6-Points: Stanford 21, USC 14

The Trojans take their first loss of the season in the Pac-12 opener against Stanford.

Click here for the game recap and final stats.

Click here for Lane Kiffin's complete post-game press conference.

The Damn Tree

Stanford has now beaten USC four consecutive times for the first time ever in the rivalry.  The last three have been decided by a single score.  "Hats off to them for another celebration up here," said Lane Kiffin.  "We're a part of it again."  The Trojans will have to fight the fatalistic feeling of a college football loss on a team with national championship expectations.  "It is disappointing.  You never want to lose.  I feel like we put everything we had into it, we just came up short," said captain T.J. McDonald.  We got to rebound.  We got to respond.  We've got a long season left.  We've got to make sure we keep this feeling in our hearts and the back of our heads and move forward from here."

Center of Attention

The USC offensive line did not look right without its leader Khaled Holmes on the ball.  The unit yielded four sacks and lost the battle up front.  "If there's a game on the schedule that you wouldn't want to be missing your senior center, this is it," said head coach Lane Kiffin.  "I don't care who the backup was, you are going to miss him against this team."  Stanford confused the young Trojans line with multiple fronts and disguised blitz schemes. 

Second Half Shutout

USC's offensive skill players can look impossible to stop at times, but the Cardinal made it happen.  "They were playing a lot of cover two trying to take away the perimeter," explained QB Matt Barkley.  "So essentially, they were double teaming the outside guys.  When you saw them one-on-one, they were doing pass interference."  Stanford's game plan limited Robert Woods and Marqise Lee to a pedestrian 138 combined receiving yards and no touchdowns.  The rushing statistics were even uglier.  Curtis McNeal and Silas Redd combined for 54 yards on 20 carries, and the majority of the yardage came on a meaningless 30-yard run on the last play before halftime.  Plus, both running backs were knocked out of the game for spells, although they showed tremendous guts to return to the fray in the second half.

(Photos by John McGillen)

Left Unfinished

Unless the Trojans get another shot at Stanford in the Pac-12 Championship Game, Matt Barkley ends his USC career 0-4 against the Cardinal.  The quarterback appeared battered, bruised and despondent after the loss.  "They are in the tank," Kiffin said about the locker room. "Regardless what you say, every game is the same, but this is a big game for them, especially for those older guys."  Barkley never found any rhythm under constant duress, and finished 20/41 for 254 yards and 0 TDs to 2 INTs.

Penalty Box

On the road against a good team, the Trojans made too many costly mistakes, including seven penalties for 73 yards and three first half turnovers.  "We did not play with a lot of discipline today," said Kiffin.  "That falls on me." 

The Defense Needs to Rest

The defense played well enough to win, but the unit wore down in the second half as Stanford controlled time of possession (19:14 to 10:46).  Nevertheless, the Trojans received standout performances from LB Lamar Dawson (10 tackles), LB Dion Bailey (9 tackles and an INT), S T.J. McDonald (9 tackles and a blocked FG), CB Torin Harris and DE Morgan Breslin.  "Our defense played pretty well for the most part," said Kiffin.  "You score 14 points, you are not winning many games."

Two-point conversion...

Breakout Game - While it might get lost in the shuffle, freshman WR Nelson Agholor made his biggest impact of the season with three catches for 77 yards plus two tackles on kickoff coverage.

Up Next - The season is not over.  In fact, it is just getting started with Cal coming to the Coliseum Saturday at 3 p.m.  "You drop it," said Barkley about getting over the loss. "You stick together.  You learn.  You go back to playing Trojan football."

Here are Matt Barkley and T.J. McDonald after the loss...