Andrew Luck Named Pac-10 Offensive Player Of The Week, Chasing John Elway

It's surprisingly the first time this year that Luck received offensive. The Pac-10 made the official announcement today.

Luck, a sophomore from Houston, Texas, completed 23 of 32 passes for 293 yards with two touchdowns (45, 5 yards) and no interceptions in the 42-17 win over No. 13 Arizona. He also rushed three times for 25 yards, bringing his season total to 370 rushing yards - most ever in a single season by a Stanford quarterback. He now has 22 touchdown passes on the year, which rank tied for fourth on Stanford’s all-time single-season charts.

So who is he chasing?

[Luck ranks] fourth on Stanford's all-time single-season list with Steve Dils (1978) and five shy of the school's all-time record of 27, shared by John Elway (1980) and Steve Stenstrom (1993).

With at least three games (plus a bowl game) left in his Cardinal career and some not-so-impressive pass defenses left to face (Arizona State, Cal and Oregon State have had their troubles against good quarterbacks this season), Luck could very well pass the best quarterback in Stanford's history. And who knows, Luck may have something to say about that when his career is done.

Stanford Cardinal Dominate Arizona Wildcats, Keep BCS Hopes Alive

Sports Network | November 6, 2010

Palo Alto, CA (Sports Network) – Andrew Luck was extremely efficient, completing 23-of-32 passes for 293 yards and two touchdowns to help 10th- ranked Stanford continue its best start in 40 years with a 42-17 drubbing of 13th-ranked Arizona.

Luck, who many view as one of the top NFL prospects in college football, was not intercepted and now has a 22-to-6 touchdown-to-interception ratio for Stanford (8-1, 5-1 Pac-10), which is behind only unbeaten Oregon in the conference standings.

Chris Owusu was Luck’s main target, hauling in nine passes for a career-high 165 yards and a touchdown. Stepfan Taylor had his streak of 100-yard rushing games end at five, but he still ran for 82 yards and four touchdowns on 19 carries.

Nick Foles threw for 248 yards and a score on 28-of-48 passing and was picked off once for Arizona (7-2, 4-2), which saw its five-game road win streak come to an end. Juron Criner recorded nine receptions for 98 yards and a touchdown, while Keola Antolin carried the ball 16 times for 86 yards and a TD in defeat.

Stanford wasted no time taking control of the game, as Luck finished off a game-opening 69-yard drive with a 45-yard touchdown strike to Owusu.

Arizona drove deep into Cardinal territory on its first possession, but an intentional grounding penalty on 3rd-and-6 from the 20 pushed the Wildcats out of field goal range, and they punted the ball away.

The hosts doubled their lead early in the second quarter on a lengthy drive that spanned 14 plays and 89 yards over nearly eight minutes. Taylor capped the series with a two-yard touchdown run with 11:43 until halftime.

The Wildcats got on the scoreboard on Alex Zendejas’ 33-yard field goal with just under six minutes left in the second, but a 27-yard punt return by Stanford’s Drew Terrell late in the quarter set up Taylor’s five-yard scoring run to account for the 21-3 halftime margin.

Foles drove Arizona to the Stanford 28 with seconds remaining in the quarter before he was picked off by the Cardinal’s Richard Sherman.

Luck extended the Stanford lead to 25 in the third by directing a 10-play, 75- yard drive that ended on his five-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Gaffney. Foles came right back with a seven-yard scoring pass to Criner, but Taylor scored for the third time on the ensuing Cardinal possession to restore the previous margin, 35-10.

A one-yard touchdown run by Antolin for Arizona with 9:02 to play finished Arizona’s scoring, and Taylor added yet another touchdown from five yards away with 3:23 remaining to account for the final margin.

Arizona still leads the all-time series, 14-12, although it has lost three of four to Stanford…The Cardinal inducted former defensive back and NFL All-Pro John Lynch into their Hall of Fame…Stanford has scored 30 or more points in nine straight games…This was the first meeting between the two schools where both came into the game ranked…Stanford was last 8-1 in 1970, when Jim Plunkett was the quarterback.

Arizona at Stanford Preview: Cardinal Try To Stay In Rose Bowl Race

Sports Network | November 3, 2010

GAME NOTES: Powerhouse Pac-10 Conference teams will collide in Stanford this weekend as the hometown Cardinal, ranked 10th nationally, will host the 13th- ranked Arizona Wildcats.

Arizona has flown under the radar this season, which is certainly surprising considering the team's 7-1 overall record and 4-1 mark in league action. The only loss came at home to Oregon State on October 9th. The Wildcats have won their last three outings, including a 29-21 triumph over UCLA last weekend on the road.

"Going on the road and winning is a great compliment to our players and our coaches," said Arizona head coach Mike Stoops after the UCLA. "I thought we played relatively well if you take out a couple of plays defensively. Besides that, we had pretty good control of the game."

Just like Arizona, Stanford is 7-1 after winning each of its last three games. The only loss for the Cardinal to date came against Oregon, which is still unbeaten and ranked first nationally. Last weekend, the Cardinal were completely dominant on both sides of the ball in a 41-0 romp over Washington.

Arizona owns a 14-11 series advantage over Stanford, which includes a 43-38 victory over the Cardinal last season.

Wildcats' quarterback Nick Foles sprained his knee two weeks ago and was held out of action against UCLA last weekend. Matt Scott, a junior, took the snaps against the Bruins and completed 24-of-36 passes for 319 yards and one touchdown with one interception. He also posted 71 rushing yards in the tilt.

"I thought he was really good," said coach Stoops of Scott. "He made tons of plays throughout the course of the game. He continues to improve and we knew that we could win with Matt."

Juron Criner hauled in eight balls for 127 yards and a touchdown, proving once again to be one of the top wideouts in the nation. As for tailback Keola Antolin, he carried 23 times for 111 yards and a touchdown.

While the Arizona offense rolled up 583 total yards against UCLA, the Wildcats played tremendous defense as well, limiting the Bruins to 299 total yards. The run defense was superb, permitting a mere 71 yards on 28 attempts. Although there were a few long pass plays allowed and two passing touchdowns, Arizona can take pride in the fact that just 13-of-27 attempts by UCLA resulted in completions.

Through eight games, Arizona is racking up 32.6 ppg and 453.4 total ypg. Foles, who is expected back this weekend, has completed a stellar 75.3 percent of his passes for 1,600 yards and nine touchdowns with five interceptions. Criner has 49 catches for 786 yards and five touchdowns, while Antolin has rushed for 443 yards and six scores. As for Nic Grigsby, the other half of the team's outstanding tailback duo, he has posted 421 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.

Foes are scoring only 14.4 ppg against the stingy Wildcats, who are yielding a lowly 286.9 total ypg. That fact that only 88.4 rushing ypg are being permitted at an average of 2.6 yards per carry has been key to the team's success. With 27 sacks and 15 takeaways, Arizona has made its fair share of big plays. Keep an eye on Ricky Elmore, as he has posted eight of the team's sacks.

Stanford figures to challenge that tremendous Arizona defense, as the Cardinal are posting 42.4 ppg and 466.9 total ypg. Andrew Luck is at the helm of the offense, and he has connected on 67.3 percent of his passes for 1,920 yards and 20 touchdowns against six interceptions. The star quarterback's favorite target is Doug Baldwin, who has made 33 catches for 458 yards and six scores. As for the ground attack, Stepfan Taylor has run for 728 yards and seven touchdowns.

While Stanford defense hasn't been quite as good as Arizona's unit, the club has been able to limit opponents to 21.2 ppg and 330.4 total ypg. The Cardinal have surrendered 21 touchdowns to opposing offenses, 11 of which have come through the air. Fortunately, they have tallied 18 takeaways, including 10 interceptions, to go along with 20 sacks. Shayne Skov leads Stanford with 46 total tackles, including three sacks.

The Cardinal rolled up 470 total yards against Washington last week and scored five offensive touchdowns, four of which were of the rushing variety. Taylor reached the end zone twice and tallied 104 rushing yards on 20 carries. As for Luck, he connected on 19-of-26 passes for 192 yards and a score.

"Let's open up the Heisman discussion a little bit," said Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh. "This Andrew Luck is a great, great football player."

The Cardinal limited the Huskies to seven first downs and 107 total yards, causing the coach of Washington, Steve Sarkisian, to call the offensive effort the worst he has ever been associated with. Stanford permitted only 19 rushing yards on 25 carries, a remarkable statistic, and two interceptions helped preserve the shutout as well.

Simply put, Stanford and Arizona are evenly matched. Give a narrow edge to the Cardinal this weekend based solely on the homefield advantage.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Stanford 28, Arizona 24