It may not have an overwhelming collection of trophies, but boy does the Stanford football program know how to ruin other team’s seasons. It does it so well and so often that almost every Pacific-10 Conference team can recall having a polished record tainted by the meddlesome Cardinal. To be frank, Stanford simply has a knack for checking its losing records at the tunnel and giving its favored opponents all they can handle.
I know the memory of a certain game in the past is uncomfortably nudging its way into the minds of Duck fans at this moment – you hear Stanford, you think, “Ruined season,” and you think of Oct. 20, 2001. You think of Teyo Johnson catching touchdown passes like it’s going out of style. You think of two blocked punts and an onside kick recovered by Stanford. You think of the Ducks surrendering 21 unanswered points and losing 49-42.
Oregon was No. 5 in the nation going into that game and had not lost at home in four years. Sure enough, Tyrone Willingham and his Stanford squad found a way to blank the Ducks in the fourth quarter and come away the victor. The loss came in front of a stunned 46,021 at Autzen Stadium and marked Oregon’s single blemish on an otherwise spotless season record, thus ruining its chances of competing for a national title later in the season.
As painful as that game was to watch and remember for Duck fans, other Pac-10 teams have endured similar misfortunes at the hands of the Cardinal.
In 1982, Stanford had a Heisman Trophy finalist at quarterback named John Elway who helped the Cardinal manage only five wins en route to a sub .500 season. One of those wins, being perhaps the biggest in school history, was dealt to Washington. At the time, the Huskies had one of the best football programs in the nation, headed by their legendary head coach Don James. The top-ranked Huskies traveled to Palo Alto, Calif., that year to face the Cardinal in late October. Stanford Stadium may have been half empty that day, but it appeared half full in the eyes of the Cardinal, who ousted No. 1 Washington 43-31, knocking the Huskies out of contention for a national championship. One of the game’s more memorable moments was a lewd act in the fourth quarter by Stanford’s beloved mascot the Stanford Tree, who lifted a leg over Washington’s Husky, much to the delight of the Cardinal faithful.
UCLA had its bid for a third straight Pac-10 title ended prematurely by Stanford in 1999. The Bruins bought the farm at The Farm, Stanford Stadium’s nickname, losing to the Cardinal 42-32. The Cardinal took home the conference crown that year and played in the Rose Bowl with only eight regular season wins to its credit. DeShaun Foster of the heavily favored Bruins rushed for over 100 yards and found the end zone easily but could not put UCLA past Stanford thanks to the Cardinal’s high-powered offense. Quarterback Todd Husak and his talented duo of wideouts, DeRonnie Pitts and Troy Walters, were the toast of Stanford that year.
Aside from upsets, Stanford has provided close finishes against higher-ranked opponents which have cost their foes position in nationwide polls. In 1998, the Bruins had another scare against Stanford in Pasadena, Calif., on Halloween. Top-ranked UCLA, led by Heisman Trophy finalist quarterback Cade McNown, trailed 24-21 to the Cardinal with less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter when Walters caught a pass from Husak and raced passed the Bruin secondary toward the east endzone. He came within a yard of sealing an upset before strong safety Larry Atkins of UCLA popped the ball out of Walters’ hands, sending it past the endline for a touchback. On the ensuing drive, McNown and the Bruins traveled 80 yards for a game-winning touchdown, preserving their hopes for a national title. UCLA was hurt in the polls by its narrow win – it fell from first to fourth in the Associated Press Poll and sank to third in the BCS rankings.
In an early season game last year, the Cardinal was three points shy of upsetting No. 1 Southern California at home but fell short in the fourth quarter losing 31-28. Stanford took a 28-17 lead into the locker room at halftime and appeared strong enough offensively to keep pace with the quick-scoring Trojans and their 2004 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Matt Leinart. Leinart engineered two touchdown-scoring drives in the second half to put the Men of Troy up for good.
Whether it be out of sheer luck or just playing with nothing to lose, Stanford has an uncanny way of playing up or down to the level of its opponents as history has shown. With this in mind, it is important to both recognize the danger of the Cardinal as an underdog and to respect Stanford football because the second you stop doing so, it’ll let you know. Oregon is primed to improve its 3-1 record this weekend in Palo Alto, Calif., and should do so granted they do not let Stanford, the Pac-10’s unofficial spoiler of October, work its magic.

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