As a Bay Area born-and-raised sports fan I have bought into the Northern California vs Southern California rivalry. Which primarily means Giants vs Dodgers and Lakers vs Warriors, but also extends to Stanford vs USC. So when one of my Nor Cal teams beats a So Cal team, you know I have to rub it in. If any of you outside of California don't understand the importance it is somewhere in between Utah vs BYU and Red Sox vs Yankees.
For many years Stanford has lagged as USC prospered in football. But the times have changed and the Evil Empire has fallen. That empire has infamously been supported by USC finding many crafty ways to cheat. But their cheating days have been curtailed as they have been put on probation this year and are not eligible for a bowl game. To emphasize that point the Stanford Marching Band in a goofy and amusing parody spelled out WIN, and then SIN and then CHAOS to talk about USC's rise and fall as they have broken the rules.
Julianne and I got to go to the game on Saturday October 9th and witnessed the 4 year old stadium sold out and packed for the first time ever. Of course, over a third of the fans were cheering for USC, but that didn't stop us! The game was actually very exciting as both teams traded scoring each quarter. Stanford actually couldn't stop Matt Barkley (quarterback for USC) and Stanford's turnovers made the game a lot closer than it needed to be (I had predicted to Julianne that Stanford would score more than 31 points and win by 2 touchdowns). But Andrew Luck redeemed the Cardinal in more way than one. The first came toward the end of the 1st half when Stanford's running back fumbled and a USC player scooped up the ball and started running. All of the sudden he got walloped by a Stanford player and fumbled it. It happened so fast the guys next to me in the end zone seating were trying to find out who made the hit. All I could see was a number 2. It happened to be Andrew Luck #12, the quarterback. His hit actually landed the USC player on crutches by the end of the game. I have to say that was the hardest hit by a college quarterback I have ever seen and my second favorite by a typically non-tackling football player. Check it out on You Tube:
Andrew Luck nailing the USC defender from out of nowhere:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RF9PFJI_t5I
So what was my all-time favorite hit? BYU's Punter hitting Chris Carr from Boise State. Check it out:
My favorite college football hit of all time Matt Payne against Chris Carr:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHWSTwMLrW0
Well, as I said the game went back and forth with USC taking the lead with about a minute left. But that was enough time for Andrew Luck to lead the team downfield and set up the winning 30 yard field goal. Check it out:
Game winning field goal by Nate Whitaker
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x4MhYcEBQo
Final Score: Stanford 37 and USC 35. You should have seen the dejection on all the USC fans and the Stanford fans jumping for joy. It kind of makes up for all those years of getting pounded by the team Julianne and I affectionately call the Evil Empire. For more Stanford football highlights check out this link:
http://www.gostanford.com/sports/m-footbl/stan-m-footbl-body.html
Go Stanford!
