[Redrum]

ND...check    USC...check    Kal

We needed this.  a real character win.   Gotta go getta beer.

Three times in four years.   Better than Ralston vs. USC.   They brought their A-game and we could still handle it.

37-35   Drive the length of the field with just under a minute left.  Win on a last second field goal.   Take THAT ghost of Ron Ayala!  (You youngsters can look it up.)

[Redrum]

ND...check    USC...check    Kal

We needed this.  a real character win.   Gotta go getta beer.

Three times in four years.   Better than Ralston vs. USC.   They brought their A-game and we could still handle it.

37-35   Drive the length of the field with just under a minute left.  Win on a last second field goal.   Take THAT ghost of Ron Ayala!  (You youngsters can look it up.)

[JeffInCorvallis]

YEEEEAAAAHHHHH!

We are not a top 15 team with this defense but I will take a win any time, anywhere over USC.  

[JeffInCorvallis]

YEEEEAAAAHHHHH!

We are not a top 15 team with this defense but I will take a win any time, anywhere over USC.  

[yvonne]

Yeah, unfortunately, this revealed that our defense is really not that improved over last year.  All games against good teams will be nailbiters.

:(

[yvonne]

Yeah, unfortunately, this revealed that our defense is really not that improved over last year.  All games against good teams will be nailbiters.

:(

[JeffInCorvallis]

I\'d like to hear about the atmosphere from folks who were there.  I\'m sure there were plenty of SC fans in the building.  Still, I gotta tell ya, it looked and sounded great on the TV.  First time in a long time I can honestly say that.

[JeffInCorvallis]

I\'d like to hear about the atmosphere from folks who were there.  I\'m sure there were plenty of SC fans in the building.  Still, I gotta tell ya, it looked and sounded great on the TV.  First time in a long time I can honestly say that.

[washingtonismoney]

Not sure the ordinary categories of good and bad really fit here. What I think is that Stanford\'s defense is the same type as last year, but slightly better. It\'s good against bad offenses, but bad against good ones. I can\'t remember a Stanford defense last year looking as dominant as it did for an entire game as against Notre Dame, which isn\'t nothing.

Not every team is going to have the wideouts and QB as USC does, or the overall speed of Oregon. In fact, none of the rest of the teams on our schedule have as formidable an offense as Oregon\'s or (perhaps) USC\'s. Things might well get better. Or maybe they won\'t. Probably they won\'t.

[washingtonismoney]

Not sure the ordinary categories of good and bad really fit here. What I think is that Stanford\'s defense is the same type as last year, but slightly better. It\'s good against bad offenses, but bad against good ones. I can\'t remember a Stanford defense last year looking as dominant as it did for an entire game as against Notre Dame, which isn\'t nothing.

Not every team is going to have the wideouts and QB as USC does, or the overall speed of Oregon. In fact, none of the rest of the teams on our schedule have as formidable an offense as Oregon\'s or (perhaps) USC\'s. Things might well get better. Or maybe they won\'t. Probably they won\'t.

[yvonne]

Getting Michael Thomas back should help.

[yvonne]

Getting Michael Thomas back should help.

[mark3k]

MT has been playing, Yvonne (unfortunately, he got beaten badly more than once tonight... $C\'s frosh WR was incredible!).

Amazing that we got away with a missed PAT, 3 fumbles and a million missed tackles... gutsy No Quit win!  GO CARDINAL!!!

[mark3k]

MT has been playing, Yvonne (unfortunately, he got beaten badly more than once tonight... $C\'s frosh WR was incredible!).

Amazing that we got away with a missed PAT, 3 fumbles and a million missed tackles... gutsy No Quit win!  GO CARDINAL!!!

[fullmetal]

Before tonight\'s game, Barkley was the Pac-10\'s top passer, and he made some pretty great throws tonight.

[fullmetal]

Before tonight\'s game, Barkley was the Pac-10\'s top passer, and he made some pretty great throws tonight.

[Spiny_Norman]

I recall seeing Michael Thomas a lot tonight.  Like most of the secondary, he was completely outplayed by the USC receivers.

[Spiny_Norman]

I recall seeing Michael Thomas a lot tonight.  Like most of the secondary, he was completely outplayed by the USC receivers.

[JeffInCorvallis]

True, the defense looked impressive against UCLA and Wake Forest and played well at Notre Dame.  They fell apart in the second half against Oregon and they didn\'t have a good outing tonight.  While it\'s true that we won\'t play another team in the regular season that has the explosiveness of the Ducks, I do see a Nic Foles, Jake Locker, Shane Vereen, and James Rogers in our future (though I understand James may have sustained a knee injury today).  If we\'re going to finish strong we\'re going to need the defense to step up.  

But that\'s a conversation for Monday  :)

[JeffInCorvallis]

True, the defense looked impressive against UCLA and Wake Forest and played well at Notre Dame.  They fell apart in the second half against Oregon and they didn\'t have a good outing tonight.  While it\'s true that we won\'t play another team in the regular season that has the explosiveness of the Ducks, I do see a Nic Foles, Jake Locker, Shane Vereen, and James Rogers in our future (though I understand James may have sustained a knee injury today).  If we\'re going to finish strong we\'re going to need the defense to step up.  

But that\'s a conversation for Monday  :)

[Farm93]

The defense is better.  USC looked over UW to ready themselves for this petty revenge game.  They are talented, just not disciplined.  So when they are self motivated, they are very dangerous.

They have speed and talent at the skill positions that most teams in the conference can only dream about.

I would guess that Stanford will "hold" most of the other conference teams to 28 points, and will average 35-40 points.

I don\'t think we are watching a team that will go 11-1, but I suspect they will finish in the 1st-3rd range in the conference standings.  

[Farm93]

The defense is better.  USC looked over UW to ready themselves for this petty revenge game.  They are talented, just not disciplined.  So when they are self motivated, they are very dangerous.

They have speed and talent at the skill positions that most teams in the conference can only dream about.

I would guess that Stanford will "hold" most of the other conference teams to 28 points, and will average 35-40 points.

I don\'t think we are watching a team that will go 11-1, but I suspect they will finish in the 1st-3rd range in the conference standings.  

[readarmy1976]

SC has the top recruit in the country at almost every position on offense. I don\'t fault the defense too much. I was surprised Skov and Thomas didn\'t get to Barkley at all. Notre Dame\'s O-line must suck.

Agreed, I think the defense still might be able to stifle the rest of our schedule. The defense might only fail against teams that have tons of track-speed skill players like SC and Oregon.

I think this is a much-needed bye week. Whalen and Thomas will get healthy, which is key, because number 40 sucks.

[readarmy1976]

SC has the top recruit in the country at almost every position on offense. I don\'t fault the defense too much. I was surprised Skov and Thomas didn\'t get to Barkley at all. Notre Dame\'s O-line must suck.

Agreed, I think the defense still might be able to stifle the rest of our schedule. The defense might only fail against teams that have tons of track-speed skill players like SC and Oregon.

I think this is a much-needed bye week. Whalen and Thomas will get healthy, which is key, because number 40 sucks.

[Embo]

I\'d like to hear about the atmosphere from folks who were there.  I\'m sure there were plenty of SC fans in the building.  Still, I gotta tell ya, it looked and sounded great on the TV.  First time in a long time I can honestly say that.

Last year, for the ND game, my fellow season ticketholder had to miss it.  I have told him several times how unfortunate it was - that it was one of those events that he would have treasured for a long time had he seen it in person.

He made up for it by being at this game.  This was one I\'ll savor for a long, long time.  Jeff, it was terrific.  And perhaps even better than last year\'s ND game.  That game was a sell-out, but that was due in part to the large number of ND fans (who filled the sections in the SE corner above the tunnel and booed the Stanford team as they went out at halftime.)  Tonight, the stadium was clearly filled, with people ringing the rails at the concourse and the end zone upper decks.   There was the large SC band (playing their two songs) in the lower corner  But here\'s the good news:  there were just two sections, one in the N upper end zone and one in the S upper end zone, filled with standing and chanting SC fans.  That was it!  The rest were Stanford partisans.  And we were really into it.  That final drive left us so euphoric, there was no way we weren\'t storming the field.

BTW - if you hadn\'t been at last year\'s ND game - remember when Stanford got the ball back with 5 mins to go, and everyone knew the ball would be in Toby\'s hands?  After Toby had flattened the ND CB, the whole crowd was chanting, TO-BY, TO-BY.  We knew we shouldn\'t have on offense, but how could we not?  At that point, the Stanford players on the sidelines were waving their palms down.   Did you ever think you\'d see players requesting us to be quieter?  That was a moment to behold.

[Embo]

I\'d like to hear about the atmosphere from folks who were there.  I\'m sure there were plenty of SC fans in the building.  Still, I gotta tell ya, it looked and sounded great on the TV.  First time in a long time I can honestly say that.

Last year, for the ND game, my fellow season ticketholder had to miss it.  I have told him several times how unfortunate it was - that it was one of those events that he would have treasured for a long time had he seen it in person.

He made up for it by being at this game.  This was one I\'ll savor for a long, long time.  Jeff, it was terrific.  And perhaps even better than last year\'s ND game.  That game was a sell-out, but that was due in part to the large number of ND fans (who filled the sections in the SE corner above the tunnel and booed the Stanford team as they went out at halftime.)  Tonight, the stadium was clearly filled, with people ringing the rails at the concourse and the end zone upper decks.   There was the large SC band (playing their two songs) in the lower corner  But here\'s the good news:  there were just two sections, one in the N upper end zone and one in the S upper end zone, filled with standing and chanting SC fans.  That was it!  The rest were Stanford partisans.  And we were really into it.  That final drive left us so euphoric, there was no way we weren\'t storming the field.

BTW - if you hadn\'t been at last year\'s ND game - remember when Stanford got the ball back with 5 mins to go, and everyone knew the ball would be in Toby\'s hands?  After Toby had flattened the ND CB, the whole crowd was chanting, TO-BY, TO-BY.  We knew we shouldn\'t have on offense, but how could we not?  At that point, the Stanford players on the sidelines were waving their palms down.   Did you ever think you\'d see players requesting us to be quieter?  That was a moment to behold.

[Leftcoast]

Just back from the game (section 115) and I\'ve got to say it was LOUD.   Our seats are just 5 rows from the field and above where the Stanford OLine hangs out on the Stanford sideline.   This was the best Stanford crowd of any game in the new stadium and it was obvious that the Stanford team appreciated the support.

Some other notes:

**  Looked like a sell-out and, as JIC mentions, it wasn\'t due to a USC walk-up crowd.  The fans were rooting HARD for Stanford.  This was the best crowd ever at the new stadium - and only last year\'s ND game was close.

**  We did not put an effective pass-rush on Barkley.   He had time every passing play to go through his reads and check-off where necessary.  I was surprised at how little pressure we gave him.

**  USC made a lot of yardage out of short swing passes to WR split wide.  They were banking on their wide receivers getting our DB\'s to miss tackles and that gambit worked more often than not.   Sherman was victimized by this several times but he wasn\'t alone - our DB\'s weren\'t tackling tonight.

**  Nice to see Owusu get a couple of productive Kick-off returns under his belt.  He\'s not all the way back but he\'s getting there.

**  This was the Luck game we\'ve all been waiting for.   As great as he has been this season he\'d never had to take the team down the field with the game on the line.   Tonight he did just that.  

**  So what\'s up with Nate Whitaker?  He\'s now missed three PAT\'s on the season but is nails on the longer field goals.  Weird but I\'m very, very glad that miss didn\'t come back to haunt us.

**  The tape review that ended up ruling on the Stanford fumble almost didn\'t happen.   It was only possible because Stanford didn\'t get the subsequent play off in time due to a personel issue and Luck was forced to call a time out.  That time out ended up allowing the officials to review the previous play.   A costly error on Stanford\'s part since we not only ended up losing the ball but we\'d also wasted a time out that was very nearly needed in the final drive.  

**  Our section was also surprised by the play calling during the sequence where Stanford ran up the gut for short gains when we need 15+ yards to get within field goal range.  Does Harbaugh really think we\'re in Nate\'s field goal range at 55 yards?

**  Do we really have to rush the field when we eke out a win as favorites or is this a USC thing?  I\'m afraid the student post-game party at mid-field is becoming an every game tradition on the Farm.  I didn\'t like that choice tonight but perhaps the students were caught up in the emotion of a win against USC ... and of course the students couldn\'t care less what I think (nor should they.)

**  There were some pretty cool USC fans sitting behind me.  They may not be the norm but this group was respectful of Stanford and like the growing USC/Stanford rivalry.  They\'d also attended the last Harris shellacking in what amounted to a USC home game in Palo Alto and had a good perspective on just how far the Cardinal have come from that nadir.

**  I agree our defense isn\'t as good as we thought it might  be after the ND game but USC has playmakers, a good running back, a great WR in Woods and Barkley is an excellent QB.   Don\'t be too hard on the guys.  

**  I got a tour of the new Band Shack after the game and it\'s pretty nice.  A bit messy (of course) but there are pictures up on the walls of the band dating into the early 70\'s and some cool memorabilia.  The practice space is very nice and a brobdingnagian upgrade.   My season tix partner got to sign one of the pictures showing him from the 80\'s.

**   Dropped by In-N-Out and happened to see some of the Stanford women\'s BBall team including (if I\'m not mistaken) the Ogwumike sisters.   I think they\'re going to have a good year.   The In-N-Out had over 60 post-game Stanford fans in high spirits and some very quiet, chastened USC fans pondering the state of Trojan football.  So sweet.

Hope our SEC visitor reports back in - the stadium showed well tonight.

[Leftcoast]

Just back from the game (section 115) and I\'ve got to say it was LOUD.   Our seats are just 5 rows from the field and above where the Stanford OLine hangs out on the Stanford sideline.   This was the best Stanford crowd of any game in the new stadium and it was obvious that the Stanford team appreciated the support.

Some other notes:

**  Looked like a sell-out and, as JIC mentions, it wasn\'t due to a USC walk-up crowd.  The fans were rooting HARD for Stanford.  This was the best crowd ever at the new stadium - and only last year\'s ND game was close.

**  We did not put an effective pass-rush on Barkley.   He had time every passing play to go through his reads and check-off where necessary.  I was surprised at how little pressure we gave him.

**  USC made a lot of yardage out of short swing passes to WR split wide.  They were banking on their wide receivers getting our DB\'s to miss tackles and that gambit worked more often than not.   Sherman was victimized by this several times but he wasn\'t alone - our DB\'s weren\'t tackling tonight.

**  Nice to see Owusu get a couple of productive Kick-off returns under his belt.  He\'s not all the way back but he\'s getting there.

**  This was the Luck game we\'ve all been waiting for.   As great as he has been this season he\'d never had to take the team down the field with the game on the line.   Tonight he did just that.  

**  So what\'s up with Nate Whitaker?  He\'s now missed three PAT\'s on the season but is nails on the longer field goals.  Weird but I\'m very, very glad that miss didn\'t come back to haunt us.

**  The tape review that ended up ruling on the Stanford fumble almost didn\'t happen.   It was only possible because Stanford didn\'t get the subsequent play off in time due to a personel issue and Luck was forced to call a time out.  That time out ended up allowing the officials to review the previous play.   A costly error on Stanford\'s part since we not only ended up losing the ball but we\'d also wasted a time out that was very nearly needed in the final drive.  

**  Our section was also surprised by the play calling during the sequence where Stanford ran up the gut for short gains when we need 15+ yards to get within field goal range.  Does Harbaugh really think we\'re in Nate\'s field goal range at 55 yards?

**  Do we really have to rush the field when we eke out a win as favorites or is this a USC thing?  I\'m afraid the student post-game party at mid-field is becoming an every game tradition on the Farm.  I didn\'t like that choice tonight but perhaps the students were caught up in the emotion of a win against USC ... and of course the students couldn\'t care less what I think (nor should they.)

**  There were some pretty cool USC fans sitting behind me.  They may not be the norm but this group was respectful of Stanford and like the growing USC/Stanford rivalry.  They\'d also attended the last Harris shellacking in what amounted to a USC home game in Palo Alto and had a good perspective on just how far the Cardinal have come from that nadir.

**  I agree our defense isn\'t as good as we thought it might  be after the ND game but USC has playmakers, a good running back, a great WR in Woods and Barkley is an excellent QB.   Don\'t be too hard on the guys.  

**  I got a tour of the new Band Shack after the game and it\'s pretty nice.  A bit messy (of course) but there are pictures up on the walls of the band dating into the early 70\'s and some cool memorabilia.  The practice space is very nice and a brobdingnagian upgrade.   My season tix partner got to sign one of the pictures showing him from the 80\'s.

**   Dropped by In-N-Out and happened to see some of the Stanford women\'s BBall team including (if I\'m not mistaken) the Ogwumike sisters.   I think they\'re going to have a good year.   The In-N-Out had over 60 post-game Stanford fans in high spirits and some very quiet, chastened USC fans pondering the state of Trojan football.  So sweet.

Hope our SEC visitor reports back in - the stadium showed well tonight.

[CompSci87]

I was up in section 234. There were a bunch of whooping USC fans around me, but it was fun to see them get quiet whenever Stanford went ahead, then drift silently away at the end.

Fantastic game to watch, and the place really was rockin\'!

[CompSci87]

I was up in section 234. There were a bunch of whooping USC fans around me, but it was fun to see them get quiet whenever Stanford went ahead, then drift silently away at the end.

Fantastic game to watch, and the place really was rockin\'!

[readarmy1976]

Thanks for that report from the Stadium.

[readarmy1976]

Thanks for that report from the Stadium.

[Redrum]

I think Lefty should go into the dealer and have his Fun Module checked and possibly replaced.  How can you not like kids who think winning and celebrating is the best possible way to spend a Saturday?

But Lefty is not alone in this.  Over on one of the USC boards  they were harrummphing about how Stanford fans rushing the field just proved how great USC was, you know... with their tradition and all.  

Couple of adds:

Owusu\'s long return was predictable in a way.  Maybe harder to see in the stadium,  but in realtime on TV  you could see the gap in USC\'s coverage and the blocking after the first 2 seconds of Owusu\'s run.   All he had to do was head for the gap...which he did.   On his other returns, the space just wasn\'t there.

Watched the game on ESPN3  after ABC bumped it in favor of Miami/Fla. St.   Gotta say,  it was pretty nifty compared to the alternative of listening to KZSU.   Only drawbacks:  Same damned four commercials: Capitol One vikings; Nissan having-a-baby; Dr. Pepper and Lexus over and over and over and over and over and over and over  every time there was a stop in play.   The feed would occasionally freeze up during a play,  so the runner would get the ball and then suddenly be seen tackled and on the ground five yards upfield.  But I was glad to have the option and most of the time felt it was as good as watching TV.

Oh,  jeff in corvallis.  James Rodgers left the Arizona game and was on crutches with his knee heavily wrapped.   We play them late (last?) this year,  so pretty sure he\'ll be back to face us.

[Redrum]

I think Lefty should go into the dealer and have his Fun Module checked and possibly replaced.  How can you not like kids who think winning and celebrating is the best possible way to spend a Saturday?

But Lefty is not alone in this.  Over on one of the USC boards  they were harrummphing about how Stanford fans rushing the field just proved how great USC was, you know... with their tradition and all.  

Couple of adds:

Owusu\'s long return was predictable in a way.  Maybe harder to see in the stadium,  but in realtime on TV  you could see the gap in USC\'s coverage and the blocking after the first 2 seconds of Owusu\'s run.   All he had to do was head for the gap...which he did.   On his other returns, the space just wasn\'t there.

Watched the game on ESPN3  after ABC bumped it in favor of Miami/Fla. St.   Gotta say,  it was pretty nifty compared to the alternative of listening to KZSU.   Only drawbacks:  Same damned four commercials: Capitol One vikings; Nissan having-a-baby; Dr. Pepper and Lexus over and over and over and over and over and over and over  every time there was a stop in play.   The feed would occasionally freeze up during a play,  so the runner would get the ball and then suddenly be seen tackled and on the ground five yards upfield.  But I was glad to have the option and most of the time felt it was as good as watching TV.

Oh,  jeff in corvallis.  James Rodgers left the Arizona game and was on crutches with his knee heavily wrapped.   We play them late (last?) this year,  so pretty sure he\'ll be back to face us.

[tmswope]

I agree...the rushing of the field has gotten a little out of hand.  But any time you win on a game-winning field goal as time expires, it\'s hard to argue too much with the celebration.  I don\'t care if you\'re playing USC, Sac State, or Wazzu.  It\'s jubilation if you beat a good team...and relief if you squeeze out the victory against a lesser team.  Sure, this game shouldn\'t have come down to a last-second field goal, and I was disappointed that it did, but I even got a little excited (from my couch--ask my wife) when that field goal (which looked at first as if it might drift right) straightened out and split the uprights.

[tmswope]

I agree...the rushing of the field has gotten a little out of hand.  But any time you win on a game-winning field goal as time expires, it\'s hard to argue too much with the celebration.  I don\'t care if you\'re playing USC, Sac State, or Wazzu.  It\'s jubilation if you beat a good team...and relief if you squeeze out the victory against a lesser team.  Sure, this game shouldn\'t have come down to a last-second field goal, and I was disappointed that it did, but I even got a little excited (from my couch--ask my wife) when that field goal (which looked at first as if it might drift right) straightened out and split the uprights.

[Farm93]

Stanford has won at home against USC just 5 times since 1956.
Stanford has won 3 of the last 4 against USC.

Sorry, the long term trend trumps here, so a win against USC is big enough to run on the field.  IMHO.
Besides, this ability to beat SC is clearly not shared by C.a.l.  JH and Stanford make it look so easy, but Ted.f.ord and C.a.l are rose-less because it really is still quite difficult.

There was a very important BB recruit on his official visit, so winning in that atmosphere was probably important for two sports.

Finally, storming the field looks great on TV as long as the students stay calm.  Personally, I trust Stanford students will not turn violent or rowdy.

[Farm93]

Stanford has won at home against USC just 5 times since 1956.
Stanford has won 3 of the last 4 against USC.

Sorry, the long term trend trumps here, so a win against USC is big enough to run on the field.  IMHO.
Besides, this ability to beat SC is clearly not shared by C.a.l.  JH and Stanford make it look so easy, but Ted.f.ord and C.a.l are rose-less because it really is still quite difficult.

There was a very important BB recruit on his official visit, so winning in that atmosphere was probably important for two sports.

Finally, storming the field looks great on TV as long as the students stay calm.  Personally, I trust Stanford students will not turn violent or rowdy.

[dabigv13]

Having never experience storming the field, as the Iron Curtain was still in effect during my tenure, that looks awesome and I would do it after every exciting victory.

Certainly storming the court during big wins against Arizona and UW, even though we certainly had "been there before", was one of the highlights of my Stanford fandom.

[dabigv13]

Having never experience storming the field, as the Iron Curtain was still in effect during my tenure, that looks awesome and I would do it after every exciting victory.

Certainly storming the court during big wins against Arizona and UW, even though we certainly had "been there before", was one of the highlights of my Stanford fandom.