No. 16 Stanford Regroups After Loss At Oregon
STANFORD (AP) -- For 18 quarters this season, Stanford was as formidable as any team in the country with a 4-0 start, a top 10 ranking and a halftime lead at Oregon.
After getting blown out in the second half against the Ducks and losing their first game of the season, the 16th-ranked Cardinal look to regroup this week with a home game Saturday night against Southern California.
"I think they were stung," coach Jim Harbaugh said Tuesday. "They weren't happy with the outcome. Like I told them, I felt like they played very hard from snap to whistle. They played hard and that's what you ask."
Harbaugh said a loss like last week's 52-31 defeat at Oregon can linger only for a matter of hours before it's time to look ahead to the next game.
With the Cardinal (4-1, 1-1 Pac-10) hosting USC (4-1, 1-1) on Saturday, moving on shouldn't be too tough. Harbaugh said he was pleased with his team's mindset this week, saying they had the best Monday practice of his four years at Stanford.
"We wanted to put this weekend behind us and move on to USC," quarterback Andrew Luck said. "Guys were eager to get out and sweat their issues away or run their issues out. If you want to be successful, you'll have to bounce back from losses. Personally I was disappointed, but it's a new week and we still have a lot of the season left."
The Cardinal raced out to their first 4-0 start since 1986, averaging 48 points a game. They led the Ducks 21-3 after the first quarter and 31-24 at the half, but were held scoreless in the final 30 minutes.
Luck threw two interceptions in the second half and fumbled a snap at the 1-yard line that hurt another scoring chance.
The Cardinal were hurt badly by an injury to receiver Chris Owusu, who was knocked out after a hard hit by Javes Lewis that led to a fumble and the go-ahead score for the Ducks.
While Harbaugh wants to look ahead to USC, he said that hit by Lewis was one of many plays he submitted to the Pac-10 office for an interpretation of the officials' calls.
Harbaugh believed Lewis should have been penalized for a helmet-to-helmet hit on the play, which left Owusu with a concussion.
"It's a very talked about issue and it's a point of emphasis not only in our league but in college football, pro football, high school football, Congress," Harbaugh said. "I'm interested in protecting our players and protecting our game."
Owusu felt better Sunday and was symptom free on Monday, but won't be able to play until doctors have cleared him. Owusu, who missed the first two games with a knee injury, has 11 catches for 140 yards and two touchdowns.
The Cardinal also once again could be without receiver Ryan Whalen, who has missed the past two games with an elbow injury. Harbaugh said he is day to day this week.
"He's the leader of the offense," Luck said. "He does bring a very steady presence to the offense. You know he will make plays, you know he'll do that. You do miss him a little bit but its not like we don't go through practice the whole week without practicing with the other guys. We came out showing the first half it doesn't matter who's in, who's out, we can put points on the board."
Harbaugh said he also wants an interpretation on a few other calls. He was upset about a fair catch interference call in the third quarter when he believed the Oregon player did not make a clear signal for a fair catch and an onside kick recovered by Oregon in the first half that he thought should have been called back for an illegal block below the waist.
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