November 23, 2005

Back to the table of Contents Page

Classifieds

Palo Alto Online

For Stanford, it was the Big Lame

by Rick Eymer

The sullen faces on the Stanford football players as they walked off the field Saturday night told the whole story. Another opportunity slipped away and the Cardinal knew better than to look anywhere but in the mirror.

Menlo-Atherton grad T.C. Ostrander, who replaced quarterback Trent Edwards early in the third quarter, stared straight ahead as he answered questions. He likely felt the 27-3 loss to visiting California in the 108th edition of the Big Game worst than most; he's been attending these games since he was five years old.

"I've been indoctrinated in the game," Ostrander said. "Losing to Cal is just a terrible feeling."

Ostrander completed 15 of 23 passes for 152 yards but he and Edwards could not get Stanford into the end zone, and the two signal callers were sacked nine times.

"Offensively we beat ourselves, there's no question about it," Ostrander said. "We've played better against better teams."

Edwards left the game with a stinger and soreness in his AC joint in the left shoulder. He left after being sacked for the fifth time, and was hurried on several other occasions.

"On the third play of the game we didn't get enough time for our quarterback," Stanford coach Walt Harris said. "We need to get better quick this week and in the future. Football is a simple game. It's mano-on-mano and that's where we don't match up. When you don't match up physically all that stuff is a pipe dream."

Harris was referring to winning the Big Game and in front of a big crowd, and becoming bowl eligible.

Yet, with one game remaining, Stanford (4-4, 5-5) still has a chance to chase that dream. With sixth-ranked Notre Dame coming to Stanford on Saturday for a 5 p.m. kickoff, the Cardinal can still force itself into a bowl game, even if it means the Emerald Bowl in San Francisco.

"You look at our seniors and we have a lot of great seniors," Ostrander said. "We want to win to give them another game."

One of those seniors is Palo Alto grad Timi Wusu, who refused to let the disappointing loss change his plans.

"Right now it stings," he said. "But as soon as we wake up it's back to work. We have another opportunity to play for a bowl and we need to step up to the challenge. We need to play more physically on all three sides of the ball (including special teams)."

Wusu, who was in on three tackles, including one for a loss, realizes that his college career has come down to one final game, and if he gets his wish, a bowl game.

"I just want to play my heart out for my buddies," he said. "I don't want to leave anything out on the field. We've worked too hard not to do that. It's great that we have no school this week. We have one last opportunity to get it done and it will be all football this week."

Fifth-year senior wide receiver Gerren Crochet, who caught a career-high seven passes for 86 yards, also refuses to believe the season will soon be over even as things begin to stack up against Stanford.

"The season is long from being over," he said. "If we beat Notre Dame we can still live out a small amount of our dreams here."

Will Stanford have enough firepower to deal with the Irish? Will Edwards be physically ready to play after suffering his third separate injury of the season? Will the third time facing a ranked opponent be the charm?

Notre Dame needs a victory to secure its spot in the BCS standings, so motivation will be no problem for either team. Stanford does have experience playing against top 10 teams this season, losing badly to top-ranked USC and losing on the final play of the game, in overtime, to then sixth-ranked UCLA.

There are some disturbing trends developing in the Big Game as far as Stanford is concerned. Cal beat the Cardinal four straight for the first time since 1936-39, and the Bears have won two in a row in Stanford Stadium for the first time since 1949 and 1951.

Whatever the season has been to date, Stanford can certainly make it successful with a win over the Irish. With the bulldozers at the wait as the stadium empties this week, it would be better to know the Cardinal has something to look forward to besides the destruction of the stadium.

NOTES: Stanford senior tight end Matt Traverso established career highs with four catches for 55 yards . . . Stanford did allow a season-low 139 passing yards . . . The attendance of 71,743 was the largest at Stanford since the 1999 Big Game . . . The three points were Stanford's fewest in the Big Game since a 26-3 loss in 1967 . . . Stanford rushed for a season-low 16 yards.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.