Coming into this weekend's contest with the Oregon State Beavers, I found myself wondering whether the Stanford Cardinal might succumb to a potential let-down performance in Corvallis. Stanford was coming off a heart-pounding triple-overtime victory against the USC Trojans. Add in next week's BCS showdown with the Oregon Ducks and it would not be entirely shocking to see the Cardinal get tripped up. Oh, and Andrew Luck is 0-2 in his college career in the state of Oregon.
Well, one quarter in, you can call it a letdown or just emotionally drained from the week before, but Stanford has gotten themselves into a bit of a dogfight. The Cardinal just got on the board courtesy of a two-yard rushing touchdown by Jeremy Stewart and lead 7-0 early in the second quarter but were shut out in the first quarter for the first time this season.
Stanford came out passing early, but Andrew Luck has been a bit sluggish in the passing game. He is 4 of 8 for 28 yards with an interception. He threw the pick on a third down in which he was about to be sacked and was just trying to make something happen. The Cardinal defense stepped up to force an Oregon State punt after the pick and the Stanford defense has prevented the sluggish offensive start from being a serious problem.
As would be expected, Stanford has gone back to their rushing ways. They have now rushed 13 times for 105 yards and a touchdown, with seven different players getting a rushing attempt.
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