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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/2Pollaski2Furious on 2024-08-21 14:15:38+00:00.
Gettin to post a little early today cause I got a doctors appointment and… why the hell is there a picture of the Beaver done up like the Joker on the sidebar. Should I be afraid?
Eh no time for that. To the tanking ranking!
8: USC TROJANS (lost to Stanford 24-23) [2007]
The post week-5 AP Poll was a clear indictment of the Trojans. While the Trojans were still undefeated at 4-0, their previous game had been a struggle-filled 27-24 win over a listless Washington team, and the voters had had enough, knocking USC from their preseason #1 ranking in favor of LSU. Still, odds that USC could reclaim their spot at the top of the mountain was good- LSU was headed into the Swamp to face Heisman favorite Tim Tebow and the defending national champion Florida Gators, while USC would stay at home as 41-point favorites against the lowly Stanford Cardinal.
And make no mistake- Stanford was a trainwreck. Since Ty Willingham had left Palo Alto for Notre Dame at the end of the 2001 season, the Cardinal had been a miserable 17-43, including a 1-11 disaster the previous year that had resulted in coach Walt Harris’ termination and led Stanford to call former Cardinal quarterback Jim Harbaugh up from FCS San Diego to take over. In Harbaugh’s first year, the Cardinal were just 1-3, albeit all three losses had been to ranked teams. Still, Stanford had just been pasted at home 41-3 by Arizona State, and was now headed to face a far more talented USC team that had not lost in the Colosseum in six years- 35 games.
USC’s defense smothered Stanford in the first half, forcing a punt on every single drive and holding the Cardinal to a pitiful 50 yards. But the Trojans only led 9-0, off an opening field goal on their second drive, and a touchdown off a John David Booty pass to Patrick Turner that had set USC up at the 1 for a Chauncey Washington punch in- although the extra point was blocked. The Trojans had again reached the 1 on their last drive of the half, but this time Washington had been stuffed.
Both teams went three and out to start the second half, but on USC’s second drive, Booty threw an errant pass right into the arms of Austin Yancy, who returned it for Stanford’s first points of the afternoon. USC fumbled on their net drive, but Stanford could only go three and out, returning the ball to the Trojans. They drove into Stanford territory, but Booty was sacked, and then on third and 18, overthrew his receiver right into the arms of Stanford back Nick Sanchez, bringing out some boos from frustrated Trojan fans. But Cardinal QB Tavita Pritchard tried to do too much too soon, and threw a long bomb that was picked off by Taylor Mays, turning the ball back over to USC. Booty responded by hitting tight end Fred Davis for a decent chunk, only for it turn into a touchdown when Davis shed his tackler and sprinted down the sideline, giving the Trojans a 16-7 cushion.
But Stanford’s offense finally got some traction, and scored a touchdown, largely thanks to Pritchard finding Mark Bradford for 36 yards to get the Cardinal to the USC 1, punching it in on the first play of the fourth quarter to make it 16-14. USC immediately responded, with Booty finding Ronald Johnson behind the Stanford secondary to make it 23-14. Stanford drove again in response, but couldn’t get past the USC 9, settling for a field goal to close the gap to 23-17 with just 5:43 left to play. USC came out and picked up a first to keep the clock moving, but then Booty went back to pass, and finding no one open, tried to run- right into a Stanford defender, who brought him down for a 9 yard sack. Two plays later, on 3rd and 19, Booty desperately heaved down field to keep the drive alive, but overthrew his receiver and was intercepted by Wopamo Osaisai, who returned it into Trojan territory. 2:50 was on the clock, and Stanford was 45 yards away from the unthinkable.
A pass interference call moved Stanford to the 30, and two plays later they got a first down to the 19. But two plays after that Chris Marinelli was called for holding, pushing them back to the 29. Second down was incomplete, and then a third down completion to Evan Moore was ruled illegal due to being out of bounds first, making it 4th and 20, with the game on the line. Pritchard found Richard Sherman over the middle, with Sherman falling just past the sticks at the 9 to keep the drive alive. Again, USC forced Stanford into a fourth down, and with 48 seconds left, Pritchard looped a pass to the side of the endzone where Mark Bradford hauled it in. “TOUCHDOWN USC!” screamed announcer Ron Thulin, calling the biggest moment in Versus Network history. After Thulin corrected himself, commentator Kelly Stouffer declared that Harbaugh was “playing for the tie” by holding up one finger- apparently unaware that the game was already tied at 23 and the extra point would give the Cardinal the lead. The extra point was good, and the Cardinal led 24-23 with just forty-five seconds remaining.
USC had one last shot, but Booty was immediately sacked, and with no timeouts, the Trojans were forced to burn second down by spiking. Booty couldn’t connect on third down either, bringing up 4th and 16 with USC’s #2 ranking and 35-game home winning streak on the line. Booty launched a ball downfield… right into the arms of Stanford Safety Bo McNally, who picked it off for Booty’s fourth interception of the half, ran a few yards back, and slid down to seal the biggest point-spread upset between two FBS teams in history. This was also pretty much the point that the 2007 season went completely off the rails and the Top 5 became the world’s most sadistic merry-go-round.
USC fell to #10 in the aftermath, and would be knocked out of championship contention for good a few weeks later when they fell to Oregon. They went on to finish 11-2 and ranked #3 in the AP, #2 in the coaches, after blowing out Illinois in the Rose Bowl- a solid season that could have clearly been so much more if not for this disaster. Stanford ended up finishing 4-8, but the win did prove a harbinger for a revival in Palo Alto. The Stanford were just 5-7 in 2008, albeit far more competitive, before turning the corner with a 8-5 season in 2009, setting up a dream run from 2010-2013 when the Cardinal went 46-8.
The game also helped prove a harbinger to one of the greatest coaching feuds in football history between Harbaugh and Carroll. The rivalry actually already had its seeds planted before the 2007 season even began when Harbaugh had wildly claimed that the season would be Carrol’s last at USC. Carroll and USC took their revenge in 2008, beating Stanford 45-23, but Stanford responded with a 55-21 beatdown in 2009 that had an angry Carroll demanding what Harbaugh’s “deal” was, over a belief that Harbaugh had unsportingly ran up the score. Carroll left after 2009 to coach the NFL’s Seahawks, with Harbaugh following a year later to the divisional rival 49ers. There, the rivalry turned, with Carroll’s Seahawks teams consistently beating Harbaugh’s Niners like a scalded dog, ironically thanks in no small part to former Stanford receiver-turned-cornerback Richard Sherman, who had made the 4th and 20 catch to set up Stanford’s winning touchdown. Harbaugh finally had enough and fled back to the college ranks at Michigan, where he hid until it was safe to return following Carroll’s retirement last year.