The David Shaw game plan when Stanford has the ball vs USC

It is reasonable to think that when Stanford hosts USC in Week 2, the Cardinal will try to ram the ball down the Trojans’ throat. Running the ball well means Stanford can drain the clock and keep the ball from Caleb Williams and a loaded USC offense. Running the ball gives Stanford a very direct path to victory, so it’s natural to think Shaw, a lover of smashmouth offense, will follow that route in September in Palo Alto.

Yet, Stanford play-by-play man Scott Reiss said a few weeks ago that the Cardinal will probably try to test USC’s unproven secondary with talented quarterback Tanner McKee. Reiss pointed to the Stanford passing game as the matchup Shaw might try to exploit against USC’s defense.

Whichever approach you personally think is better for Stanford — or better for USC — one thing seems clear: Shaw will make sure he tries to expose USC’s defnese at various pressure points. He will throw long at some point. He will run between the tackles at some point.

The real question is how he will sequence his plays.

Will he run to set up the deep ball, or throw deep to set up the run?

We talked about this with Mark Rogers on his USC YouTube channel at The Voice of College Football.

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