Aftermath of Stanford loss

You‘ve got to tip your hat to Andrew Luck. In a post-game interview following Saturday’s loss to Oregon State, the curly-haired puppy-eyed Stanford quarterback said: “I know it wasn’t going to be a cake walk … We still have football left. For that, I am grateful.”

Pretty positive words, considering Luck and company took a 53-30 licking that brought the team’s winning streak to an end, and deflating any hopes of the team going to its first national championship.

Now, the loss was certainly not due to a lack of effort or lazy play: the Cards definitely didn’t look like themselves when they took the field this passed weekend against an aggressive Ducks team. Despite Luck’s 271 yards and two touchdowns, a fumble and two interceptions added to the five turnovers that peppered Stanford’s performance. And when the Ducks lost footing, Stanford wasn’t consistently able to keep possession of the ball for long enough to score.

The Ducks — on the other hand —took full advantage of the Cardinal’s lukewarm performance, winning their ninth straight game of the season.

And for those of you that live and die by those computer rankings, the Ducks victory scooted them up to the No. 4 slot in the BCS. Stanford, however, has taken a topple from No. 4 to No. 9.

“There’s still more goals out there for us to accomplish,” Luck declared somberly post-game. Let’s hope the rest of the Cardinal community can put this loss behind them and follow his lead.

Additional sources:

• Updated BCS Rankings