Stanford's Andrew Luck Runs Out of Luck

I was cheering for Stanford Saturday night against Oregon. The Stanford boys are easy to embrace: Andrew Luck, true student-athletes and an outstanding academic institution.

But, you knew heading into the game, the Cardinal faced a difficult test. Stanford had recently survived against Southern Cal in a wild overtime game and frankly it looked vulnerable. Plus, Oregon is a fast and athletic team.

All these factors made it feel that Stanford’s undefeated season would come to an end. The hutch was correct. Match, set, Oregon 53-30.

The game was never close unless you count 0-0. Stanford quarterback Luck is indeed a great talent. But the poor guy needs help. Too many mistakes, took many dropped passes and out-of-sync overall play doomed the Cardinal.

Stanford’s national championship hopes are basically gone. It has fallen to ninth place in the BCS. It’s difficult to leapfrog a number of teams this time of year. The Cardinal need a football miracle and I don’t think it will happen.

But regardless, Stanford will remain an interesting team to watch. Luck is the reason Stanford has won nine games so far this season. With some other luck, they could have been 10-0.