Ducks.
The Trojans have only lost once since Kiffin was fired and they now have the chance to put themselves back in nice position with a win over the Cardinal. The Trojans can get back into things if Arizona State slips up, as they are only one game back and with Stanford winning five games over ranked teams this season, the game will not be an easy one for USC. If Stanford keeps winning and someone ahead of them slips up, they could sneak into the national title hunt and that would be impressive after the team lost to Utah. The Trojans handily defeated the team that Stanford lost to, so that is always a plus to look at and since getting blown out by Arizona State, the team has been playing much better on defense and in their only loss since then the team allowed just 14 points.
The Pac-12 has been very competitive this season and USC now has the chance to get back into things after the season looked like it would be a lost one and while that loss to ASU still stings, getting back on track against Arizona and the three straight wins in the conference after the Notre Dame loss is huge and now the team has things in their hands as they host Stanford on Saturday night. The Cardinal will be favored on the road, especially after holding Oregon to just 20 points and all of that came at the end of the game and some of the top players on both sides will be Ty Montgomery, Marqise Lee, Cody Kessler, Tyler Gaffney as well as Hogan at quarterback. The game on ABC gets started up at 8:00 pm and will have the USC Trojans hosting the Stanford Cardinal at the Los Angeles Coliseum.
