View attachment 13081
Quarterback Andrew Luck engineered four late scoring drives for Stanford.
LOS ANGELES — Stanford’s perfect season was on the brink of ruin against U.S.C. on Saturday night because of a rare mistake by its impeccable quarterback Andrew Luck. With a little over three minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Luck threw a pass that cornerback Nickell Robey intercepted and returned 32 yards to put the Trojans ahead, 34-27.
The public-address announcer’s voice cut through the Coliseum crowd’s pandemonium, reminding the fans to stay off the field at game’s end. The message was received loud and clear by the Stanford players, who weren’t ready to concede defeat. Not with Luck on their side.
In Luck the Cardinal trust, and after he led them to a 56-48 victory in triple overtime, Stanford free safety Michael Thomas tipped his helmet to the public-address announcer for the premature declaration that fueled the Cardinal’s comeback.
“Oh, yeah,” Thomas said with a grin as Luck sat nearby nodding with a goofy smile illuminating his face. “We heard it.”
Luck, the fourth-year junior widely viewed as the second coming of John Elway, rebounded from the interception, his fourth of the season, with a 10-play drive that covered 76 yards, consumed a little over two minutes and was capped by a 2-yard run by Stepfan Taylor.
In overtime, he was cooler than the night air, scrambling for 13 yards on two carries, throwing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Levine Toilolo and connecting with Coby Fleener on a 2-point conversion following a 5-yard run by Taylor for the Cardinal’s final points.
Running back Curtis McNeal fumbled on the Trojans’ ensuing drive and the fourth-ranked Cardinal recovered the ball in the end zone to avoid falling from the ranks of the unbeaten, as Kansas State and Clemson had earlier in the day. It was Stanford’s nation-leading 16th consecutive victory. The last time the Cardinal (8-0) were undefeated this late in the season was in 1951 when their quarterback was Gary Kerkorian and they were one of eight teams in the conference. U.S.C. is 6-2, 3-2 in Pacific 12 play.
“One thing you can’t forget about Andrew is that he’s the most competitive guy on the team,” Stanford Coach David Shaw said. “So when a bad play happens, he goes completely down in the dumps. He’s so mad and furious and then it’s like flushing a toilet. He flushed it and it’s like it never happened. It’s gone. And he came back and the look in his eye, he said, ‘We’re going to get this done.’”
Luck passed for 330 yards and 3 scores. He was at his best when the chips were down, going 3 for 3 through the air in overtime and completing 16 of 22 passes in the third and fourth quarters when Stanford was chasing an inspired U.S.C. team.
“The stats aren’t going to show the plays he made,” U.S.C. Coach Lane Kiffin said, “but he’s a really special pocket passer and makes plays with his feet. It’s why he’ll be the first pick in the draft.”
Kiffin was critical of the officiating, expressing dismay that the Trojans were not afforded a timeout in the final second of the fourth quarter, after Robert Woods caught a 7-yard pass from Matt Barkley at the Stanford 33 to set up the potential game-winning field goal. After reviewing the play, the officials determined that the clock ran out.
“I told them we were going to call a timeout with one second left,” Kiffin said, “and was told by the side official that we’d have a chance to kick the 50-yard field goal to win it.”
Barkley passed for 284 yards and 3 touchdowns. He passed for 127 yards in the first half to Luck’s 99, but he also threw an interception that led to a Cardinal field goal as Stanford took a 10-6 lead into intermission.
Luck completed his first five passes – including a 10-yard score to Tyler Gaffney — as the Cardinal marched 83 yards on their opening drive to take a 7-0 lead. He cooled off after that, misfiring on 4 of his last 9 passes in the first half as the Trojans’ defensive line ran stunts that stumped Luck, who handles the Cardinal’s play calling.
The Trojans ran the ball seven times for 16 yards in the first half. McNeal, who finished with 154 yards on 20 carries, got U.S.C.’s running game out of first gear and into fifth in the third quarter with consecutive scoring runs of 61 and 25 yards to help the Trojans to a 20-10 lead.
It was the first time the Cardinal had trailed all season, but Luck was unfazed. He showed the crowd of 93,607 why fans of downtrodden N.F.L. franchises like the Miami Dolphins are rooting for their teams to lose so they can “earn” the No. 1 pick to draft him. In one stretch in the second half, he completed 10 consecutive passes. By the end of the third quarter, Luck had thrown for one touchdown and run for another to put the Cardinal back on top, 24-20.
The Trojans regained the lead in the second minute of the fourth on a 28-yard pass from Barkley to Marquis Lee. Stanford tied the game at 27-27 on a 29-yard field goal by Eric Whitaker, and then appeared to lose it on Luck’s interception.
“I was very disappointed in myself,” Luck said. “There were a couple seconds there where I wanted to dig a hole and bury myself. But the guys believed in me. I was happy there was still some time on the play clock to go down there again. I was just relieved there was more clock left.”
Luck, who is 28-5 as a starter, was asked where the victory ranked on his career highlight list. “I might need a couple of minutes to digest that,” he said, adding, “It’s right up there.”
NY Times..
Quarterback Andrew Luck engineered four late scoring drives for Stanford.
LOS ANGELES — Stanford’s perfect season was on the brink of ruin against U.S.C. on Saturday night because of a rare mistake by its impeccable quarterback Andrew Luck. With a little over three minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Luck threw a pass that cornerback Nickell Robey intercepted and returned 32 yards to put the Trojans ahead, 34-27.
The public-address announcer’s voice cut through the Coliseum crowd’s pandemonium, reminding the fans to stay off the field at game’s end. The message was received loud and clear by the Stanford players, who weren’t ready to concede defeat. Not with Luck on their side.
In Luck the Cardinal trust, and after he led them to a 56-48 victory in triple overtime, Stanford free safety Michael Thomas tipped his helmet to the public-address announcer for the premature declaration that fueled the Cardinal’s comeback.
“Oh, yeah,” Thomas said with a grin as Luck sat nearby nodding with a goofy smile illuminating his face. “We heard it.”
Luck, the fourth-year junior widely viewed as the second coming of John Elway, rebounded from the interception, his fourth of the season, with a 10-play drive that covered 76 yards, consumed a little over two minutes and was capped by a 2-yard run by Stepfan Taylor.
In overtime, he was cooler than the night air, scrambling for 13 yards on two carries, throwing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Levine Toilolo and connecting with Coby Fleener on a 2-point conversion following a 5-yard run by Taylor for the Cardinal’s final points.
Running back Curtis McNeal fumbled on the Trojans’ ensuing drive and the fourth-ranked Cardinal recovered the ball in the end zone to avoid falling from the ranks of the unbeaten, as Kansas State and Clemson had earlier in the day. It was Stanford’s nation-leading 16th consecutive victory. The last time the Cardinal (8-0) were undefeated this late in the season was in 1951 when their quarterback was Gary Kerkorian and they were one of eight teams in the conference. U.S.C. is 6-2, 3-2 in Pacific 12 play.
“One thing you can’t forget about Andrew is that he’s the most competitive guy on the team,” Stanford Coach David Shaw said. “So when a bad play happens, he goes completely down in the dumps. He’s so mad and furious and then it’s like flushing a toilet. He flushed it and it’s like it never happened. It’s gone. And he came back and the look in his eye, he said, ‘We’re going to get this done.’”
Luck passed for 330 yards and 3 scores. He was at his best when the chips were down, going 3 for 3 through the air in overtime and completing 16 of 22 passes in the third and fourth quarters when Stanford was chasing an inspired U.S.C. team.
“The stats aren’t going to show the plays he made,” U.S.C. Coach Lane Kiffin said, “but he’s a really special pocket passer and makes plays with his feet. It’s why he’ll be the first pick in the draft.”
Kiffin was critical of the officiating, expressing dismay that the Trojans were not afforded a timeout in the final second of the fourth quarter, after Robert Woods caught a 7-yard pass from Matt Barkley at the Stanford 33 to set up the potential game-winning field goal. After reviewing the play, the officials determined that the clock ran out.
“I told them we were going to call a timeout with one second left,” Kiffin said, “and was told by the side official that we’d have a chance to kick the 50-yard field goal to win it.”
Barkley passed for 284 yards and 3 touchdowns. He passed for 127 yards in the first half to Luck’s 99, but he also threw an interception that led to a Cardinal field goal as Stanford took a 10-6 lead into intermission.
Luck completed his first five passes – including a 10-yard score to Tyler Gaffney — as the Cardinal marched 83 yards on their opening drive to take a 7-0 lead. He cooled off after that, misfiring on 4 of his last 9 passes in the first half as the Trojans’ defensive line ran stunts that stumped Luck, who handles the Cardinal’s play calling.
The Trojans ran the ball seven times for 16 yards in the first half. McNeal, who finished with 154 yards on 20 carries, got U.S.C.’s running game out of first gear and into fifth in the third quarter with consecutive scoring runs of 61 and 25 yards to help the Trojans to a 20-10 lead.
It was the first time the Cardinal had trailed all season, but Luck was unfazed. He showed the crowd of 93,607 why fans of downtrodden N.F.L. franchises like the Miami Dolphins are rooting for their teams to lose so they can “earn” the No. 1 pick to draft him. In one stretch in the second half, he completed 10 consecutive passes. By the end of the third quarter, Luck had thrown for one touchdown and run for another to put the Cardinal back on top, 24-20.
The Trojans regained the lead in the second minute of the fourth on a 28-yard pass from Barkley to Marquis Lee. Stanford tied the game at 27-27 on a 29-yard field goal by Eric Whitaker, and then appeared to lose it on Luck’s interception.
“I was very disappointed in myself,” Luck said. “There were a couple seconds there where I wanted to dig a hole and bury myself. But the guys believed in me. I was happy there was still some time on the play clock to go down there again. I was just relieved there was more clock left.”
Luck, who is 28-5 as a starter, was asked where the victory ranked on his career highlight list. “I might need a couple of minutes to digest that,” he said, adding, “It’s right up there.”
NY Times..
