Stanford Prepares to Meet Maker

Does this look like a man who knows what he's doing?

No coach in recent history made as much of a splash as Jim Harbaugh did when he attacked the Big Dog of the Pac 10 conference (USC) as soon as he was hired. Speculating on Pete Carroll's future and announcing that his program was "afraid of no man" was not a great way to win friends and influence people as the new kid in town.

But now the trash talk has stopped . . . the season started, and Harbaugh and the Stanford Cardinal limp into the Coliseum to face the Trojans losers of their last (3) games - all by 38 pts. or more. Harbaugh is Mr. Humble now, with nothing but good things to say about the Trojans . . . too bad that won't stop SC from throwing Harbaugh to the lions on this coming Saturday. Let's break this feeding down . . .

Stanford

Offense: The Cardinal come in without starting QB T.C. Ostrander who suffered a seizure a few days ago. That means Tavita Pritchard steps into the role only having thrown (3) passes in his career. Known as a good athlete, Pritchard may have to do all the running himself as the Cardinal rushing offense ranks 9th in the Pac 10 averaging only 116 ypg behind RB Anthony Kimble and a few others. The WRs are the strength of the team with Mark Bradford, Evan Moore and deep threat Richard Sherman . . . but will QB Pritchard be able to find them?

Defense: Simply put, the Stanford defense can't stop the run. They rank last in the conference giving up nearly 200 ypg. They will be missing their best DLineman in Ekom Udofia who is injured. LB Bo McNally is the leader of the unit with team highs in tackles and INTs. He will be very busy on Saturday.

Special Teams: The FG kicker missed two FGs in Stanford's loss to ASU last week, and is a little shaky. The return game for Stanford is average.

USC

Offense: After a subpar game last week, SC's players and coaches will be paying serious attention to detail in this game. Thanks to (16) penalties last week, SC ranks last in the category in the Pac 10, so mistakes must be limited. SC's offense will be able to run or pass vs. the Cardinal, so we'll see a little of everything. QB Booty just needs to get his timing and touch back and limit the turnovers. The WRs also need to run sharp routes. The running game will be interesting to watch as Stafon Johnson probably will not play, Gable is out for the year, plus Chauncey Washington has a sore shoulder. So ABradford, HDennis and JMcKnight should get the majority of carries in this game behind an OLine that will have new starters at center (MSpanos) and right guard (ZHerberer).

Defense: It will be time for SC's defense to pin their ears back and tee off on the Cardinal offense who shouldn't be able to do anything. Stanford's offense ranks last in first downs (and that was behind the starting QB!), now they face the best defense in the Trojans with a backup QB . . . it will be ugly. Look for SC's DLine and LBs to have a big game and force some turnovers.

Special Teams: Watch for new kick returner Ronald Johnson to break one in this game. And Joe McKnight should get some opportunities to return punts once the game is out of hand . . . which should be by the second quarter.

Prediction Time:

USC - 52

Stanford - 3