#20 Stanford 21 - Cal 3

BIG GAME!   We retain the AXE! 

Went to the game (in Berkeley) with Jane, Annette, and her buddy Lisa.  We took BART over there, crusied around Berkeley, stopped at Henry's bar (where Jane intro'd me to Stanford peeps as "he's in the hall of fame").

We scored first, and never looked back.  Cal threatened to score when they got to the 2 yard line, but then we intercepted and marched it all the way back down the field.  Williamson, our kicker, continues to struggle - missing 2 FG attempts.  Good thing Cal was not good - we just rolled right through them.

Taylor had 189 yards rushing, and passed Gerhart to now be 2nd on the all time rushing list for Stanford, only behind Darrin Nelson.  Nunes looked better, but again, there wasn't much D to worry about.

Pretty much a ho-hum game, not a lot to cheer about, just kind of taking care of business.  We left a little early, so I didn't see for sure, but didn't look like the Axe even had to be taken over towards the Cal committee.  Maybe when it's a blowout, we just keep it on our side?

Annette got the tickets, so we were worried to wear Carindal gear.  Turned out fine, as we were down at the end near the Stanford section, so there was plenty of our peeps down there.

#17 Stanford 13 - #7 Notre Dame 20

Welcome to the Notre Dame Broadcasting Network (NBC).  Killer to have our game on NBC for the nation to watch, but horrible ending.  We battle in a rain soaked, defensive game to a 10-10 tie, heading into overtime.  Notre Dame scores a touchdown on their possession, and then we do too ... or so we thought.

On 4th down and 1 we give it to Taylor who initially hits the pile, but then bounces back a bit, spins, and lunges forward.  The refs run in from the side, and do NOT signal touchdown.  The Notre Dame players and fans are celebrating...  But wait, it's under review.  We wait around for over 5 minutes for a decision, during which time, the replays are clearly showing that Stephan Taylor got the ball over the plane of the goal line before an elbow or knee touched the ground.  Surely they'll reverse it, we'll kick the extra point, and continue OT.  NOT!  Ref comes back - play stands as called.  Horrible.

The next day, there's all kinds of fallout that it should have been called a touchdown.

Notre Dame moves to 6-0, their first undefeated start in a LONG time, and they're actually starting to be included in the BCS national championship conversation.

Summary article.

Mike Pereia's (old NFL head of officials) take on the call.

Arizona 48 - #18 Stanford 54 (OT)

Back on home turf for this one, and we played a bit better, but shouldn't have struggled this much against Arizona.  Nunes led two key drives in the 4th quarter to get us into OT, and then it was pretty easy.  Chase Thomas intercepted an Arizona pass in their OT possession, and we scored easily with a run up the middle on the 2nd play of our series.

Highlights:   Toilolo with 141 yards receiving and a TD.