2007 Stanford Cardinal football team

Schedule

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Coaches

Game summaries

UCLA

In Jim Harbaugh's debut game as Stanford's new head coach, UCLA's offense amassed 600 yards and overwhelmed the Cardinal defense in the second half, as UCLA won handily. UCLA's Ben Olson threw 5 touchdown passes and finished 16–29 for 286 yards while fellow Bruin Kahlil Bell led the running game by gaining 195 yards on 19 carries. This individual performance was the 18th best single game rushing performance in Bruin football history, placing Bell right after Freeman McNeil, who had 197 yards against Stanford in 1979, and right before Gaston Green, who had 194 yards against Tennessee in 1985.

San Jose State

Oregon

Arizona State

USC

Main article: 2007 Stanford vs. Southern California football game

;First quarter

• USC – David Buehler 35-yard field goal, 6:25. ''USC 3–0. '''Drive: 6 plays, 63 yards, 1:45.''''' ;Second quarter
• USC – Chauncey Washington 1-yard run (kick blocked), 7:15. ''USC 9–0. '''Drive: 8 plays, 64 yards, 3:25.''''' ;Third quarter
• STAN – Austin Yancy 31-yard interception return (Derek Belch kick), 11:58. ''USC 9–7. '''Drive: 3 plays, 8 yards, 0:50.'''''
• USC – Fred Davis 63-yard pass from John David Booty (David Buehler kick), 2:54. ''USC 16–7. '''Drive: 6 plays, 82 yards, 3:10.''''' ;Fourth quarter
• STAN – Anthony Kimble 1-yard run (Derek Belch kick), 14:54. ''USC 16–14. '''Drive: 9 plays 75 yards, 2:54.'''''
• USC – Ronald Johnson 46-yard pass from John David Booty (David Buehler kick). ''USC 23–14. '''Drive: 9 plays, 86 yards, 3:44.'''''
• STAN – Derek Belch 26-yard field goal, 5:43. ''USC 23–17. '''Drive: 12 plays, 61 yards, 5:15.'''''
• STAN – Mark Bradford 10-yard pass from Tavita Pritchard (Derek Belch kick), 0:48. ''Stanford 24–23. '''Drive: 10 plays, 45 yards, 2:02.''''' ;Top passers
• STAN – Tavita Pritchard – 11/30, 149 yards, 1 TD, 1 int
• USC – John David Booty – 24/40, 364 yards, 2 TD, 4 int ;Top rushers
• STAN – Anthony Kimble – 17 carries, 32 yards, 1 TD
• USC – Chauncey Washington – 23 carries, 75 yards, 1 TD ;Top receivers
• STAN – Mark Bradford – 5 receptions, 87 yards, 1 TD
• USC – Fred Davis – 5 receptions, 152 yards, 1 TD The struggling Stanford Cardinal continued Pac-10 play by playing the USC Trojans in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where the Trojans had not lost in six seasons. In a major upset, USC stumbled at home to the 41-point underdog Cardinal, losing 24–23.

Harbaugh made headlines prior to the season by claiming 2007 would be USC Coach Pete Carroll's last year with the Trojans before departing to the NFL, drawing a terse rebuke from Carroll; Harbaugh later called the 2007 Trojans one of the best teams in the history of college football at Pac-10 Media Day, reiterating the position in the week before their game. However, there were no hard feelings between the coaches. The two kept in cordial phone contact and Carroll made light of Harbaugh's comments several times during the season.

Stanford's starting quarterback, redshirt senior T. C. Ostrander, suffered a seizure on the afternoon of September 30, one day after the game against Arizona State; he was released from Stanford Hospital after a few hours, but as a precautionary measure he was held out of the game against USC. The starting quarterback position fell to Tavita Pritchard, a redshirt sophomore with three passes in his college career. Stanford was also without two other key starters: defensive lineman Ekom Udofia (ankle) and offensive lineman Allen Smith (knee). On October 3, it was announced that USC running back C. J. Gable, who was averaging a team-best 11 yards a carry, would undergo season-ending abdominal surgery to correct a nagging sports hernia that had limited his ability since the previous season; because he had only played in the first three games, he would seek a medical redshirt season. Gable's fellow running back, Stafon Johnson, was also held out of the game due to a foot bruise suffered the previous week.

Stanford was the last team to beat USC at the Coliseum, doing so on September 29, 2001 under Tyrone Willingham (who had since become the coach of Washington) against then-first-year coach Carroll. The loss ended multiple USC streaks, including a five-game win streak against Stanford and a 35-game home winning streak. For sportsbooks, the loss to a 41-point underdog marked the biggest upset in their history.

There were a few positive efforts for the Trojans: Tight end Fred Davis caught five passes for a career-best 152 yards, including a 63-yard touchdown; and nose tackle Sedrick Ellis had three sacks. However, there were many more errors and substandard performances: quarterback John David Booty, who broke a bone in the middle finger of his throwing hand in the first half, had four passes intercepted in the second half. The offensive line had been suffering since losing two starters in one play during the previous week's game at Washington, but the effect was severe against Stanford; the offensive line gave up four sacks, one more than the Trojans had surrendered all season, and USC gained only 95 yards rushing. Key receiver Patrick Turner dropped several passes, the defense gave up 17 points in the fourth quarter and USC had an extra-point attempt blocked, a point which became a crucial difference. Like their previous game against Washington, USC out-gained Stanford by 224 yards (459 to 235) but made many crucial turnovers and penalties. In the press conference following the game, Carroll summarized his concerns: "It's real clear that we have fallen out of line with our philosophy that has guided this program for years; we're turning the ball over too much."

Opinions in the sports press ranged from proclaiming the end of the USC's era of dominance in college football to calling the loss a major, but not fatal, set-back to any hopes for a Trojans run at the national championship. The Trojans fell to No. 10 in the AP Poll; however, USC only fell to No. 7 in both the Coaches Poll and Harris Poll, both of which are the human components for determining who the BCS chooses for the National Championship Game. As a result, USC remained in outside title contention with upcoming games against consensus-No. 2 California and top-10 Oregon. The upset landed the Trojans in ESPN.com's Bottom 10.

In an interview the following month, Carroll assessed the mistakes that led to the loss as his own:

At the end of the regular season, Sports Illustrated chose Stanford's upset of USC as the second "Biggest Upset of 2007" after Division I FCS Appalachian State's upset of No. 5 Michigan.

TCU

A week after defeating top-ranked USC, Stanford welcomed TCU to Stanford Stadium for homecoming. It was also the first meeting between the two schools. The Cardinal found themselves with a double-digit lead late in the second half of this game, as they led the Horned Frogs 31–17 with 3:54 remaining in the 3rd quarter. TCU's Andy Dalton then hit Jimmy Young for a 70-yard touchdown and Aaron Brown for a 2-yard touchdown pass on fourth down to tie the game at 31. Stanford kicked a field goal with 7:22 remaining to re-take the lead, 34–31. Brown gave TCU its first lead of the game with a 2-yard touchdown run with 4:13 left. An intentional safety by TCU in the final seconds made the final score 38–36. Dalton ended the game with a career-high 344 passing yards.

Arizona

Oregon State

Washington

Washington State

Notre Dame

The Fighting Irish concluded their season on a high note, winning its second straight game and its second win on the road. Notre Dame's Robert Hughes ran for 136 yards and the go-ahead 6-yard touchdown with 6:06 remaining in the 4th quarter to help the Irish beat the Cardinal 21–14. The Irish's Jimmy Clausen went 19–32 for 196 yards and one touchdown. The Cardinal missed 4 field goals and turned the ball over twice. Notre Dame, meanwhile, committed 4 turnovers, including 3 fumbles and an interception.

Notre Dame almost added another score on what would have been a spectacular finish to the half. Notre Dame's David Bruton intercepted Stanford quarterback Tavita Pritchard's last-play heave at the 3-yard line and began a three-lateral return to the end zone that was called back on a personal foul on Notre Dame defensive lineman Trevor Laws. Irish Safety Tom Zbikowski ran the final 30 yards after a lateral from Darrin Walls, and the only thing missing was the band on the field as it was 25 years ago when California shocked Stanford with The Play.

California

Stanford led Cal for the entirety of the 110th Big Game, winning 20–13 and gaining The Axe after Cal had held onto it for five straight years, marking Cal Coach Jeff Tedford's first loss to the Cardinal, something Harbaugh's two predecessors had failed to do. Stanford confused Cal on defense by alternating quarterbacks T. C. Ostrander and Tavita Pritchard in offensive series. The Golden Bears's Nate Longshore was 22/47 with 252 yards, 1 touchdown, and two interceptions, throwing one at the 7-yard line with 2:10 remaining. Cal's Justin Forsett ran for 96 yards on 19 carries. The Golden Bears's Robert Jordan caught 4 receptions for 99 yards including a 46-yard touchdown reception. Despite injuries that had depleted the Cardinal's backfield to the point where one player was converted to a running back, Stanford rushed for 120 yards. California's offense was limited to one touchdown and a field goal, Cal's worst offensive performance of the season. Longshore continued to struggle in the second half, leading the offense to only one field goal after half time. Cal committed 10 penalties for 118 yards.

References

References

1. Curtis, Jake. (October 7, 2007). "Upset for the Ages – Stanford Stunner: The Cardinal, 41-point underdogs, pull off an inconceivable win over No. 2-ranked USC". [[San Francisco Chronicle]].
2. Schlabach, Mark. (November 16, 2009). "Strong personalities leading teams down the stretch". [[ESPN]].
3. [https://www.espn.com/college-football/game?gameId=272790030 Stanford vs. USC - Game summary - October 6, 2007 - ESPN], ''[[ESPN]]''. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
4. Klein, Gary (October 6, 2007) [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-oct-06-sp-usc6-story.html Trojans playing role of the heavy], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
5. Klein, Gary (October 3, 2007) [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-oct-03-sp-uscrep3-story.html Carroll takes a few shots at Harbaugh], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
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8. Klein, Gary (October 4, 2007) [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-oct-04-sp-uscrep4-story.html Surgery ends the season for Gable], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
9. By game week, the [[Spread betting
10. Markazi, Arash (October 7, 2007) [https://web.archive.org/web/20071011043657/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/arash_markazi/10/07/stanford.usc/index.html Aftermath of an Upset], ''[[Sports Illustrated]]''. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
11. Nadel, John (October 7, 2007) [https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaf/recap?gid=200710060062&prov=ap Stanford 24, (2) USC 23], [[Associated Press]]. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
12. Mandel, Stewart (October 7, 2007) [https://web.archive.org/web/20071011011520/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/si_blogs/football/ncaa/2007/10/five-things-we-learned-this-weekend.html Five Things We Learned This Weekend], ''[[Sports Illustrated]]''. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
13. Klein, Gary (October 8, 2007) [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-oct-08-sp-uscrewind8-story.html The shock hasn't worn off yet], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
14. Klein, Gary (October 8, 2007) [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-oct-08-sp-usc8-story.html USC's big slip throws the city for a loss], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
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17. [https://www.espn.com/college-football/rankings?seasonYear=2007&weekNumber=7&seasonType=2 AP Poll, Coaches Poll, Week 7], [[ESPN]]. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
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19. Duffey, David (October 9, 2007) [https://www.espn.com/college-football/news/story?page=bottom10076 Imagining USC in the Bottom 10 is easy if you try], [[ESPN]]. Retrieved August 4, 2008.
20. Rose, Adam (November 8, 2007) [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/allthingstrojan/2007/11/pete-carroll.html Reflections By and On Pete Carroll], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
21. [https://archive.today/20130102063040/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0712/cfb.upsets/content.9.html Biggest Upsets of 2007: #2 Stanford 24, No. 2 USC 23], ''[[Sports Illustrated]]'', December 13, 2007. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
22. (November 24, 2007). "Notre Dame 21, Stanford 14". [[ESPN]].
23. [https://www.espn.com/college-football/boxscore?gameId=273350024 ESPN Box Score]
24. "Reversal of Fortune: Stanford ruins Cal's bid for sixth-straight Big Game win".
25. "Cardinal Redemption".