2007 Stanford vs. USC football game

Game summary

The weather was sunny and 74 °F with a slight west wind. The game began at 4:09pm Pacific Daylight Time and ended at 7:36pm.

Scoring

First quarter

• 06:25 USC – David Buehler 34 yd field goal USC 3–0

Second quarter

• 07:15 USC – Chauncey Washington 1 yd run (PAT blocked) USC 9–0

Third quarter

• 11:58 Stanford – Austin Yancy 31 yd interception return (Derek Belch kick) USC 9–7
• 02:54 USC – Fred Davis 63 yd pass from John David Booty (David Buehler kick) USC 16–7

Fourth quarter

• 14:54 Stanford – Anthony Kimble 1 yd run (Derek Belch kick) USC 16–14
• 11:04 USC – Ronald Johnson 47 yd pass from John David Booty (David Buehler kick) USC 23–14
• 05:43 Stanford – Derek Belch 26 yd field goal USC 23–17
• 00:48 Stanford – Mark Bradford 10 yd pass from Tavita Pritchard on fourth down and goal (Derek Belch kick) Stanford 24–23.

The game-winning drive featured a 20-yard pass from Tavita Pritchard to Richard Sherman on fourth-and-20 from the USC 29.

Aftermath

USC fell to No. 10 in the AP Poll and No. 7 in the Coaches' Poll after the loss.

The final score was announced at the Rose Bowl, where USC's two arch-rivals, UCLA and Notre Dame, were playing each other. Irish and Bruins fans cheered in unison and celebrated together briefly. At the same time, at Tiger Stadium, the #1 LSU Tigers were playing the #9 Florida Gators and the fans in the stadium celebrated when the USC score was announced there, too. The Tigers would later come from behind to beat the Gators 28–24, making them #1 in both polls with USC dropping from #1 in the coaches poll due to the loss.

Stanford's victory, for once, was cheered on by perennial rival Cal, who was ranked No. 3 in the nation at the time of USC's loss. USC's loss elevated California to its highest ranking in nearly six decades, and it was primed to reach the #1 ranking for the first time since 1951 when #1 LSU was beaten in overtime by Kentucky the same day it played Oregon State. California lost the Oregon State game; after starting the season 5-0 and ranked No. 12, it finished 7-6 and unranked. 2007 was also the only game in an eight year Big Game stretch that it lost to Stanford.

At the end of the regular season, Sports Illustrated chose the Stanford upset of USC as the second "Biggest Upset of 2007" after Division I FCS Appalachian State's 34–32 upset of #5 Michigan.

In 1979, Stanford had pulled a similar feat by coming back in the last four minutes to tie USC 21–21 on October 13. This game, considered one of the greatest of the 20th century, effectively cost USC a national championship.

In the 2009 season, Stanford would eclipse the point spread by handing USC its worst defeat ever. Stanford won 55–21, and USC was an 11-point favorite. The next year in 2010, tenth-ranked Stanford defeated USC with a last-second field goal to win, 37–35. In 2011, Stanford would again defeat USC, continuing a 3-game streak of defeating USC at their home stadium. In a much closer game, Stanford defeated USC 56–48 in triple overtime. In the following year, the Cardinal again faced a second-ranked USC team and defeated them 21–14, earning a fourth consecutive win over the Trojans, a first in team and school history.

References

References

1. "Gimino: USC dynasty far from over {{!}} www.tucsoncitizen.com ".
2. www.espn.com]
3. Kyle Bonagura, [https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/20590188/when-jim-harbaugh-richard-sherman-stanford-pulled-biggest-upset-cfb-history "How Jim Harbaugh and Richard Sherman pulled off an epic 40-point upset over USC"], ESPN.com, September 6, 2017.
4. Chris Dufresne. (2007-10-07}}
   Quote:"''With the [[Rose Bowl (stadium)). "You look upset, Los Angeles. Why the long fall from grace?". [[Los Angeles Times]].
5. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tk19twFr2w LSU vs. Florida 2007] youtube.com
6. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071215212343/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0712/cfb.upsets/content.9.html Biggest Upsets of 2007: #2 Stanford 24, No. 2 USC 23], SI.com, December 13, 2007.
7. Whittingham, Richard (2001). "6", Rites of autumn: the story of college football (in English). New York: The Free Press, 148-183. {{ISBN. 0-7432-2219-9.
8. [https://www.espn.com/college-football/preview?gameId=293180030 Stanford-Southern Cal Preview] ESPN.com
9. Klein, Gary. (2009-11-15). "NO. 25 STANFORD 55, NO. 11 USC 21 : Non-stop blight : USC and its shaky defense put stain on record book: most points by any Trojans opponent, ever".