Stanford was tested and passed, barely. The Cardinal went down 34-27 on an Andrew Luck pick-six, then drove back down the field for a touchdown. USC approached field goal range, though a bizarre screen call saw Robert Woods tackled in bounds with a second remaining. Lane Kiffin will forever maintain he called a timeout in the split second left on the clock. The teams traded blows until the third overtime. Stanford forced a fumble inside the five and recovered. 56-48. Fin.

With Stanford -7.5 favorites it was one of the most incredible covers that I can remember. Looking forward, it looks as though Stanford will struggle against team that can match and surpass their athleticism, especially in the secondary. Oregon on Nov. 12 should be an event. The Trojans don’t have much left to play for, though they look like a top five team heading into 2012, if they can persuade Matt Barkley to stay.

[Video via @cjzero]