It wasn't a pretty second quarter for the USC Trojans, as they committed three turnovers and had both of their main tailbacks injured, but the No. 2 Trojans managed to lead at halftime, 14-7 over the No. 21 Stanford Cardinal in Palo Alto.
Silas Redd fumbled and left with an apparent arm injury, just minutes after Curtis McNeal headed to the locker room holding his side. McNeal was able to return though, helping a razor thin Trojans tailback depth chart.
Matt Barkley threw two interceptions and no touchdowns in the first half, and completed just 11 of 20 passes. Barkley's two picks sandwiched an interception by Cardinal quarterback Josh Nunes, making for interceptions on three consecutive plays.
To top that off, Stanford kicker missed two first half field goal tries, including one from just 23 yards out.
The lone score of the period wasn't pretty in itself, as the Trojans had to scramble out of a pair of dire situations.
The Trojans got a huge break early in the second quarter when they got a pass interference call on a pass to Marqise Lee on 3rd-and-12. But USC gave most of it back on the next play when Matt Barkley was sacked and fumbled. Lee picked the ball up but the play lost 14 yards.
That helped set up a 4th-and-19 from the Stanford 25-yard line, normally an obvious field goal situation. But without the injured Andre Heidari, the Trojans have walk-on kicker Alex Wood, and Lane Kiffin didn't want him kicking from that distance.
Barkley passed over the middle to Woods, who run toward the right sideline and beat defenders to the first down marker for a 24-yard gain. Two plays later Redd scored his second touchdown of the game, a one-yard scamper.
Stanford drove for a potential tying score near the end of the half, but Nunes was intercepted by Jawanza Starling.
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