The 2007 Stanford vs. USC football game was an NCAAcollege football game held on October 6, 2007, at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in Los Angeles, California. In a remarkable upset, the visiting Stanford Cardinal won 24–23 despite USC having been favored by 41 points entering the game.[1] This result was the biggest point spread upset of all time in college football (since surpassed by the Howard University Bison in 2017, who were 45-point underdogs heading into a road game against the UNLV Rebels). USC entered the game with a 35-game home game winning streak (its previous home game loss also happened to be to Stanford, in 2001) which included a 24-game home game winning streak in Pac-10 play. By contrast, Stanford had compiled a Pac-10 worst 1–11 season in 2006, which included a 42–0 loss to USC. To compound the situation, Stanford's starting quarterback T. C. Ostrander had suffered a seizure the week before and his replacement, backup quarterback Tavita Pritchard, had never started a game and had thrown just three passes in official play.
Game summary
The weather was sunny and 74 °F (23 °C) with a slight west wind. The game began at 4:09pm Pacific Daylight Time and ended at 7:36pm.
The final score was announced at the Rose Bowl, where USC's two arch-rivals, UCLA and Notre Dame, were playing each other. Irish and Bruins fans cheered in unison and celebrated together briefly.[4] At the same time, at Tiger Stadium, the #1 LSU Tigers were playing the #9 Florida Gators and the fans in the stadium celebrated when the USC score was announced there, too.[5] The Tigers would later come from behind to beat the Gators 28–24, making them #1 in both polls with USC dropping from #1 in the coaches poll due to the loss.
Stanford's victory, for once, was cheered on by perennial rival Cal, who was ranked No. 3 in the nation at the time of USC's loss. USC's loss elevated California to its highest ranking in nearly six decades, and it was primed to reach the #1 ranking for the first time since 1951 when #1 LSU was beaten in overtime by Kentucky the same day it played Oregon State. California lost the Oregon State game; after starting the season 5-0 and ranked No. 12, it finished 7-6 and unranked. 2007 was also the only game in an eight year Big Game stretch that it lost to Stanford.
In 1979, Stanford had pulled a similar feat by coming back in the last four minutes to tie USC 21–21 on October 13. This game, considered one of the greatest of the 20th century,[7] effectively cost USC a national championship.
In the 2009 season, Stanford would eclipse the point spread by handing USC its worst defeat ever. Stanford won 55–21, and USC was an 11-point favorite.[8][9] The next year in 2010, tenth-ranked Stanford defeated USC with a last-second field goal to win, 37–35. In 2011, Stanford would again defeat USC, continuing a 3-game streak of defeating USC at their home stadium. In a much closer game, Stanford defeated USC 56–48 in triple overtime. In the following year, the Cardinal again faced a second-ranked USC team and defeated them 21–14, earning a fourth consecutive win over the Trojans, a first in team and school history.
^Chris Dufresne (October 7, 2007). "You look upset, Los Angeles. Why the long fall from grace?". Los Angeles Times. Quote:"With the Rose Bowl game mired in 6–6 slog, UCLA and Notre Dame fans collectively erupted with 4:46 left in the third quarter at the Rose Bowl when Stanford's epic upset at the Coliseum was announced -- Pete Carroll's first home loss since Stanford beat the Trojans in 2001."