Doing it against Rice was one thing. Looking like one of the top offenses in the country on the road at Stanford is another.

Caleb Williams, at least for the first half, looked like one of the top quarterbacks in college football, as he's billed. Jordan Addison looked like a Biletnikoff Award winner. And Lincoln Riley most definitely performed like one of the top play-callers in the sport as USC scored touchdowns on its first five possessions to account for all the points it would need in an eventual 41-28 win over the Cardinal.

As for the Trojans' defense, well, we'll get to that ...

As always, the First-and-10 covers the 10 most important takeaways from USC's performance.

Caleb Williams built upon his stellar Week 1 performance with an even better showing against Stanford, posting 341 yards and 4 touchdowns while completing 20/27 passes. The sophomore quarterback once again seemed totally in control of the game, leading the Trojans to one touchdown drive after another to blow open the game by halftime. His familiarity with Lincoln Riley’s offense is evident, manifest in the comfort with which he makes his reads and executes on a consistent down-to-down basis. It rarely if ever seems like he’s scrambling to figure out what to do, instead appearing to check through his options with relative ease before reliably choosing the best one available. I won’t belabor the reader with the same scouting report I gave after the last game, but all of the same abilities were on display once again against Stanford.

His top-end arm strength and deep accuracy were evident on his two deep connections with Jordan Addison on post routes, one of them resulting in a 75-yard touchdown. His intermediate level accuracy continues to be top-notch as well, rarely putting a ball out of catchable position. His ability to manipulate the Stanford defense at each level of the field made it impossible for the Cardinal to handle the passing offense, allowing Williams to throw it at will.

As a runner, he continues to show exceptional dynamism, as well as surprising strength. Last week, he lowered his shoulder through a Rice defender to put him on the ground -- yesterday, he flung a Stanford defensive back straight onto the turf with a vicious stiff arm, somewhat reminiscent of JuJu Smith-Schuster’s against Utah some years ago.

Williams has performed like one of the best players in college football and a Heisman candidate two weeks into the season; there’s no denying that. With that said, the Stanford defense was not the test that many had assumed it would be. Though the secondary was legitimately talented, the lack of any kind of pass rush allowed Williams forever to wait in the pocket. Not all opposition will be so merciful, and we have yet to see how he responds to more significant pressure. The offense slowed down mightily in the second half, and though most of that can likely be attributed to the team taking their foot off the gas, there is a question of what the offense will look like as defenses learn to adjust to it over the course of the season.

Williams’ ability to react to tougher defensive schemes and more pressure will be key to getting USC through the more difficult parts of the season; it remains to be seen just how well he handles it.

Before I begin my praise of the offensive line, an important caveat is required. It’s an understandable impulse to view the Stanford front-seven as a serious test of physicality for the line, as it has been for much of the past decade. However, this current front seven for the Cardinal is significantly less capable than its predecessors, ranking as one of the country’s worst at defending the run and continuously struggling to generate pressure. I expected USC’s O-line to dominate in this contest and wasn’t particularly surprised as it did just that, paving the way for 162 rushing yards on 26 carries by running backs (over 6 yards per carry) and giving Caleb Williams what seemed like an eternity to throw for most of the night.

The group clearly takes pride in their work, playing with a tenacity that’s most visible in the run game. On rushing plays, the USC offensive line was consistently blasting open wide lanes and often forklifting Stanford defenders several yards down the field. On the pull and counter plays that are a staple of Lincoln Riley’s offense, the group’s athleticism is evident and significant, allowing for the creation of lanes that are difficult for the defense to fit and setting up counters for later in the game. The technical proficiency of the unit as a whole has been impressive to this point, with penalties largely limited and a distinct absence of blown assignments.

Once again, they’ve only faced subpar competition to this point, and things will likely not be so breezy against the likes of Utah or Notre Dame. Nonetheless, the way they’ve performed to this point is precisely what you’d like to see out of a high-level offensive line. A good offensive line should dominate competition like Rice and Stanford, and that’s just what the Trojans have done so far. We have yet to see how it translates to stiffer opposition, but the signs are all positive so far.

Against such a porous Stanford run defense, it felt likely that the Trojans would find success rushing the ball in this contest from the jump. Travis Dye was the main beneficiary, handling a team-high 14 carries for 105 yards and a touchdown on the day. Dye’s vision stood out in this game, allowing him to avoid contact often as he carefully picked his way through the wide lanes opened up for him by his line. He showed a great feel for finding cutback lanes and preemptively knowing where to expect them, often setting up the Stanford defense to flow in one direction before rapidly making the cutback and piling up yards. His lateral agility, contact balance and strength continued to stand out as well, consistently allowing him to win one-on-ones with tacklers in the open field.

As a pass-blocker, Dye continued to show his value as one of the most well-rounded backs in college football, consistently picking up blitzers with ease and keeping Caleb Williams clean. The trust Williams has in Dye’s blocking opens up more opportunities for the offense, as evidenced on a first half scramble where Williams rolled outside the pocket despite a defender having an angle on him, knowing that Dye would set up the block successfully. Don’t let his lack of top-level athleticism fool you; Dye is an excellent back with the ability to serve as a three-down mainstay when needed. He brought a lot to the Trojans offense against Stanford and will likely do so consistently in matchups where USC focuses on running the football.