San Diego Union-Tribune (Sunday)
CARDINAL MAKING A HABIT OF BEATING RANKED DUCKS
Stanford’s comeback victory that stunned Oregon was enough of a roller coaster that coach David Shaw felt the need to apologize to his parents and any other fans older than 70 for the emotional toll.
The Cardinal overcame a blown lead and had their banged-up quarterback stage an improbable rally before finally prevailing over the third-ranked Ducks.
Tanner Mckee threw a TD pass on an untimed down at the end of regulation to tie the game and another on the opening possession of overtime to lead Stanford to a 3124 victory Saturday.
“The key word is resilience,” Shaw said. “It’s the mark of a successful team, it’s the mark of a successful person. How can you withstand the storms that life gives you? Our guys took it on the chin quite a bit but we fought back and made some big plays.”
Mckee came back after leaving for a play on the final drive of regulation with injured ribs to tie it on a 2-yard pass to Elijah Higgins after a holding penalty by Oregon (4-1, 1-1) in the end zone extended the game one play.
Mckee then gave the Cardinal (3-2, 2-1) the lead with a 14-yarder to John Humphreys in overtime. Stanford then forced Anthony Brown to throw an incomplete pass on fourthand-8 to seal its fourth win
Stanford 31, No. 3 Oregon 24 (OT)
against an Oregon team ranked in the top 10 since 2009 and set off a wild on-field celebration with the students and players.
“We were all on cloud nine. Just pure joy,” linebacker Gabe Reid said. “There were a lot of ups and downs. We tried to say consistent with our energy and our passion. We like to think we deal with adversity well.”
The Ducks appeared poised for their first 5-0 start in eight years when they rallied from 10 points down at halftime to take a 24-17 lead early in the fourth quarter on Brown’s second TD run of the game.
But then Mckee delivered the big plays late and the Cardinal capitalized on three Oregon penalties on the gametying 87-yard drive in the final 1:59 of regulation.
“We had some bright moments, but certainly not enough to overcome some of our own mistakes,” coach Mario Cristobal said.
USC 37, Colorado 14: Kedon Slovis threw three touchdown passes and the Trojans (3-2, 2-2) broke out of their doldrums with a rout of the freefalling Buffaloes (1-4, 0-2).
Slovis completed 19 of 29 throws for 276 yards and hit Drake London, Michael Trigg and Gary Bryant Jr. with scoring passes as the
Trojans bounced back in a big way from their first home loss to Oregon State in 61 years by rolling over a Buffaloes team whose offense remains stuck in neutral.
Oregon State 27, Washington 24: B.J. Baylor had 20 carries for 110 yards and two touchdowns, Everett Hayes kicked a 24-yard field goal as time expired and the Beavers (4-1, 2-0) beat the Huskies (2-3, 1-1).
Washington State 21, California 6: Jayden de Laura passed for three touchdowns, two to Calvin Jackson Jr. who made a spectacular one-handed grab near the corner of the end zone to lead the Cougars (2-3, 1-2 Pac-12) past the Golden Bears (1-4, 0-2) for their first win at Memorial Stadium since 2013.