mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">PASADENA, Calif. — In the postgame
celebration that followed Stanford’s 20-14 victory over Wisconsin at the 99th
Rose Bowl, the specter of former quarterback Andrew Luck was clear and present.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">There were significant
doubts that Stanford would be the same without him, but on a cool, brisk
afternoon, the Cardinal finished off its season with an emphatic statement.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">No Luck needed.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">“Our program is here to
stay,” said Stanford defensive back Usua Amanam, whose fourth-quarter
interception in the final two-plus minutes mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">— the game’s only turnover — secured
the win.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">Luck is a year removed
from Stanford, but his departure was seen as the end of good times for the Cardinal.
He was the No. 1 pick in the NFL Draft last spring and now works for the
Indianapolis Colts, but even in Tuesday night’s afterglow, his name couldn’t
help but be invoked.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">That’s not a bad thing.
Luck put the football program on solid ground. The question was whether coach
David Shaw could keep it there without his unquestioned star.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">Answer: a resounding yes.
The Cardinal won 11 games during the regular season, beat then-No. 1 Oregon,
took Notre Dame to overtime before losing and defeated UCLA in the Pac-12 title
game.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">All without Luck.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">“Andrew Luck deserved
and deserves a lot of credit and a lot of attention for what he’s done with us
and what he’s doing now in the NFL,” Shaw said. “But the thing we knew is that
we had a good team. Andrew knew he had a good team around him. He was as
excited about this year coming up as anybody we have.”
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">The Rose Bowl was
Stanford’s opportunity to show a national TV audience that it was more than just
one player, even as good as that player was. And although the game started as
an offensive show, it turned on critical defensive plays.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">The Cardinal scored the
first two times it had the ball, driving 80 and 79 yards on the Badgers’
formidable defense for touchdown runs by Kelsey Young and Stepfan Taylor. But
as it turned out, those were the Cardinal’s only touchdowns of the game. Any
thought it had that it could run wild on Wisconsin was unfounded.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">“Wisconsin’s a very good
team, a very good offense, very tough defensively,” Stanford tight end Zach
Ertz said. “I thought it was going to be a battle all along.”
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">True enough. But if the
Badgers were unmovable on defense, so was Stanford. That was never more
apparent than in the second quarter when Wisconsin crossed the goal line twice
but never actually scored.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">The first time, an
apparent 8-yard touchdown run by Montee Ball was nullified by a holding call on
left tackle Rick Wagner. The second time, a 9-yard TD pass from Curt Phillips
to Jacob Pederson was subjected to a video review, which showed Pederson had a
knee down inches before the goal line.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">The Badgers had one
final chance to score on fourth-and-1, but Cardinal defensive end Ben Gardner
stuffed James White for no gain.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">“I picked up a tendency
from their wildcat package and their short-yardage (look) during film study,”
Gardner said. “I had a hunch where the ball was going, so I kind of tightened
down my alignment and shot the gap, and I was able to make the play.”
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">Asked if he was sure he
stopped White from reaching the end zone, Gardner said, “Oh yeah, I stopped
him.”
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">Stanford relied on field
goals of 47 and 22 yards by Jordan Williamson to pad its lead, and a 12-play
drive preceding the second kick ate up almost 6½ minutes, leaving the Badgers
with just 4:23 for their final drive. But Wisconsin’s comeback hopes failed
abruptly.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">On a second-and-5 at the
Cardinals 49, Phillips’ pass was intercepted by Amanam to put away the game.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">“I don’t think one play
wins any game,” Amanam said. “I just happened to be in the right place at the
right time, and we were able to kind of seal the game with that one.”
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">But the Cardinal readily
conceded it came with a physical price.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">“I’m beat up right now,”
said Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan, who was 12-of-19 passing for 123 yards.
“I think Stepfan (Taylor) probably is too. They’re a very good team,
hard-nosed.”
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">Taylor finished with 88
yards and the first-quarter touchdown on 20 carries.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">“We knew this was going to be a battle,” Shaw
said. “For us, we wouldn’t expect it any other way. This is the way we’ve
played all year. We know it’s going to be tight, and we know it’s going to be
close. At the end of the game, we’re going to find a way to win.”
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">The fact Stanford did it
without Luck made it even more gratifying. As Amanam pointed out, this is a
team that endured the loss of gritty running back Toby Gerhart after the 2009
season, lost coach Jim Harbaugh to the NFL after 2010 and saw the departure of
Luck after 2011.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">So it was motivation to
prove the Cardinal could stay strong and remain prominent among college
football’s powers ... and that’s what they did.
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">“It’s always difficult
to replace an unbelievable player like Andrew,” Hogan said, “but when you have
great guys around you that keep you level-headed, everyone comes together for
one cause.”
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black">In this case, the reward
was roses.
