STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford has vaulted back into the Top 25 and back into contention for the Pac-12 Conference championship.
The Cardinal made its move with a stunning 41-31 road win over then-No. 6 USC. Stanford, ranked 21st in the preseason poll before suffering a humbling 16-6 loss to Northwestern in the season opener, returned to the national rankings at No. 21 while USC plummeted to No. 19.
Now Stanford is turning its attention to the road ahead and setting its sights on winning the Pac-12 North Division. The Cardinal will have a short week to prepare for a Friday night game at Oregon State, but then the schedule will take a favorable turn.
Stanford will play six of its last eight games at home. The home slate will include pivotal clashes with Arizona on Oct. 3, UCLA on Oct. 15, Oregon on Nov. 14 and California on Nov. 21. The only remaining road games will be against Washington State on Oct. 31 and Colorado on Nov. 7, both of which look like very winnable games for the Cardinal.
The only distressing observation from the win over USC was the sight of fifth-year senior quarterback Kevin Hogan making his way out of the stadium with crutches and a walking boot on his left foot. The injury was not believed to be serious. Hogan didn’t mention the injury when he took to Twitter following the victory, tweeting: “So proud of these guys. We play for each other!”
Hogan played the entire game against USC and played exceptionally well, building on his performance in the second half of a 31-7 victory over Central Florida in which he threw for a career-high 341 yards. Hogan completed 18-of-23 passes for 279 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions against the Trojans.
“He was huge,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “Coming off a first game when we didn’t play well and second game (which) we didn’t start well, we knew we had to come out well against a good team and it starts with your quarterback.”
There were serious concerns about the offense following the loss to Northwestern and a sluggish first half against Central Florida, but Stanford has responded nicely. The Cardinal was 8-of-12 on third-down conversions, dominated time of possession by a two-to-one margin, scored on seven of its 10 possessions and converted on all six of its red-zone opportunities against USC.
“In the pregame talk, I had all the guys stand up who had played in Pac-12 title games, and that’s half the team,” Shaw said. “Our guys are used to playing in big games.”
Shaw also made sure his players remembered there will be more big games ahead.
“Our guys were celebrating after the game, but I reminded them we don’t get a trophy for this one,” Shaw said. “It’s a regular-season game against a conference opponent that we won on the road. That’s great, but we get back to work.”
NOTES, QUOTES
PLAYERS TO WATCH
–Senior QB Kevin Hogan is now tied for fourth all-time at Stanford on a star-studded list with 53 career touchdown passes. Andrew Luck is the career leader with 82. He is followed by John Elway (77), Steve Stenstrom (74) and Jim Plunkett (53).
–Sophomore RB Christian McCaffrey is first in the Pac-12 and fourth in the FBS in all-purpose yards per game, averaging 195.3 per contest. Glyn Milburn holds Stanford’s single-season record for all-purpose yards. He averaged 171.8 per game in 1992.
–TE Austin Hooper had a big game against USC after catching just one pass for 11 yards a week earlier against Central Florida. Hooper had four catches for a career-high 79 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown reception. Stanford coach David Shaw called Hooper “one of the best tight ends in the nation.”
–LB Blake Martinez is leading the Pac-12 with 12.7 tackles per game. He has led the team in tackles in each game this season and tied his career high with 14 in the win over USC.
SERIES HISTORY: Stanford leads Oregon State 53-25-3 in a series that dates back to 1919. The Cardinal has won five in a row against the Beavers, including a 38-14 victory last season at Stanford Stadium.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “We felt like we had an unbelievable week of practice. Everyone put in extra time in the film room after practice to make sure we were ready to go. We made sure we stuck to the game plan and executed, and it’s a nice feeling to go out in the second half and run the clock out, playing our style, running between the tackles and wearing them down.” — Stanford QB Kevin Hogan, following a 41-31 victory over No. 6 USC.