This Week in Stanford Football History: SMU Week

Edition “Throwback Thursday” October 6, 2012

13 years ago this week, QB Josh Nunes had himself a monster day in a Cardinal uniform, throwing for a career-high 360 yards and two touchdowns and, get this, three more rushing scores! (Say what?) Rallying the resilient #18 Stanford Cardinal from a season-endangering two-touchdown deficit, Nunes & Co. stunned upset-minded Arizona into submission with a 54-48 win in overtime, a clutch, confidence-instilling victory that would prove critical to the 2012 squad’s memorable run for the Rose Bowl!

Nunes, who had to play transition quarterback that season as the entire team adjusted to the post-Andrew Luck era, was an absolute gridiron gladiator that day, battling Arizona dual-threat QB Matt Scott in a four-quarter exchange of offensive fireworks. Scott, a second-team All-Pac-12 selection in 2012, had redshirted the 2011 season, when future NFL star Nick Foles was having a career year in Tucson. Arizona’s ultra-spread, up-tempo, high-octane offense, a perfect match for the versatile Scott, was exceedingly challenging to scheme and the upset-minded Cats were on fire that day and feeling far too at home in the way-too-friendly confines of Stanford Stadium.

Fortunate for the good guys, Stanford was also firing on all cylinders on offense. Scoring 48 points was not going to be quite enough for the downtrodden denizens of the desert, for on the other side of the ball for Stanford were the aforementioned Nunes, stepping up like a champ, Stepfan Taylor running wild as an unstoppable force, and tight end Zach Ertz showcasing the iron will that earned him All-American honors the previous season as a junior. Oh, and we had 6’9” TE Levine Toilolo as a pretty decent target as well. Good to bring loaded guns to a gun fight!

Taylor would give appropriate credit to his dominating o-line for enabling his highly productive game. He would become Stanford’s career rushing yardage leader later that season, thanks in no small part to a formidable front force featuring multiple future professionals. Sydney-born Australian citizen David Yankey would be named first-team all-conference and selected a first-team consensus All-American in both 2012 and 2013, also winning the prestigious Morris Trophy in 2012 as the Pac-12’s outstanding lineman. Cerebral center Sam Schwartzstein and fast-twitching road-paver Kevin Danser would each make the second team.

First-team all-conference safety Ed Reynolds and current Card assistant coach Jordan Richards were at safety, paired with veteran Terrence Brown, Barry Browning, and Usua Amanam at the corners and nickel. The Stanford secondary occasionally could be tested, but it was filled with opportunistic playmakers. Amanam, literally born at Stanford Hospital, would later be named the Most Valuable Player in the 2013 Rose Bowl.

It was a crazy embarrassment of defensive riches to have the likes of NT David Parry, NG Terrance Stephens, DE Henry Anderson, DE Ben Gardner, OLBs Trent Murphy and Chase Thomas, and OLB James Vaughters, alongside game-wrecking inside  linebackers Shayne Skov and A.J. Tarpley. Talented DL Josh Mauro was a mere back-up at the time, wow! Along with Murphy and Thomas as first-teamers, Ben Gardner and Henry Anderson were selected to Pac-12 second team honors. It was all about #PartyInTheBackfield!

Thomas (#44) was featured on the cover of the game program that week! His 17 tackles for loss would lead the conference in that category in 2012 despite sharing the field with all-conference LB Trent Murphy, who still has among the most tackles-for-loss in Pac-12 Conference history with 53 – according to records kept since 2005! Thomas is right behind him with 51!.

Against this deep and star-studded Stanford defense, Matt Scott somehow would manage to set school and Pac-12 records for attempts (69) and completions (45), passing for a mind-blowing 491 yards… against Stanford…on the road. The 491 yards passing is the third-most in Arizona history! Impressive, yes,  it was not enough as the home team would put up 54! The last time we had a comeback barn-burner like that was, what, at Colorado in 2023? Anyone remember that one?

In one of the key deciding points in overtime, fifth-year senior Chase Thomas, who was our pick to be interviewed for the SFAU this week (see linked video), intercepted a pass from Scott, tipped by Henry Anderson, and Stepfan Taylor busted loose for a 21-yard touchdown just two plays later to ice the game. The celebration was on! It was a major gut-check for the 2012 team, a serious test of the squad’s character and resilience. With this outstanding outcome, Stanford had bounced back with a victory after its last seven losses and did not lose back-to-back games during the 2010, 2011, or 2012 campaigns. Reports of the Nerd Nation’s imminent decline clearly were prematurely exaggerated as the best was yet to come for the Cardinal. Stanford was now a confident 4-1, 2-1 in the Pac-12, and primed to make a powerful push toward Pasadena.