This weekend, Stanford takes on USC for the 92nd time. Although USC leads the series 60-29-3, Stanford has had some marquee wins in recent years. It’s become an exciting rivalry that the respective fan bases look forward to every year. The teams don’t like each other, and let’s just say that Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll made Harry Potter and Voldemort look like BFFs. Let’s take a look at three key games in the rivalry.
The Stanford v. USC Rivalry
2007: The Biggest Upset Ever
After Walt Harris was fired following a 1-11 season, Stanford had the good sense to offer the position to Harbaugh, a former NFL player who, at the time, was the head coach at San Diego. Jim was known for his competitive nature, fiery personality, and an ability to stage a comeback in big games. And Jim never backs down from a challenge, so he was hell-bent on turning around this Stanford football program.
On October 6, 2007, the Cardinal marched into the Coliseum as 41-point ‘dogs and with a quarterback who had never started a college football game before. But despite the stats and predictions, and seemingly insurmountable odds, Stanford took only a nine-point deficit into the fourth quarter. After that, Stanford and USC traded touchdowns before Stanford kicked a field goal to pull within six. This is where it gets crazy. An interception, PI flag, three incomplete passes, and a fourth down conversion later, and Stanford has the ball on USC’s nine-yard line. After three unproductive downs, the Cardinal found themselves on the 10 with everything at stake.
And then it happened: Third string quarterback Tavita Pritchard throws to his left and locates Mark Bradford, whose father passed away earlier that week, in the side of the end zone (seriously, how has no one made a movie about this?). Touchdown, extra point good, and Stanford has a 24-23 lead. John David Booty had one more interception in him before the Trojans ran off the field and the Cardinal emerged victorious. This was the game that reinvigorated the rivalry.
It bears mentioning that Steve Sarkisian was USC’s offensive coordinator in 2007 since Sark will be traveling to Palo Alto as USC’s head coach when the two teams meet this weekend. His relationship with David Shaw rivals that of Harbaugh and Carroll.
2009: “What’s Your Deal?”
After losing to USC in 2008, Stanford returned to the scene of the Biggest-Upset-Ever crime in 2009. Two first year quarterbacks started for their respective teams: Andrew Luck for Stanford and Matt Barkley for USC. But the most important figure in this game was the Cardinal workhorse, eventual Heisman runner-up, Toby Gerhart.
After going three and out to start the first quarter, Stanford forced a USC fumble and then scored touchdowns in their next three series to take a 21-7 lead; a lead they took into the locker room at half time. The teams looked even through the third quarter, but once again, things fell apart for the Trojans in the fourth.
After a very Stanford-esque 9 play, 79-yard drive that ate over four minutes of clock, Luck hit tight end Coby Fleener to put the Cardinal up 35-21. Following a 28-yard Ronald Johnson kick-off return, and then a 7-yard pass, Barkley threw a pick six to none other than Richard Sherman. Sherman was a wide receiver for Stanford when the two teams met in 2007, and was the player who caught the fourth down pass that set up the game winning drive.
After forcing a USC punt, Gerhart ran the ball down USC’s collective throats, ripping off runs of 2, 7, 29, 12, and 6 yards to take Stanford’s lead to 48-21. It was then that Harbaugh ordered the Cardinal to go for two, apparently wanting to hang half a hundred on USC. The try was unsuccessful, but just about every college football fan could have hugged Harbaugh for his moxy, wanting nothing more than to stick it to the almighty Kingdom of Troy.
Not 30 seconds after Stanford kicked off, Barkley threw another interception and Stanford had the ball back. This time, it was Stanford’s stable of reserve running backs, Stepfan Taylor and Tyler Gaffney, who rushed down the field for another touchdown. The final score was 55-21, which at that time, was the highest number of points USC had ever allowed. The coaches approached one another midfield after the game. “What’s your deal? What’s your deal?” asked Carroll. “What’s your deal?” replied Harbaugh. And the rivalry continued.
2012: Number 2? Not for long.
For the first time in three seasons, USC was favored to win their matchup with Stanford. The Trojans came in ranked #2 and with Barkley returning for his senior season, many were picking this team to be a national title contender. With Luck in the NFL, Josh Nunes was under center for the Cardinal, and had his defining moment as the Stanford quarterback. The Stanford defense held Barkley, Marquise Lee, and Robert Woods in check. The front seven, led by Trent Murphy, inflicted punishing hit after hit on Barkley. By the time the last USC pass was thrown, on a 4th and 40, Barkley had gone 0 for 4 against Stanford in his tenure. His return to school for one more year was off to a rocky start, and it wouldn’t turn out to be the swan song he’d hoped for.
Kevin Hogan would replace Nunes later in the season, but the 21-14 win on The Farm against The Men of Troy is something Stanford fans will never forget.
2014: What’s next?
USC stopped a four game skid against Stanford last season in LA. Ed Orgeron sparked the Trojans after the departure [airport pun intended] of Lane Kiffin, and gave them a signature win in the Coliseum. For an unranked SC to rush the field after a home win against Stanford would blow a time travelers’ mind if they were just dropped into this period of the PAC-12. USC has gotten back into the top of the recruiting in the conference, and is sanction free. Stanford will look to bounce back after their heartbreaking loss in LA last season. In particular, Hogan will try to get a win after throwing a costly interception. Both teams have tremendous talent and both teams desperately want to win. As we’ve seen, just about anything can happen in a rivalry game, and I’m excited to see what Saturday holds.
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