2007 Stanford vs. Southern California football game

2007 Stanford vs. Southern California football game
Conference Game
Stanford Cardinal USC Trojans (1–3) (4–0) 24 23 Head coach:  Jim Harbaugh Head coach:  Pete Carroll AP Coaches NR NR AP Coaches 2 1 1 2 3 4 Total Stanford 0 0 7 17 24 USC 3 6 7 7 23
Date	October 6, 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. Southern California football game was a college football game held on October 6, 2007, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. In a remarkable upset, the visiting Stanford Cardinal won 24–23. Southern California was favored by 41 points over Stanford, making the game the largest point-spread upset in college football history. Southern California entered the game with a 35-game home game winning streak (its previous home game loss was also 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 their situation, Stanford's starting quarterback, T. C. Ostrander, had suffered a seizure the previous week; the backup quarterback, Tavita Pritchard had never started a game and had only ever thrown three passes.

Game summary

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

Scoring

First quarter

• USC - David Buehler 34 yd field goal USC 3-0

Second quarter

• USC - C. Washington 1 yd run (PAT failed) USC 9-0

Third quarter

• Stanford - Austin Yancy 31 yd interception return (Deric Belch kick) USC 9-7
• USC - Davis, Fred 63 yd pass from Booty, J.D. (David Buehler kick) USC 16-7

Fourth quarter

• Stanford - Anthony Kimble 1 yd run (Derek Belch kick) USC 16-14
• USC - Ronald Johnson 47 yd pass from Booty, J.D. (David Buehler kick) USC 23-14
• Stanford - Derek Belch 26 yd field goal USC 23-17
• Stanford - Mark Bradford 10 yd pass from T. Pritchard (Derek Belch kick) Stanford 24-23

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.

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 upset of #5 Michigan.

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, effectively cost USC the national championship.

At the time of the game, LSU was ranked #1. On the same night as the USC-Stanford game, LSU was playing a home game against Florida, and the fans at Tiger Stadium celebrated when the USC score was announced there. The Tigers would later come from behind to beat the Gators 28-24, further cementing their status as No. 1.

In the 2009 football 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.

See also

• 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season
• 2007 Stanford Cardinal football team
• 2007 USC Trojans football team
• 2007 Appalachian State vs. Michigan football game

External links

• USC Trojans vs. Stanford - Video of Stanford's final drive, the interception, and the crowd reaction.
• Stanford vs. USC Final Stats. October 6, 2007 USC Trojans Athletics official site
• Stanford vs. USC pregame information. October 1, 2007 Stanford University Athletics official site