2007 Stanford vs. USC football game

2007 Stanford vs. USC football game
Conference game
1234 Total
Stanford 00717 24
USC 3677 23
Date October 6, 2007
Season 2007
Stadium Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
Location Los Angeles, California
Favorite USC by 41
National anthem Spirit of Troy
Referee Michael Batlan
Halftime show Stanford Band, Spirit of Troy
Attendance 85,125
United States TV coverage
Network Versus
Announcers Ron Thulin, Kelly Stouffer, Lewis Johnson

The 2007 Stanford vs. USC football game was an NCAA college football game held on October 6, 2007, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. In a remarkable upset, with USC favored by 41 points,[1] the visiting Stanford Cardinal won 24–23. USC entered the game with a 35-game home game winning streak (its previous home game loss also happened to be to Stanford, in 2001) which included a 24-game home game winning streak in Pac-10 play. By contrast, Stanford had compiled a Pac-10 worst 1–11 season in 2006, which included a 42–0 loss to USC. To compound the situation, Stanford's starting quarterback T. C. Ostrander had suffered a seizure the previous week and backup quarterback Tavita Pritchard had never started a game and had thrown just three passes in official play.

Game summary

The weather was sunny and 74 °F (23 °C) with a slight west wind. The game began at 4:09pm Pacific Daylight Time. It ended at 7:36pm.

Scoring

First quarter

Second quarter

Third quarter

Fourth quarter

Aftermath

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.[2] 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.[3] 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.

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.[4]

In 1979, Stanford had pulled a similar feat by coming back in the last 4 minutes to tie USC 21–21 on October 13. This game, considered one of the greatest of the 20th century,[5] 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.[6][7] 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.

See also

References

  1. Gimino: USC dynasty far from over | www.tucsoncitizen.com
  2. Chris Dufresne (2007-10-07). "You look upset, Los Angeles. Why the long fall from grace?". Los Angeles Times.
    Quote:"With the Rose Bowl game mired in 6-6 slog, UCLA and Notre Dame fans collectively erupted with 4:46 left in the third quarter at the Rose Bowl when Stanford's epic upset at the Coliseum was announced -- Pete Carroll's first home loss since Stanford beat the Trojans in 2001."
  3. LSU vs. Florida 2007 youtube.com
  4. Biggest Upsets of 2007: #2 Stanford 24, No. 2 USC 23, SI.com, December 13, 2007. Archived December 15, 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  5. 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.
  6. Stanford-Southern Cal Preview ESPN.com
  7. Klein, Gary - USC's November reign ends with shocking 55-21 loss to Stanford. Los Angeles Times, November 14, 2009

External links

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