2010 Stanford Cardinal football team The 2010 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS college football season . The Cardinal were led by head coach Jim Harbaugh , who was in his 4th and final season before leaving to become head coach of the San Francisco 49ers . They played their home games at Stanford Stadium and were members of the Pacific - 10 Conference . Stanford ended the regular season 11 – 1 , with their sole loss to conference champion Oregon . They defeated Virginia Tech 40 – 12 in the Orange Bowl for the first BCS bowl victory in program history . Game notes . Sacramento State . Andrew Luck threw for 316 yards and a career - high four touchdowns as Stanford routed Sacramento State , 52 – 17 . Doug Baldwin caught an 81 - yard touchdown strike from Luck in the first quarter , the eighth - longest Stanford touchdown reception in school history , and caught another 15 - yard touchdown pass in the second quarter . Three different Stanford rushers scored from within the two - yard line . For the Hornets , Kyle Monson returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown , the first Sacramento State punt return for a score in seven years , and kicker Chris Diniz matched his career - longest field goal with a 52 - yard kick in the fourth quarter . UCLA . Stanford safety Michael Thomas ( top , left photo ) stripped the ball and ran 21 yards for one touchdown , and Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck rushed for a career - best 63 yards and threw for 151 yards and two more touchdowns as Stanford shut out UCLA 35 – 0 . It was the first time UCLA had lost at home to Stanford since 1996 and was the first shutout UCLA had suffered at home since a 17 – 0 loss to California on October 16 , 1999 . It was also the first time Stanford had achieved a road shutout against an opponent since 1974 and the first time since 1941 that Stanford had shut out UCLA . Wake Forest . In their 2009 meeting , the Demon Deacons defeated the Cardinal 24 – 17 at BB & T Field in Winston - Salem , North Carolina , but the Cardinal got revenge in this game , scoring touchdowns on their first eight possessions on the way to a 68 – 24 rout . Quarterback Andrew Luck has scored 11 touchdowns in the first three games . This is the fifth time in 36 seasons , and the first time since 2001 that the Cardinal has started 3 - 0 . The win is the 13th in Stanford ' s last 15 home games . They are averaging 51 . 7 points per game through three games , the best offensive start to a season for the Cardinal since scoring 164 points in the first three games of the 1923 season . This was the most points Stanford had scored in a game since 1968 when the Cardinal scored 68 points against San Jose State . Wake Forest has given up 116 points combined in its last three games . This was the most points allowed by Wake Forest since a 72 - 13 loss to Florida State in 1995 . Notre Dame . Owen Marecic scored on a one - yard touchdown plunge , then returned an interception for a touchdown two plays later as Stanford defeated Notre Dame 37 – 14 , the team ' s first win in South Bend since 1992 . Stanford placekicker Nate Whitaker added five field goals to tie a Stanford single - game record to help the Cardinal move to 4 – 0 for the first time since 1986 . Oregon . The Cardinal started out quickly , scoring three touchdowns in less than five minutes of the first quarter aided by two Duck turnovers . But the Ducks used a risky onside kick to keep the score close at halftime , and in the second half , held the Cardinal scoreless . Meanwhile , Ducks quarterback Darron Thomas threw for 238 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another , while running back LaMichael James rushed for three touchdowns on a career high 257 yards . Two interceptions by Duck cornerback Cliff Harris and a fourth - quarter fumble by Stanford receiver Chris Owusu sealed the game for the Ducks . USC . Nate Whitaker kicked a 30 - yard field goal as time expired to give the Cardinal a dramatic 37 – 35 victory over the visiting Trojans . Whitaker had missed a PAT earlier in the fourth quarter , and USC capitalized on the miss to go ahead of Stanford 35 – 34 with just over a minute to play . But Andrew Luck led the Cardinal on a nine - play , 62 - yard drive to set up Whitaker ' s game winner . In an evenly matched back - and - forth game , Luck and Trojan quarterback Matt Barkley each threw for three touchdowns . Washington State . Andrew Luck threw for three touchdowns as the Cardinal defeated the Cougars 38 – 28 to improve their record to 7 – 1 , their best start since the season they appeared in the 1971 Rose Bowl . Stepfan Taylor added two more rushing touchdowns for Stanford . Washington State quarterback Jeff Tuel threw for four touchdowns on the day , including two in the last four minutes of the game to keep the final score close . Washington . Stepfan Taylor ran for two touchdowns , and quarterback Andrew Luck ran 51 yards for another as the Cardinal shut out the Huskies 41 – 0 , the worst shutout for the Huskies at home since 1976 . The highly touted matchup between NFL quarterback prospects Luck and Jake Locker turned into a lopsided affair as Washington could only manage 104 yards of offense , as Locker went 7 for 14 with only 88 yards passing , was sacked three times , and intercepted twice . Arizona . In highly anticipated matchup for second place in the Pac - 10 , Stanford overwhelmed Arizona 42 – 17 . Quarterback Andrew Luck threw for 293 yards and two touchdowns , and receiver Chris Owusu caught 9 passes for 165 yards and a touchdown . The Cardinal defense , meanwhile , intercepted Arizona quarterback Nick Foles and held the Wildcats to 3 points in the first half . Though they allowed two late touchdowns , Stanford answered each on its next possession with a long drive that culminated in a touchdown run from Stepfan Taylor . Arizona State . With its usually explosive offense held in check by the Sun Devils , the Cardinal relied on their defense to keep the game close until a fourth - quarter drive put them on top of the Sun Devils , 17 – 13 . After scoring on its first drive , the Stanford rushing game was held to 128 yards on 42 carries . Quarterback Andrew Luck fumbled and threw an interception , but had enough left to engineer a fourth - quarter drive finished with an Owen Marecic one - yard touchdown plunge . Stanford moved to 9 – 1 on the year , its best start since 1951 . California . Andrew Luck led the Cardinal to scores on all eight possessions in which he participated — including three touchdown drives of more than 80 yards — as the Cardinal cruised to a 48 – 14 victory , its most lopsided victory in the Big Game since 1930 , when Stanford shut out California 41 – 0 . Luck was 16 of 20 for 235 yards and 2 touchdown passes . Stepfan Taylor scored on three short touchdown runs , but Luck was Stanford ' s leading rusher with 72 yards , 58 of which came on a broken play in which he stiff - armed a Cal defender and continued for another 20 yards . Stanford ' s 48 points tied with Cal ' s 1975 total for the most points scored by either team in 113 Big Games . Both Bears touchdowns came on fourth - quarter trick plays : a pass from receiver Keenan Allen to Marvin Jones , and with 15 seconds left in the game , an Allen lateral to Isi Sofele . Stanford remains in contention for an at - large BCS berth while the Golden Bears need one more win to attain of bowl - eligibility . Oregon State . The Cardinal closed out its best - ever regular season at home with a 38 – 0 victory over the Beavers . Andrew Luck threw four touchdown passes for a total of 28 on the year , setting a new Stanford single - season record , and surpassing Stanford quarterback greats John Elway and Steve Stenstrom . Meanwhile , the Stanford defense intercepted Beavers quarterback Ryan Katz three times and sacked him four times , one of which resulted in a fumble recovered by the Cardinal . The shutout was Stanford ' s third of the season and Oregon State ' s first since 2002 . Coupled with losses by Boise State and LSU , the win moved Stanford to # 4 in the BCS standings , a position which would assure them an at - large bid in a BCS bowl for the first time ( Stanford last won an automatic BCS bid to the 2000 Rose Bowl ) . Virginia Tech ( Orange Bowl ) . Andrew Luck threw four touchdown passes , three to Coby Fleener and one to Zach Ertz , to defeat the Hokies to finish the season with 12 wins and the first BCS bowl victory in program history .