This Week in Stanford Football History: @Virgina Week

“Throwback Thursday”

September 15, 2012

The visiting “Men of Troy” were thinking they were home free. Finally, they were rid of Jim “What’s Your Deal?” Harbaugh and All-American QB Andrew Luck and his insufferable three consecutive victories over SC’s historically Pac-12-dominating powerhouse of a program. The talent-loaded Trojans figured that it was finally time to turn back the tide and put the SoCal hurt on the presumably diminished Cardinal under second-year head coach David Shaw and his fresh set of replacement players. In the Trojans’ minds, a new, untested Cardinal QB from Upland, CA, Josh Nunes, was about to get a first-class re-education in the longstanding, but imbalanced rivalry between the only two private institutions in the Pac-12 Conference. But that was not to be. What SC got instead… was a big dose of “Student Body Blight”!

The game started out as a turnover festival as, at one point, the teams managed to combine for interceptions on three consecutive plays! Down 14-7 at the half, the bruising Cardinal offensive line, with center “Coach Sammy” Schwartzstein, David Yankey, Cameron Fleming, and Kevin “Tiny” Danser, got stronger throughout the game and helped produce two second-stanza touchdowns. Senior running back Stepfán Taylor was a workhorse throughout the game with 153 yards rushing on 27 carries and an additional 60 yards on five receptions. Stanford took the lead midway through the fourth quarter after Nunes, in one of his most memorable career moments, connected with future NFL TE Zach Ertz for an electrifying 37-yard touchdown to provide the winning margin in a 21-14 victory.

The defense, led by linebackers Trent Murphy, Chase Thomas and Shayne Skov, along with David Parry, Henry Anderson, Josh Mauro and A.J. Tarpley, and the rest of the usual 2012 Stanford suspects, shut out SC’s highly-touted QB Matt Barkley in the second half (and held a USC offense featuring future NFL WRs Robert Woods and Marquis Lee scoreless for the final 41:19!), sealing a fourth consecutive victory over Troy in front of a fired-up capacity crowd of more than 50,000 at sold-out Stanford Stadium.

The Cardinal defense forced a pair of fumbles in the second quarter and suddenly, the #PartyInTheBackfield was on in Palo Alto! Stanford ‘s defense would come through with four sacks and a remarkable nine tackles-for-loss! USC, which was coming off of a two-year postseason bowl ban had preseason national title aspirations and managed only 280 yards of total offense and 26 yards rushing. Wow. Whose House? C-HOUSE!

It was an impressive statement game, making it clear that The Cardinal would still “Bow To No Program”, was still the home of the “Tunnel Workers Union”, and that “Intellectual Brutality” was still alive and well at Nerd Nation. It was a memorable signature win in a stellar 2012 campaign that ended up with Stanford’s first Stanford Rose Bowl victory in 41 years and a #8 ranking in the final AP poll.

Many Stanford fans fail to realize that the versatile and relentless Stepfán Taylor, a product of Mansfield, Texas, still holds the program record for most career rushing yards (4,300) and, with 36 rushing scores, is second only to 2009 Heisman Trophy Runner-Toby Gerhart (51) in career rushing touchdowns. Not bad to sit at the top of the all-time rushing list after 133 years of Stanford Football.

Now working in analytics with Visa International in Austin, TX, Stepfán (aka “Kulabafi”, his much-admired musical moniker) was inducted in 2024 into the Stanford Athletic Hall of Fame. #33 was at his very best when the stakes were highest, averaging more than 100 yards and a touchdown against every ranked team he played in his three seasons as the starting running back.

Credit: ISI Photos

---

SFAU w/ Stepfán Taylor 9-17-25

Video link