The Stanford Cardinal lost 31-28 to the USC Trojans Friday night at Levi’s Stadium in a nailbiter. Here are some notable stats from the game:
501: Total yards for USC on Friday night, gaining 325 of those on quarterback Sam Darnold’s arm. Darnold finished 17-of-24 with two touchdowns.
343: Total yards for the Cardinal, one more yard than in their first matchup with the Trojans this season. Stanford had 151 rushing yards and 192 passing yards.
1: Yard needed for junior Cameron Scarlett to score on 4th-and-goal in the middle of the fourth quarter. In perhaps the climax of Friday’s game, the Trojans made an impressive goal line stand that prevented Stanford from taking what would have been their first lead against USC all season.
99: Yards on USC’s ensuing drive. Keyed by a 54-yard reception by Michael Pittman and capped off by an eight-yard touchdown run from Ronald Jones II, the drive was just the second 99-yard drive by any FBS team this season.
80: Receiving yards for sophomore tight end Kaden Smith Friday. Smith caught four passes from KJ Costello, including two spectacular touchdown catches in the second half. 80 receiving yards and two touchdowns are both career-highs for him.
16: Total number of enforced penalties in Friday’s game, amounting to a total of 149 penalty yards. The Pac-12 referees weren’t afraid to use their flags, penalizing the Cardinal seven times for 73 yards and USC nine times for 76 yards.
2: Catches of 40+ yards for junior wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside Friday. They were his only catches in the game. Two receptions was a season-low for Arcega-Whiteside, but he made the most of them, snagging passes of 45 and 41 yards.
125: Rushing yards for Bryce Love Friday on 22 carries and one good leg. USC running back Ronald Jones II rushed for 140 yards on 30 carries, which marks just the second time Love has been outrushed by an opposing running back all season.
Contact Sam Curry at currys ‘at’ stanford.edu