Top-ranked USC had no problem disposing of Pac-10 rivals Stanford on Saturday in Los Angeles, winning as expected in dominating fashion. Of course, that was in water polo. (Congrats to the Trojans for a strong 7-2 victory over the third-ranked Cardinal.) Football was another story, as the unranked Cardinal, who entered the Coliseum as 40-point underdogs and with a backup quarterback making his first career start, handed the turnover-prone Trojans a 24-23 defeat. It was USC’s first loss at home in six years; in September, 2001, they were defeated at the Coliseum by … the Stanford Cardinal. How did it happen? We have notes on the game’s various storylines, an update on injuries (including a new one to USC’s starting quarterback), and a roundup of all the post-game coverage on the web.

Storylines

• The Trojan defense was dominating again on Saturday … except when it counted. The Trojans yielded only 235 total yards and made it extremely difficult for the Cardinal to move the ball–let alone score–until the fourth quarter (Stanford’s third-quarter touchdown was surrendered by the USC offense). Beginning late in the third quarter, however, USC’s defense suddenly lost its effectiveness, and Stanford put together its first sustained drives of the evening, scoring on three straight possessions on drives of 9, 12, and 10 plays. The winning drive was the most embarrassing for the Trojan defense, as Stanford was able to convert on fourth-and-20, and then scored the go-ahead touchdown on a fourth-and-goal play from the 10-yard line.
• Not that the Trojan offense was able to put together many sustained drives itself. The Trojans had six drives of four plays or fewer, punted four times, and turned the ball over five times (to the Cardinal’s one). They were so unimpressive that they were booed by their own home crowd at multiple times during the game–and no more so than at halftime, after the Trojans failed to score when they went for it on fourth-and-goal at the Cardinal one-yard line.
• The Trojans clearly missed their starting offensive linemen. Already down two starters (G Chilo Rachal and C Kris O’Dowd), USC saw replacement center Matt Spanos get dinged up during the game, and played some of the night with Jeff Byers (normally a guard) at center and Alatini Malu and Zack Heberer at the guard spots. This patchwork line was unable to open up any holes for the Trojan tailbacks, who combined gained a paltry 2.5 yards per carry (compared to 6.2 entering the game) and just 96 total yards rushing. QB John David Booty also seemed to be pressured much more than normal, and was sacked four times.
• Booty followed his uneven performance in the Washington game with another choppy performance against Stanford, throwing four interceptions and completing only 24 of 40 pass attempts. True, there were mitigating factors: the poor line play, lack of a solid running game, an injured finger (more on that in a moment), and yet more Patrick Turner drops (we counted three on the night). But on a day when the Trojans needed an offensive leader, Booty could not elevate his game.
• Special teams? Not so special. The one-point final margin could be directly attributed to a blocked David Buehler extra point attempt (perhaps yet another result of those offensive line changes). Pete Carroll might also be second-guessed for deciding to go for one rather than a two-point conversion after pulling ahead 15-7 in the third quarter. The Trojans did not have any noteworthy kick returns, although Buehler did put two of his five kickoffs in the end zone.
• That decision not to go for the two-point conversion wasn’t the only odd coaching choice on the evening. Holding on to a small lead late in the game, the Trojans continued to throw the ball rather than try to run out the clock with the running game.
• TB Hershel Dennis saw his first non-garbage time action of the year and responded with 34 yards on just 7 carries. Joe McKnight was given just two carries (which went nowhere), and Allen Bradford never got in the game.
• One bright spot: Booty finally completed a long bomb, throwing deep to a streaking, wide-open Ronald Johnson on a nifty play-action for a 46-yard touchdown completion. Booty and Johnson had failed to connect on similar plays earlier in the season.
• Another bright spot: Fred Davis set a USC tight end record with 152 yards receiving (on five catches), including an impressive 63-yard touchdown that was all Davis after the catch.
• Scott Wolf reports that the loss was the biggest upset in history, as measured by point spread. The final spread, depending on the source, was between 39 and 41 points in favor of USC. Syracuse’s upset over 37.5-point favorites Louisville last month was the previous record-setter.

Injury updates

• Booty played more than half of the game while injured. In the second quarter, he fractured the tip of the middle finger on his throwing hand (after hitting it against a helmet), and will have the finger in a splint for at least a week. It is uncertain whether he will be able to play next week against Arizona, although some fans might argue that he should not have even continued against Stanford. (Coaches knew about the injury when it happened, but felt he could continue to play with it.)
• LB Luthur Brown separated his shoulder.
• Spanos should be fine, although during the game he missed some possessions after suffering a pinky laceration and being kicked in the calf.
• WR Vidal Hazelton was scheduled for an X-ray on his injured thumb after the game. The injury was sustained during the week in practice, but appeared to be worse after the game.
• CB Cary Harris was cleared by doctors prior to kickoff and appeared to be at full strength during the game.
• As expected, LB Brian Cushing and RB Stafon Johnson did not play.

Get more stats and articles on this game: TrojanUpdate’s Game Recap: USC-Stanford

Stanford brings USC’s 35-game home win streak to end (AP via ESPN)
Cardinal rules USC (OC Register)
USC stunned by Stanford, 24-23 (Daily News)
USC quarterback Booty hampered by finger injury (Daily News)
USC hears boos at Coliseum (Daily News)
USC having problems filling injuries (Daily News)
It’s stun and done for USC (LA Times)
USC Report: Booty plays despite fracture (LA Times)
Streeter: Stanford coach did get a couple of things right (LA Times)
Dufresne: You look upset, Los Angeles. Why the long fall from grace? (LA Times)
Stanford’s Bradford had a big reason to make the catch that beat USC (LA Times)
Unthinkable: Stanford stuns USC (SF Chronicle)
This was Stanford’s win, not USC’s loss (SF Chronicle)
Stanford stuns No. 2 USC (San Jose Mercury-News)
Trojan disaster (Rivals, $)