Kevin Hogan leads steady Stanford past No. 6 USC, 41-31

Stanford, with a 41-31 victory over No. 6 USC on Saturday night, proved it is indeed a Rose Bowl contender.

A 46-yard field goal by Stanford kicker Conrad Ukropina with 2:27 remaining made it a two-possession game and sealed the deal late in the game for the Cardinal.

USC owns the conference’s highest-ranked recruiting class – the No. 6 class nationally – and prospects’ eyes will be on Saturday’s outcome. Baylor actually hit or exceeded that mark the first four weeks of 2013 season before being “held” to 35 in a 10-point road win over K-State.

“Whenever you play Stanford, you’re going to play big-boy ball, and that’s what we’ve got to do”, said linebacker Su’a Cravens, who graded his defense’s performance as “a D-minus”.

Stanford played without two key contributors on its injury-plagued defensive line, leaving the Cardinal with no tested depth behind its three starters.

This year? Well, tickets are still available.

However, Stanford’s major chance of making the top 25 will be on Saturday. The Cardinal allow 127.5 rushing yards per game on 41.5 carries for a 3.1 average per play. Continuing that momentum in the running game would give USC a boost.

“It hurt the rhythm a little bit”, Kessler said. Kessler quietly posted a three-touchdown game, while going 25-for-32 for 272 yards.

Rogers caught only one pass last week and was complimented by Sarkisian for his blocking. “It really looked like Stanford football”. Stanford has scored four times and only have two touchdowns.

And is this the first game where Kessler’s Heisman Trophy campaign gets taken seriously?

Kessler led a balanced offense, completing 10 of his 12 passes to eight different receivers for 164 total passing yards. To get the most out of those playmakers, though, Stanford needed Hogan to show he could consistently get them the ball.

For a while, the Cardinal looked like it was losing ground by not matching USC touchdown for touchdown.

Where he could trouble USC is with his foot speed… if he chooses to run.

This was also a drastic change for Hogan against USC.

Maybe Hogan deserves a break when you consider he is not surrounded by a lot of stars.

Love finished with 143 all-purpose yards in the Cardinal’s home opener, much of it on a screen pass that he turned into a 93-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter.

That big-game experience shined through repeatedly while the Cardinal revitalized their season with yet another major win at the Coliseum.

His first touch was accidental. Mangum had a shot at his third straight game-winning drive to open the season, but was intercepted by Myles Jack to ice the game and keep the Bruins unbeaten on the season.

It will be hard to envision a scenario where Marshall becomes displaced with his athletic ability and physical style. It also gives them a strong leg up in the Pac-12 standings heading into a tough two-game stretch against Arizona and UCLA in October. Two of those running backs are led by Ronald Jones II, who leads in yards, and Tre Madden leading in the touchdown category.

That play occurred midway through the first quarter.

The Cardinal defense forced a USC punt and Stanford extended its lead to 38-28 when Wright dove over the pile into the end zone from the 1.