I think the reason USC defeated Stanford was pretty simple: The Cardinal did not have the depth or players to last a full game against the Trojans.
So it wasn’t any brilliant decision to run the ball. Or that the defense figured out Stanford’s offense.
It was plain physical superiority. That is fine in a run-of-the-mill conference. But too many USC games are won by this method. As one reader noted in an email today, “It was Stanford, for crying out loud.”