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Luck, Stanford cruise to Orange Bowl victory
Associated Press
MIAMI
Andrew Luck threw for 287 yards and four touchdowns, leading fifth-ranked Stanford past No. 12 Virginia Tech 40-12 in the Orange Bowl on Monday night.
Stanford (12-1) earned its first bowl win in 14 years and likely will end the season ranked in the top 5 for the first time since the unbeaten 1940 team finished No. 2. The Cardinal’s success comes only four years after they went 1-11 and hired coach Jim Harbaugh to lead a turnaround.
Virginia Tech (11-3), playing in a bowl game for the 18th consecutive year, fell to 1-27 against top-5 teams.
Stanford threw a completion for a bizarre safety and blew two extra points, but overcame those mistakes with six plays gaining more than 30 yards.
Two came in succession on a two-play, 97-yard “drive,” and the Cardinal outscored Tech 27-0 in the second half.
Luck’s second touchdown pass of the game, a 41-yarder to Coby Fleener with 5:49 left in the third quarter, helped Stanford take control for good.
That came moments after Stepfan Taylor broke loose on a 56-yard run on the first play after the Cardinal took the ball at their own 3-yard line.
Stanford scored twice in the third quarter, breaking open a game it led just 13-12 at halftime.
Believed to be the only two-way starter in major college football this season, Owen Marecic left his mark.
He was victimized by Virginia Tech’s Tyrod Taylor for a spectacular touchdown in the second quarter — then gained a measure of payback in the third, plowing in for a 1-yard run and a 19-12 lead.
Luck completed six of seven passes in the third quarter for 103 yards, in what very well may be his final college game: The Heisman Trophy runner-up to Auburn’s Cam Newton is projected as a potential No. 1 NFL draft pick if he leaves school.
He wasn’t the only person on the Stanford sideline who may be leaving earlier than the Cardinal planned, of course.
Harbaugh will have no shortage of job options after Monday’s win, including his alma mater, the University of Michigan.