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Andrew Luck Stanford

January 3, 2012 by · Comments Off on Andrew Luck Stanford 

Andrew Luck StanfordAndrew Luck Stanford, Freshman kicker Jordan Williamson sobbed as he sat in front of his locker moments after his missed 35-yard field goal at the end of regulation cost No. 4 Stanford a Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma State.

Williamson also missed a 43-yarder in overtime. In all, he hooked three field goal attempts to the left in the Cardinal’s 41-38 loss to the third-ranked Cowboys on Monday night.

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck (12) watches a missed field goal attempt to end regulation of the Fiesta Bowl NCAA college football game against Oklahoma State Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, in Glendale, Ariz. Oklahoma State won 41-38 in overtime.

The youngster from Austin, Texas, had missed just three field goals in 15 tries all season, only one from inside 40 yards.

Williamson shook his head “no” when a couple of reporters approached his locker.

He knew he could have made sure Andrew Luck’s phenomenal college career ended with a victory, but the Cardinal quarterback — probably soon to become the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft — said no one was to blame for the loss.

“Put yourself in that situation,” Luck said. “Yeah, it’s tough. It’s very tough. I know guys will rally around him. He’s got a very bright future in front of him. The media tends to want a scapegoat or a hero, and that’s just not the case in any football game.”

Luck’s final game was a masterpiece in many ways. He completed 27 of 31 passes for 347 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. He threw for more yards only twice, at Arizona in 2009 (423) and against Colorado this year (370).

“Typical, typical,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “He makes five plays that turn bad plays into great plays.”

Luck, however, was a lot more self-critical.

“I play to win football games,” he said. “Yeah, it’s great to have good stats, efficiency, whatever. But at the end of the day it’s about winning. That’s why I love football. It’s not about one person. Win or lose, no one ever gets all the credit or all the blame.”

Luck leaves Stanford as the school’s career leader in total offense, touchdown passes, passing efficiency and completion percentage. He surprised pretty much everyone a year ago when he decided to return to college for his junior year of eligibility. He didn’t get his team to the national title game. But after an 11-2 season, he expressed no regrets.

“Yes, it was worth it,” Luck said. “Not to say I enjoyed every moment, because I didn’t. But I would never regret it. I felt I grew a lot as a person, as a player.”

Stanford outgained Oklahoma State 590-412 and had 27 first downs to 15 for the Cowboys. The Cardinal dominated time of possession 41:47 to 18:13. But big plays by OSU star receiver Justin Blackmon kept the teams close.

Oklahoma State (12-1) failed to score in the first quarter for the only time all season. Luck, meanwhile, threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to wide-open Ty Montgomery, then Jeremy Stewart ran 24 yards for a score to make it 14-0.

Brandon Weeden, though, connected with Blackmon on scoring plays of 43 and 67 yards and it was 21-21 at halftime.

Luck’s 16-yard TD pass to Zach Ertz put Stanford back up 28-21. Oklahoma State had a great chance to take the lead when Geoff Meinken’s fumble was recovered by the Cowboys’ Markelle Martin at the Cardinal 4-yard line. But Stanford’s defense held and Oklahoma State settled for a 19-yard field goal by Quinn Sharp to cut the lead to 28-24.

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