USC looked pretty bad there for a bit. It felt like a 2 score game in Stanford's favor for quite a while.
Stanford
should have won it handily - they drove down the field with relative ease for much of the game and were constantly in USC's half of the field. However, they managed to squander almost every scoring opportunity they had. Their offensive line was pounding our defense and I figured it was just a matter of time before the floodgates broke and they started ripping off demoralizing big plays and scores. Fortunately for us, Stanford went into ultra-conservative mode on offense, and coupled with some very timely plays by the USC defense, (and three missed FGA by Stanford) managed to keep them from scoring.
On offense - Buck Allen is the freakin' man. The fact that Kiffin had him buried on the depth chart is further proof of his incompetence. Kessler is, for lack of a better word - an adequate QB. I do like his leadership skills and pocket awareness (throwing away balls when he knows he can't make a play) but in terms of just his physical skills, he's probably the least physically gifted starting QB from USC since Mike Van Raaphorst back in the Paul Hackett days. If we didn't have a bevy of excellent receivers for him to throw to, and a good offensive line with some excellent young players (and Buck Allen) to keep pressure off him, we'd be in trouble on that side of the ball.
All in all - a nice satisfying win against a highly disliked rival, even if neither team played particularly well. I'd definitely agree with the overall sentiment that "USC didn't win; Stanford just lost." Still - snapping a 17-game home win streak against what has been a top-flight program for the past several years is a huge feather in Sarkisian's cap.
Game ball goes to Andre Heidari. Kicking the winning 53-yard field goal late in the fourth was very clutch. I thought the defense was going to blow it after that score, but JR Tavai also made a clutch play and caused the fumble that sealed the win.