STANFORD, Calif. - You could have heard a sock drop.
That's how quiet and spent the Stanford football team was following Friday night's difficult 31-28 defeat to USC in the Pac-12 Championship Game at chilly Levi's Stadium.
The 11th-ranked Trojans (11-2) were talented, but the 14th-ranked Cardinal (9-4) had chances to change the outcome on both sides of the ball.
"The bottom line is we didn't make enough plays," said David Shaw, the Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football.
Banged up and coming off a short week, Stanford battled back from a two-score deficit in the fourth quarter. Sophomore quarterback K.J. Costello fired a 28-yard touchdown pass to sophomore tight end Kaden Smith with 2:09 remaining, but the ensuing onside kick went out of bounds and USC ran out the clock.
"I am so proud of these guys," Shaw said. "They fought back. It says a lot about who we are."
Shaw has run out of superlatives to describe the heroic play of junior running back Bryce Love. Playing on an injured ankle for six games, he delivered another gritty performance. Clearly hurting, Love rushed for 125 yards on 22 carries and contributed a 9-yard scoring run.
He gained 88 yards in the second half, including a 52-yard scamper.
It marked his FBS-leading 11th 100-yard game of the season, tying the Stanford single-season record. He has now recorded a nation-leading 12 runs of 50 or more yards, also an FBS record.
Love surpassed Toby Gerhart and moved into second place on the school's single-season rushing list with 1,973 yards. With a bowl game remaining, he needs 47 yards to catch all-time leader Christian McCaffrey (2,019).
"Let's just say this, I don't have a Heisman vote, so I'm not going to talk about those who do," said Shaw. "They can vote whoever they want. What's he's done on one leg is unheard of.
"If people can vote their conscience, that's fine. I don't care. I put my arm around this guy and put him up in front of anybody, not to mention what he does academically. Bryce is a young man that you want college football to be about, and you want to point to and say, to my two young sons, 'Be like him.' "
Statistically, Costello's numbers weren't eye-popping -- 10 completions on 22 attempts for 192 yards -- but they were misleading.
Costello absorbed many big hits, but kept his poise, gave his receivers a chance to make plays, and tossed a pair of scoring throws. Several passes were batted down at the line of scrimmage – something at which USC excels -- and he was victimized by dropped passes.
"At the end of the day, we put ourselves in position to win and ... it didn't fall our way," said Costello. "We fought our tails off."
The biggest sequence of the game came midway through the fourth quarter with the Cardinal trailing, 24-21. After a good defensive stand and poor USC punt, Stanford took over at the Trojan 35.
The Cardinal moved to the 3 and had first-and-goal, but was penalized for delay of game. Stanford had two cracks from the 1 -- going for it on fourth down -- but junior running back Cameron Scarlett was denied.
USC then drove 99 yards for what proved to be the winning touchdown.
"Our motto from the start of the season has been to fight and never hang our heads," Scarlett said. "Give it our all, no matter the situation. We came up short on a couple plays and that's just how it goes."
Scarlett posted kickoff returns of 33, 33 and 30 yards. He now has 11 returns of 30 or more, tops in the nation.
"It's going to happen," he said. "The return team works so hard for me, I want to take one back for them. We've got to make them (opposing team) pay one of these times."
It's safe to say Shaw and his staff will devote offseason time to devise ways of slowing down the USC offense, quarterback Sam Darnold in particular. In two meetings, the Trojans racked up 1,124 yards, with Darnold doing much of the damage. A preseason Heisman favorite, he totaled a combined 648 passing yards against the Cardinal in two games.
"We didn't execute at a high enough level to get the win," said senior defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, who finished with a career-high 13 stops. "A lot of big plays that we just can't have."
Junior Justin Reid lined up at safety and cornerback and collected nine tackles and recovered a fumble.
"You have to give those guys credit," he said. "They have a lot of talented athletes. They capitalized more than we did."
While Stanford players refused to blame fatigue, the defense was plagued by missed tackles and the team was penalized seven times for 73 yards.
"We did a lot of tapering back in practice," junior wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside said. "I don't think it was a factor. We played fast and physical, too. It was just a matter of execution."
Smith caught a team-high four passes for 80 yards and grabbed two touchdowns.
"I'm really proud of our team for the way we fought back from 1-2," said Smith. "Just the grit we have. For us to come all the way here and fall short, really hurts. The only thing we can do is become closer and kick some tail in the bowl game."
Junior Jake Baily kicked off five times, all touchbacks. He also launched a 50-yard punt, pinning the Trojans at their own 3, and a 60-yarder that was downed at the 4. Bailey averaged 45.6 on five attempts.
Extra Points … For the first time this season, Stanford kicked off to start a game … Reid collected five or more tackles for the 12th straight contest … Sophomore Jovan Swann made five tackles in his first start at defensive end … Devery Hamilton started at left tackle but was shaken up and replaced by David Bright … inside linebacker Jordan Perez usually wears No. 15, but changed to No. 13 as a tribute to injured teammate Alijah Holder … Postseason bowl invitations will be announced midday Sunday on ESPN … Heisman Trophy finalists will be revealed Monday night on ESPN … Gerhart served as the honorary captain. He was a consensus All-America running back in 2009, won the Doak Walker Award, and was runner-up for the Heisman Trophy … Also on hand was Richard Sherman, a four-time all-pro cornerback with the Seattle Seahawks
Quotable ... "He's outrushed a lot of football teams on one and a half ankles. Entire teams." - David Shaw on Bryce Love.
