Saturday was a busy day for Stanford football on the field, and Monday was a busy day off it.
The Cardinal, fresh off its triple-overtime victory at USC, was named the National Team of the Week by the Football Writers Association of America. It marks the third time Stanford has ever received the honor—each time on the weekend of a Cardinal victory at USC. The 2007 game was termed the “Biggest Upset Ever” when the 41-point underdog Cardinal shocked No. 1 USC. In 2009, Stanford set a Los Angeles Coliseum record with 55 points in a rout of the Trojans, known for the “What’s your deal?” moment between then-head coaches Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll. On Saturday, the Cardinal broke that scoring record in a 56-48 thriller to keep the team undefeated.
Additionally, redshirt sophomore kicker Eric Whitaker was named Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week. In his first career start, Whitaker made both of his field goal attempts and all six of his extra point attempts in a game where every point mattered. Filling in for an injured Jordan Williamson, Whitaker struggled with kickoffs, placing two out of bounds, but he booted one deep in the final minute of regulation to give USC a longer field.
Stanford also released an injury update on redshirt sophomore tight end Zach Ertz. The release announced that Ertz has a “lower leg” injury and will miss at least two weeks. Ertz sustained the injury on the opening kickoff against USC and stood on the sideline on crutches with a brace on his leg for the rest of the game.
After this Saturday’s road game against 2-6 Oregon State, the Cardinal will return home for its most anticipated game of the season, Nov. 12 against Oregon. Stanford announced that the Oregon contest, a rematch of the Cardinal’s lone loss in 2010, will take place at 5 p.m. and be aired on ABC.
Although Ertz is expected to miss this game, the status of other injured Stanford players—such as Williamson, senior safety Delano Howell, senior wide receiver Chris Owusu and redshirt freshman tackle Cameron Fleming—remains unknown.
Stanford will take on Oregon State in Corvallis, Ore., on Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
– Jacob Jaffe