Stanford defeats USC on last-second field goal

Troy has officially fallen.

The No. 16 Stanford football team hammered another nail into the coffin of once-proud USC on Saturday night, defeating the Trojans by a final score of 37-35.

While the game ended in victory for the Cardinal (5-1, 2-1 Pac-10), that outcome was uncertain until the final seconds of the game. Despite being a significant underdog, the Trojans (4-2, 1-2) played hard throughout the contest, matching the Stanford offense point for point behind sophomore quarterback Matt Barkley.

Stanford eventually won the game on a last-second field goal from senior kicker Nate Whitaker, who drilled a kick from 30 yards out as time expired to send the Card to victory. Whitaker had earlier missed an extra point wide left, a miss which might have proved decisive.

“I had to make it,” Whitaker said of the final kick. “I had a chance to redeem myself and I made it. I’m definitely glad I got a chance—it would have been a rough night otherwise.

“This is the biggest kick I’ve ever had,” he added. “I couldn’t have done it without the team there, giving me that chance.”

The win allowed Stanford to bounce back from a tough loss last weekend at No. 3 Oregon. The defeat saw the Cardinal lose its top-10 ranking, and marked its first loss of the season.

“We were definitely aware of our shortcomings last week,” said redshirt sophomore quarterback Andrew Luck. “We didn’t dwell on it and we tried to improve upon it. This had to be our half—we can’t have another debacle like we did last weekend.”

On the flip side, USC was deprived of revenge for last season, when the Cardinal embarrassed the Trojans by a 55-21 score in the Coliseum in Los Angeles.

The two teams were fairly evenly matched throughout this game, with the offenses trading scores back and forth throughout the night.

USC drew first blood in the first quarter when, taking over after a Stanford punt, it put together an impressive drive behind a duo of running backs—senior Allen Bradford and freshman Dillon Baxter. Bradford provided the bulk of the carries for the Trojans, while Baxter served well as a secondary tailback primarily out of the “wildcat” formation—he scored the Trojans’ first touchdown of the game by knifing through the Stanford front seven virtually untouched on his way into the end zone.

The Cardinal responded quickly, scoring a touchdown of its own on a pass from Luck to junior receiver Chris Owusu.

The two teams continued to trade points and possession throughout the first half. Stanford squandered opportunities to pull ahead twice, as two fumbles deep inside USC territory cost it dearly. However, the Cardinal defense was also opportunistic, managing to force a fumble of its own early in the second quarter that prevented the Trojans from adding to their tally.

The score at halftime—a 14-14 draw—was indicative of the kind of close battle the teams were waging. Nevertheless, Luck saw room for improvement.

“We were a little disappointed as a unit at halftime,” he said. “We had a couple of suicide plays, fumbling the ball. We had the motivation to come out and put points up on the board every time we went out there.”

Indeed, Stanford’s offense came out early in the third quarter and looked ready to dominate the rest of the game. After getting the ball back on a USC punt, Luck and his offense took the ball and pounded the Trojans with their power running game, scoring a touchdown on a long, 14-play drive that went 93 yards down the field. After a made extra point, Stanford took a 21-14 lead.

USC’s offense took the field and responded in kind, scoring a quick touchdown on a 61-yard pass from Barkley to freshman receiver Robert Woods to knot the score at 21 apiece. Woods would eventually grab 12 receptions on the night for 224 yards and three touchdowns.

After another touchdown exchange, the score stood at 28-28 a few minutes into the fourth quarter. A huge kickoff return from Owusu to the 12-yard line (with six more yards tacked on for a horse-collar penalty) gave Luck tremendous field position, and he did not disappoint, threading a pass to senior receiver Doug Baldwin in the end zone. Stanford went up 34-28 after Whitaker missed the extra point, only his third PAT miss on the season.

With time running out, USC head coach Lane Kiffin elected to try and convert a fourth-and-10 at the Stanford 32-yard line. However, Barkley couldn’t complete his pass, turning the ball over to the Cardinal on downs. Stanford looked ready to seal the game—another touchdown could have easily put it out of reach for USC.

Instead, sophomore running back Stepfan Taylor, the main tailback in Stanford’s offense, fumbled the ball near midfield, and after a video review, officials confirmed that the ball belonged to USC. This time, Stanford’s defense couldn’t come up with a stop, and the Trojans went down the field and put another touchdown on the board courtesy of an Allen Bradford one-yard run. A converted extra point gave the Trojans a slim 35-34 lead.

After a short Owusu kickoff return, the Cardinal took over on its own 26-yard line with 1:02 remaining in the game. Luck then engineered a quick-strike drive that went 62 yards in six plays, helped by a 15-yard personal foul on Trojan linebacker Chris Galippo. As the clock ran out, Whitaker nailed the 30-yard field goal, giving Stanford the 37-35 win and sending the sellout crowd at Stanford Stadium into a delirium.

After the game, Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh remained extremely enthused.

“We felt like we could be game winners if we didn’t give in, if we didn’t quit,” he said. “There were big hurdles and obstacles that had to be overcome, and to a man, everyone on our team did that. As a head coach, I couldn’t be more proud of everybody.”

Both passers had very strong games. Barkley finished with 390 yards and three touchdowns (all to Woods) on 28-45 passing, while Luck went a ridiculous 20-24 for 285 yards and three touchdowns of his own. Neither quarterback threw an interception.

“People that have doubted Andrew Luck do not know football,” Harbaugh said. “He is a brilliant leader and he played his heart out once again—he was as poised as you can be in the two-minute drive [at the game’s end].”

Stanford’s rushing attack was also a key to its success, as Harbaugh went to it repeatedly throughout the game. Taylor, who has emerged from Stanford’s early “backfield-by-committee” approach as the go-to back for the Stanford offense, had 23 carries, 104 yards and a touchdown run, and freshman Anthony Wilkerson added a touchdown run of his own.

Harbaugh also had plenty of praise for USC.

“[USC] played a great game,” he said. “This was a great college football game.

“To beat a great team like USC three out of four years is a great milestone,” he continued. “I really gained a lot of respect for Matt Barkley, for his play. The Trojans played a tremendous football game.”

With Stanford’s bye week coming up, Harbaugh said that he will give the Cardinal some time off this week.

For Luck, it will just be more time to savor beating the Trojans.

When asked whether it was more fun to beat USC at home or in Los Angeles, he laughed and answered, “That’s a good question…I’m not going to answer that one.”

—Alyssa London contributed to this report.