Before I was a sports fan (the dark years), I’d occasionally watch games (against my will) with my husband Matt. He was a long-suffering Stanford fan who’d seen everything from a painful Rose Bowl loss to a 1-11 season, and everything in between. He always told me, “Close games are the worst. I’d rather be blown out than lose at the very end.” I didn’t understand that at the time. Why would you want your team to be blown out? Wouldn’t you rather see them put up a fight until the very end and lose valiantly like a noble knight?
Now I know better.
There’s absolutely nothing worse than thinking you have a chance, and then having that ripped away at the last second.
It is excruciatingly painful to know you were *so close* and if this had happened, or this other thing hadn’t happened, you’d be the winner. Those are the games that stay with you, the ones that haunt you, the ones that have you making this noise: “Arrrrrggghhhnrrrrllll” about once an hour, on the hour, until your next win. These are the games that have you drowning your feelings in queso and chips. And beer.
Every college football fan can probably recall half a dozen games where they’ve felt that way. Which losses haunt you is as personal as politics and religion, great fodder for debate, but unpleasant at a dinner table. So, what are the losses that haunt you? Here are mine:
Stanford Losses that Haunt Us
November 21, 2009: Cal vs. Stanford
After going up 14-0 in the first quarter, Stanford looked to ride star running back Toby Gerhart to another blowout win. Unfortunately, Stanford’s defense wasn’t the nasty young thing it is these days, so Cal soon caught up and then took the lead. With less than 3 minutes to go, Cal was up 34-28, and the ball was in the Cardinal’s hands. Redshirt freshman Andrew Luck had a couple of good rushes before Gerhart ripped off a 29 yard run. The energy in the stadium was electric: we all knew we were going to win. I jumped out of my seat and, like Rose on the Titanic, held onto the railing in front of me all ready to celebrate this Big Game win. The Axe was ours! And then, after an incomplete pass to Coby Fleener, Andrew Luck did the unthinkable: he threw a beautiful pass into the end zone to Mike Mohamed, who doesn’t actually play for Stanford. And that was it.
In retrospect, it wasn’t Luck’s fault; he had no business throwing the ball. If not for SEC bias, Gerhart would have won a Heisman that year. What was Jim Harbaugh thinking taking the ball out of Toby’s bloody, calloused hands? Harbs expected the Cal defense to sell out on a Toby run and so he a called a pass play to take them by surprise. But here’s the thing: Cal (and every other team we faced that year) was expecting a Toby handoff every time it happened, and you know what? They still couldn’t stop it. This was the first Stanford loss I’d seen in person, and it was really hard to swallow. It took me four days to stop making guttural noises every time I thought about the game. And I’ve never hung onto that railing again.
January 2, 2012: Stanford vs. Oklahoma State
Hey guys, Stanford’s in a BCS bowl game again! That’s exciting! You know what’s not exciting? Conservative play calling and missed field goals. After four years of Jim Harbaugh challenging spots and going for two, Stanford fans were accustomed to a more aggressive coaching style. David Shaw just isn’t that kind of guy, and that was never more apparent than on the final play of regulation in the 2012 Fiesta Bowl. All knotted up at 38, Stanford had the ball back with 2:35 to go. Andrew Luck and his band of merry receivers and running backs passed/caught their way down the field. Once they got to the Oklahoma State 25-yard line, Shaw called a couple of über conservative running plays to set up a field goal attempt from redshirt freshman kicker Jordan Williamson, who’d already missed from 41 in the first quarter. The kick went wide, sending the game to overtime. I understand that Shaw was worried about a turnover, but Luck had just marched his way down the field in just over two minutes. Why take the ball out of his hands at that moment? Two years after the 2009 Big Game, everyone wanted Luck to make that throw. He’d earned the right to make that throw. Of course, we all know what happened: the game was lost on another missed field goal. This one stung hard.
October 13, 2012 Stanford vs. Notre Dame
This game is particularly topical this week since Stanford takes on Notre Dame in South Bend this weekend. The 2012 edition of this rivalry was the most poorly officiated game I have ever seen, and being a fan of a PAC-12 team, this is a meaningful statement. I can tell I’m not over this loss because my heart pounds at the mere thought of this game, and the name “Hochuli” nearly induces vomiting. It’s painful to recount, but I’ll do my best.
Notre Dame scores first in OT, Stanford takes over. Josh Nunes pass, Josh Nunes run, and Stepfan Taylor run makes it 1st and goal from the 4. After three unsuccessful runs, it’s 4th down. Taylor rushes and on the second effort, he fights across the goal line. Refs say no TD. They say forward progress was stopped despite no whistle. They review and uphold the incorrect call. Stanford fans were horrified, announcers were aghast, and Mike Perriera said Stanford was robbed. The refs claimed that there wasn’t a clear camera angle from the goal line. Interesting, since I could see it pretty well 2,240 miles away from that very same goal line. The only good thing that came of this game was that Notre Dame ended up in the national title game that year and got completely obliterated by Alabama. That was hilarious, but I’ll still be sighing about our game for another 12 years. And if I ever see Shawn Hochuli in real life, I’ll install a goal line camera in his ass.
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