Stanford's perfect season was on the brink of ruin against USC on Saturday night because of a rare mistake by its impeccable quarterback Andrew Luck. With a little over three minutes to play in the fourth quarter, Luck threw a pass that cornerback Nickell Robey intercepted and returned 32 yards to put the Trojans ahead, 34-27. The public-address announcer's voice cut through the Coliseum crowd's pandemonium, reminding the fans to stay off the field at game's end. The message was received loud and clear by the Stanford players, who weren't ready to concede defeat. Not with Luck on their side. Luck led them to a 56-48 victory in triple overtime. Luck, the fourth-year junior widely viewed as the second coming of John Elway, rebounded from the interception, his fourth of the season, with a 10-play drive that covered 76 yards, consumed a little over two minutes and was capped by a 2-yard run by Stepfan Taylor. In overtime, he was cooler than the night air, scrambling for 13 yards on two carries, throwing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Levine Toilolo and connecting with Coby Fleener on a 2-point conversion following a 5-yard run by Taylor for the Cardinal's final points. No. 11 Oklahoma bounced back strong from its loss and No. 3 Oklahoma State had no problem in its first game as the state's top national title contender. Landry Jones passed for a school-record 505 yards and the Sooners scored the game's final 44 points to hand No. 10 Kansas State its first loss, 58-17. Oklahoma's offense exposed Kansas State's vaunted defense throughout the game. Kansas State's offense had been outgained in other games this season and yet still managed to score enough points to win. All that changed against Oklahoma's relentless pressure. The Cowboys had an even easier time, jumping out to a 35-point halftime lead and running away from Baylor in a 59-24 victory. All-American Justin Blackmon matched his career best with 13 catches for 172 yards and two scores for Oklahoma State. Joseph Randle set career highs by running for 152 yards and four touchdowns and Oklahoma State started a season with eight straight wins for only the second time in school history. The other time was in 1945, when the Cowboys finished the season 9-0, won the Sugar Bowl and were ranked fifth in the final poll.
