In a thrilling Pac-12 Conference opener, USC succumbed to Stanford by a score of 10-27. This game took place at the Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto on Saturday, September 17th. With this game, the USC Trojans fell to 1-2 on the season while the Stanford Cardinals were able to maintain their winning streak with 2-0. In reference to the Pac-12 Conference, the Trojans have a 0-1 record while the Cardinals started off the conference on a high note with 1-0.

   This year’s 2016 opening game ended with USC losing to Stanford, reminiscent of last year’s Pac-12 Football Championship where the Trojans lost 22-41. With such high expectations for USC to beat its rival, they ultimately were not able to live up to the expectations, proving to be no match to the reigning champion Stanford.

   A highlight player was Stanford’s running back, Christian McCaffrey, who caught a 56-yard pass in the first quarter of the game. This catch resulted in a touchdown, giving Stanford a 7-0 point lead before the end of the first quarter. McCaffrey also managed to demonstrate himself as Stanford’s key player with his rush of 165 yards and a touchdown in 30 carries. The Stanford running back’s performance in the game resulted with him ultimately catching four 73-yard passes while also scoring a touchdown for the Cardinals.

   USC’s key player, on the other hand, was running back Ronald Jones. Jones’ highlight during the game was his one yard rush in the third quarter, which resulted in him scoring a touchdown for the Trojans. This touchdown scored by Jones slightly closed the score gap to 10-17. The important play resulted in USC’s first touchdown against a Power Five opponent this college football season.

   The fate of this game was decided in the third quarter of being in the Cardinal’s favor, as wide receiver Michael Rector caught a reverse and rushed 56 yards to score a touchdown for the Cardinals. This touchdown was the tipping point of the game, as it ultimately destroyed the Trojan’s chances of winning the game. Rector’s play resulted in the score being 27-10, putting the Cardinals in the lead for not only the game but the Pac-12 Conference as a whole.

   As for why USC lost the game to Stanford, this failure, according to many, was tied down to the fact that the USC football team has been highly volatile in the past year. In the span of this year, USC underwent many changes in their football athletics, with the suspension of Osa Masina and Don Hill from the college football season and the appointment of their new permanent coach, Clay Helton. The long-awaited ratification of Helton will hopefully help USC garner more wins this season, as their team is now more stable.

   The next game of the Pac-12 Conference will be between USC and Utah, where hopefully USC will play better and hopefully defeat Utah State in the second game of the Pac-12 Conference.