The USC Trojans looked the part of a heavyweight team on Saturday night in Los Angeles.
In the first half, they completely dominated and rag-dolled the Stanford Cardinal, throwing their opponent around every inch of the Coliseum with terrifying, swift, merciless force.
USC played hard, fast and tough. The Trojans’ speed and skill established a very big lead which kept growing every few minutes. It was a sight to behold. USC was able to play a lot of backups in the second half as a consequence of the first-half barrage. Had USC kept its starters in for the duration, it could have scored over 80 points against a Pac-12 (Power Five) opponent.
Bigger tests will come later. This was a night of fun. It was a time to simply sit back and enjoy the magic of Caleb Williams, Zachariah Branch, Tahj Washington, and the rest of the Trojans, who played a genuinely complete half and looked like a top-10 team.
Here are the highlights, the nuggets of analysis, and the reactions: