New stadium dazzles Trojans

USC players and coaches were unable to go through their usual walkthrough Friday because field maintenance workers were touching up the turf at the new Stanford Stadium.

The Trojans didn’t mind as they walked the perimeter inside the stadium and took in the pristine $90-million structure that was completed in only 42 weeks. A video of time-elapsed images showed how it was built.

“What a tremendous vision somebody had to do this and do it the way they did it; beautiful,” Coach Pete Carroll said. “The drive and the vision to get it done in a short time like they did blows so many people out of the tub when they talk about, ‘You can’t do this. You can’t do that. It’s going to take this long.’

“Look what they did. Very, very impressive.”

Bulldozers were on hand last season when Stanford played its final home game Nov. 26. That 85,500-seat stadium, which was built in 1921, was torn down and crews worked two eight-hour shifts a day to construct the new 50,000-seat version.

“The last one looked like a high school stadium on steroids,” senior tackle Kyle Williams said. “This is sweet.”

With Stanford winless, crowds have been far less than capacity. USC fans could possibly outnumber Cardinal fans for today’s game.

Carroll, who grew up in Marin County, said he made numerous trips to the old stadium when he was in high school.

“I sat way up in the top, a million miles away,” he said. “After a while, you didn’t even care about the game, you couldn’t see it.

“This is really cool. We’ll try to leave a good first impression.”

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The tipped pass that ended the Trojans’ comeback bid against Oregon State last week did not faze quarterback John David Booty.

“It’s going to happen again; a ball is going to get batted down and tipped up,” Booty said. “You just got to live with it and move on to the next play, but it is frustrating.”

Booty had balls tipped or batted down in previous games but none at critical junctures.

Quarterbacks coach Steve Sarkisian acknowledged that Booty struggled with the problem before the season began.

“Early in camp it was a real issue,” he said. “In the past weeks I think we’ve got maybe one or two a game.

“If you’re going to throw the ball 30 times and you get one ball batted down, you kind of live with it.”

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USC has five interceptions, six fewer than at the same point last season.

“We’ve just got to make the plays that come to us,” cornerback Terrell Thomas said. “The coaches are putting us in great position.... We’ve had opportunities you can’t take for granted. We have to come down with the ball.”

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Stanford interviewed former USC offensive coordinator Norm Chow for its head coaching job in December 2004 but hired Walt Harris instead. The Cardinal finished 5-6 last season and, at 0-8, is off to its worst start since 1960.... The Trojans lead the series, 57-24-3.... Carroll is 16-0 in November as USC’s coach.... USC is ranked ninth in the Associated Press poll, its lowest ranking since Oct. 11, 2003.

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gary.klein@latimes.com

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KEYS TO THE GAME

1 Focus on present. Despite Stanford’s winless record and lowly statistics, USC cannot afford to look ahead to games against Oregon, California, Notre Dame and UCLA. The last time the Trojans visited Stanford, they fell asleep on two first-half plays that resulted in touchdowns and had to claw their way back from an 11-point deficit. Note to Trojans: Reggie Bush is no longer returning punts, so it would be wise to take control early. Stanford, though, has not exactly been a scoring machine. The Cardinal’s 10.4 points a game ranks last among 119 Division I-A teams.

2 Hold on to the ball. USC has committed 11 turnovers, the fewest in the Pacific 10 Conference. That would be something to brag about if the Trojans had not lost last week at Oregon State when they lost three fumbles and gave up an interception. Stanford, which has committed the most turnovers in the Pac-10, cannot match up with USC in terms of talent or depth, but if USC gives the ball to the Cardinal anything could happen. Just ask Mike Riley.

3 Pressure packed. USC’s much-maligned defensive line has been waiting for this game since Washington State’s Mkristo Bruce recorded five sacks against the Cardinal on Sept. 23. The Trojans had a season-best six sacks against Oregon State and could match or exceed that total unless Stanford Coach Walt Harris is content to run the ball despite having an anemic rushing attack. Stanford has only seven sacks, so anything short of a shutout in that department by USC’s offensive line could be construed as a defeat.

-- Gary Klein