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.

Watch Some College Football Saturday

There is a number of interesting college football matchups tomorrow (Saturday).

Stanford is the No. 1 team on upset alert this week. The Cardinal has visions of playing for a possible national championship, but this week’s game at Southern California (USC) should test Stanford’s resolve. The probation-ridden Trojans are in the unusual spoiler role and would like to put a blemish on this Andrew Luck team.

Is Kansas State for real? We will find out this week when the undefeated Wildcats host Oklahoma. It’s a bad time to play the Sooners after Texas Tech upset Oklahoma last Saturday. If the Sooners still want to cling to small hopes of a national championship, they cannot lose any more games.

Undefeated Oklahoma State hopes to continue its push for a national championship when the Cowboys host Baylor. The Bears can score points but probably cannot stop the Cowboy offense. This game could end up 73-55.

Has Michigan State come down from its miracle win over Wisconsin? The Spartans travel to Nebraska tomorrow and it should be a tight one. Both are one-loss teams but the Spartans are undefeated in Big Ten Conference play.

Wisconsin hopes to avoid another loss this week. The Badgers travel to Ohio State Saturday. The road was a pitfall in East Lansing last Saturday, but one-loss Wisconsin needs to rebound if it wants to compete for a conference championship game.

What games are you watching this weekend? What team do you think should be on upset alert?

Good for Stanford's Andrew Luck

Stanford ‘lucked' out yesterday when quarterback Andrew Luck announced his was returning to school and postponing his entrance to the National Football League (NFL).

Luck may have been the No. 1 player taken in the draft but decided to continue working on his architectural design degree and of course, play football at the California school.

I say good for him. Enjoy the full college experience. Have fun. Earn your degree. Continue learning life lessons in a college environment. You can always work. The college life at a youthful age only happens once.

Luck is obviously an outstanding football player and a good student. He’s at Stanford. Isn’t that termed the Harvard of the West? Athletics and academics are serious business at Stanford. Luck is a student-athlete in the full sense of the term.

Stanford’s successful season was one of college football’s feel good stories. And with Luck returning, that success could definitely continue next season. Maybe Luck’s decision might convince his much sought-after coach (Jim Harbaugh) to return to northern California too.