USC Defense Must Get Up for Stanford

The Stanford offense still elicits memories of six and seven offensive linemen paving the way Heisman Trophy caliber running backs as the Cardinal eat up huge chunks of time on long touchdown drives. That's how memorable and different those Stanford offenses of a decade ago were. But of late, the ground game simply hasn't been a strength of the Cardinal program. Since the 2018 season, Stanford hasn't ranked better than ninth in the conference in rushing yards per game. Stanford will still look to run the ball, and USC will need to find answers there defensively. But the key matchups on Saturday afternoon are likely to take place on the outside.