Final - USC 41, Stanford 28

USC is set to take on Stanford in Week 2 of the 2022 college football season.

Follow along in the game thread on the WeAreSC Members Only message board to discuss USC’s first road trip of the season against Stanford. We’ll also provide quarter-by-quarter highlights of the game here.

Pregame

* Catch up on the names, news, notes and numbers ahead of the game with The Huddle.

* The USC football team became the latest group of Trojans to be gifted a set of Beats headphones, courtesy of Caleb Williams and his partnership with the company.

Huge thanks to @CALEBcsw and @beatsbydre for hooking us up with fresh, custom Studios for this game! ✌️🎧🔥 pic.twitter.com/H7Tq9ND5c8

— USC Football ✌️ (@USC_FB) September 10, 2022

* Down goes Notre Dame! The Irish lose at home to Marshall and are now 0-2 this season. The Pac-12 gets an opportunity to extend Notre Dame’s misery next week as Cal visits South Bend.

* USC true freshman running back Raleek Brown is one of the first players on the field. He’s going through warmups with position coach Kiel McDonald. Brown injured his lower leg late in the win against Rice and left the game. It will be interesting to see if and how much he plays against Stanford.

* USC defensive lineman De’jon Benton is not out early in warmups with the defensive linemen. It does not appear that he made the trip, due to injury.

* A very good showing of USC fans making the trip up north. It’s pretty clear the home-field advantage is shifted to the Trojans as the two teams come out of the locker room.

* Stanford wins the toss and elects to receive.

First Quarter

USC’s starting defense –

Nick Figueroa, Stanley Ta’ufo’ou, Tuli Tuipulotu, Romello Height, Shane Lee, Eric Gentry, Max Williams, Mekhi Blackmon, Ceyair Wright, Max Williams, Calen Bullock

* USC safety Max Williams picks off a Tanner McKee pass on Stanford’s first possession and a nice return sets the Trojans up in plus territory. It’s the Trojans’ fifth interception in a little more than four quarters this season.

* The Trojans go 33 yards in four plays, capped off by a 5-yard touchdown pass from Caleb Williams to Lake McRee. USC up 7-0 with 12:38 left in the first quarter.

* A wild sequence in the USC endzone. Stanford has a touchdown overturned by replay. The Cardinal bring out the field goal team on fourth down, but USC jumps offsides. Stanford sends the offense back out to go for it on fourth down from the two-yard line. McKee floats a jump ball into the endzone and USC cornerback Mekhi Blackmon picks off the pass. USC still leads 7-0, now with 7:26 left in the first quarter.

* Jordan Addison with his first catch of the game. Takes it 22 yards for a score. It’s 14-0 USC with 4:03 left in the first quarter. Two drives and two touchdowns for the USC offense.

* Stanford with a 50-yard gain on an end around to Brycen Tremayne and the Cardinal are in the endzone three plays later. McKee with a short pass to a wide open E.J. Smith out of the backfield. It’s 14-7 USC with 57 seconds left in the first quarter.

* Caleb Williams lets it go and finds Jordan Addison deep. Addison catches it in stride, shakes off a defender and goes into the endzone. One play, 75 yards, USC touchdown. Trojans are up 21-7 with 46 seconds left in the first quarter.

Second Quarter

* Max Williams and Mekhi Blackmon are both involved in their second forced turnovers of the day. Williams puts a big hit on Stanford running back E.J. Smith to cause a fumble as the Cardinal look like they’re going in for a touchdown. Blackmon recovers on the USC two-yard line. USC still ahead 21-7 with 12:15 left in the second quarter.

* Mario Williams with one of the plays of the day so far. One snap after he brought in a deep ball from Caleb Williams, the receiver catches a short pass at the line of scrimmage and completely jukes a Stanford defender before going in for a 15-yard touchdown.

* Stanford gets into the endzone again with an 8-play, 67-yard drive. E.J. Smith goes in from five yards out. USC leads 28-14 with 6:13 left in the first half.

* A tremendous job of blocking by the USC offensive line opens up a huge hole for Travis Dye to go untouched for a 27-yard touchdown. USC leads 35-14 with 2:33 left in the first half.

Halftime Stats

Offensive yards

USC – 366, Stanford – 319

Rushing yards

USC – 122, Stanford – 171

Passing yards

USC – 244, Stanford – 148

Caleb Williams – 13-for-15, 244 yards and four touchdowns

Travis Dye – Eight carries for 77 yards and a touchdown

Jordan Addison – Five receptions for 124 yards and two touchdowns

Max Williams – Four tackles, one interception, one forced fumble

Third Quarter

* USC comes out of the half with Caleb Williams connecting with Jordan Addison on a 48-yard pass. But the Trojans can’t go farther. Denis Lynch connects on a 45-yard field goal and it’s 38-14 Trojans.

* Lynch connects again. This time from 42 yards out. Not great offense from the Trojans in the second half and a couple penalties. But USC still leads 41-14 as time ticks down on the third quarter.

Fourth Quarter

* Stanford with its second rushing touchdown of the day. Casey Filkins goes in from two yards out. USC leads 41-21 with 10:21 left in the game.

*Stanford scores on a 2-yard touchdown keeper by QB Tanner McKee. Trojans lead 41-28 with 5:01 remaining in the game.

*Trojans defense holds on with two key sacks by Tuli Tuipulotu and Solomon Byrd, respectively.

* More to come