Why it Matters That USC Blew Out Rice

It's easy to shrug off USC's 66-14 win against Rice. That's a Rice team coming off a 4-8 season that lost its starting quarterback early in the game. It doesn't tell us whether USC is capable of going on the road and beating Utah in mid-October. It doesn't even guarantee the Trojans will take care of Stanford or Fresno State the next two weeks. But it was key for reasons on and off the field.