USC Notebook: A Captain's JourneyUSC Notebook: A Captain's Journey
Rob Ericson/Stanford Athletics
Football

USC Notebook: A Captain's Journey

STANFORD, Calif. – Malik Antoine's introduction to Stanford was accidental. Growing up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he was a huge LSU fan. One Saturday night in middle school, Antoine was channel surfing and saw Stanford playing.
 
"My favorite color is red, so I was instantly attracted," said the senior free safety. "I had a long conversation with my mom about what a great academic institution Stanford is, and she has always stressed academics. I fell in love with being different."
 
Not only was Antoine impressed with the team, but he also enjoyed hearing about the players' majors.
 
"The commentators kept saying this guy is going to this class and that class," he said. "I thought that was really, really cool. I was one of those guys that made straight-A's but was also one of the stars on the football team. It seemed like those were the guys that came here, and I just wanted to be a part of that."
 
Antoine made the 2,100-mile trek to The Farm for an unofficial visit during his sophomore year in high school.
 
"Once I saw how beautiful this place was, I said, okay, this is it,'' he said.
 
Voted a team captain this season, Antoine and the No. 23 Cardinal (1-0) travels to Los Angeles on Saturday night to face USC (1-0) in the Pac-12 opener for both squads. He played a big role in last year's 17-3 Stanford victory, intercepting a pass on each of the last two drives.
 
"I just remember having a great week of practice and being locked in," said Antoine. "It was just a beautiful experience."
 
Despite coming from the other side of the country, he quickly learned that playing the Trojans is special.
 
"The intensity in practice ramps up when we play these guys," he said. "You can feel the energy and excitement. It's always a battle."
 
Fifth-year senior outside linebacker Casey Toohill, a fellow captain, loves playing with Antoine.
 
"Malik is an incredible leader," he said. "He's just an energizer. From Day 1, I knew there was something different about him, just the way he works and carries himself. Just the way he speaks to the team is unique. He has the ability to connect with anyone on the team."
 

 
Next man up: Stanford will be without starting left tackle Walker Little and possibly starting quarterback K.J. Costello.
 
"Hopefully still a good chance we get him back around mid-season," David Shaw, the Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football said Tuesday of Little. "We'll take our time and make sure he gets back full-go."
 
Freshman Walter Rouse, a four-star recruit from Silver Spring, Maryland, will start at left tackle.

"We're not going to ask him to do a whole bunch because we've pared down our offense a little bit," Shaw said. "For him, it's about going out there and playing fast. Walter had a great training camp."

The status of Costello, who sustained a forearm to the head against Northwestern and missed the second half, will be determined later in the week. If unavailable, junior Davis Mills will start and be backed up by sophomore Jack West.
 
Mills played well in Costello's absence.
 
"Davis did some nice things," Shaw said. "A couple times he looked like he was playing his first extensive big-time college football. Now it's about learning from those mistakes, protecting the ball and taking the next step."
 
Added fifth-year senior running back Cameron Scarlett, "Davis is a talented player. He's been through so much and is just starting to get his feet under him. He makes about every pass in practice. I have full confidence in him."
 

 
Missed call: After reviewing film, Shaw said targeting should have been called on Northwestern defensive end Earnest Brown IV for his hit on Costello late in the first half.
 
"One of the officials on the field and the replay official missed the call," he said. "I thought it was an ejectable offense. I communicated with a lot of different people in a lot of different places and it's unfortunate that it was missed."
 
According to Toohill, the non-call provided added motivation for the Cardinal defense in the second half.
 
"We had to do something and imposed our will on them," he said.
 

 
Crunch time: Scarlett was a workhorse for Stanford in the fourth quarter, gaining 53 yards on nine carries. He finished with a career-high 97.
 
"All winter we try to put ourselves in that position when we're tired and the game is close," Scarlett said. "I just tried to lean on my training. I really started feeling comfortable and started breaking tackles."
 
Scarlett credited his line for paving the way, especially in short yardage situations.
 
"We were getting good movement from the guys up front," he said. "They were grinding. All we ask for is five inches of daylight."


 
Bringing the heat: Defensively, the Cardinal pressured Northwestern by blitzing three outside linebackers: Toohill, Jordan Fox and Gabe Reid. Stanford recorded three sacks, forced three fumbles and intercepted two passes.
 
"We've done it before," said Toohill. "Coach (Lance) Anderson just recognizes there are a lot of good pass rushers on the team. It worked well and I'm looking forward to seeing how it evolves during the season."

Trojans lose quarterback: USC sophomore JT Daniels was lost for the season after sustaining a knee injury in the second quarter of Saturday night's 31-23 victory against Fresno State and will be replaced by freshman Kedon Slovis. Shaw interacted with Daniels during the recruiting process.
 
"It's just a shame," said Shaw. "He's got a great quarterback mind. He's a fun guy to be around and the kind of kid you root for wherever he goes."
 
Shaw expects few adjustments by the Cardinal defense.
 
"Our defensive mentality is to accentuate what we do well and to talk a lot about our scheme versus their scheme more so than who's playing quarterback," he said. "The young man (Slovis) went in there and made some great throws and nice plays. But for the most part, we have to play to our strengths and our style of football."


 
SoCal connections: The Stanford roster includes 21 players from the Southern California area: Colby Bowman, Treyjohn Butler, Costello, Wakely Lush, Jake Lynch, Zahran Manley, Kyle McCombs, Cameron McFarlane, Colby Parkinson, Kyle Petrucci, Caleb Phillips, Diego Preciado, Collin Riccitelli, TaeVeon Le, Curtis Robinson, Harry Schwartz, Osiris St. Brown, Ryan Sanborn, Toohill, Brycen Tremayne and Michael Wilson.
 

 
Extra points … Senior running back Trevor Speights and junior strong safety Stuart Head are out this week, while senior offensive guard/center Dylan Powell is doubtful, and sophomore defensive end Thomas Booker is questionable … Shaw on the ability of junior wide outs Connor Wedington and sophomore Michael Wilson to hurt defenses short and long: "Both can run every route in the book." … Stanford has won eight of the last 12 meetings against USC.
 
Quotable
 
"All offseason, we've been talking about throwing the first punch." Casey Toohill, on the urgency of fast starts.