STANFORD'S RALLY TO WIN the NCAA women’s golf championship on Wednesday stirred thoughts of other great comebacks in school history. There have been some legendary ones, including many in recent years.
Below is a sampling, in chronological order:
Dec. 31, 1978
Football
Bluebonnet Bowl (Houston, Texas): In only two years, Bill Walsh led a Stanford football resurgence, taking the Cardinals, as they were known at the time, to consecutive bowl games. In 1977, Stanford trounced LSU in the Sun Bowl, 24-14, and next faced heavily-favored Georgia (9-1-1) in the Astrodome.
Georgia immediately set out to dominate, taking a 22-0 lead by the early third quarter. However, Steve Dils, a fifth-year senior in his only season as a starter, sensed that the Bulldogs had grown overconfident and began to attack.
Dils threw touchdown passes to Ken Margerum (32 yards), Darrin Nelson (20 yards), and again to Margerum within a span of 4 ½ minutes to tie the game, 22-22.
The defense provided those chances, forcing a Georgia punt and three fumbles, one of which set up a go-ahead 24-yard field goal by Ken Naber with 14:50 left in the game to allow Stanford to seize the lead.
Gordy Ceresino made 20 tackles and earned Defensive MVP honors, while Dils (16 of 28 for 210 yards) was the Offensive MVP. The Cardinals lifted Walsh upon their shoulders in triumph afterward and San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo was impressed too. He hired Walsh nine days later, beginning a golden era in the history of the NFL franchise.
"Listen up for a minute," Ceresino said to his teammates in the locker room after the game. “At halftime, I told you that in two years I have never seen you quit on Bill and I asked you not to quit on him today. I knew you wouldn't.”
Watch the game broadcast by clicking here.
* * *
June 5, 1987
Baseball
College World Series (Omaha, Neb.): In what certainly must rank as one of the most dramatic endings to a College World Series game, freshman Paul Carey hit an opposite-field grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Stanford a 6-5 victory over LSU.
Carey's homer came on a 1-and-1 count off freshman Ben McDonald, who would be the No. 1 pick in the 1989 amateur draft and spend nine seasons in the big leagues. Had Stanford been defeated, it would have been ousted from the double-elimination tournament.
Instead, the Cardinal – with eight future major leaguers – followed by beating Texas, 9-3, to set up a championship showdown against No. 1 Oklahoma State, which Stanford won, 9-5.
Stanford would not have gotten there without Carey’s heroics. Stanford trailed 5-2 with one out in the bottom of the 10th, when Ruben Amaro fell behind in the count 1-2. He battled, fouling off pitches before drawing a walk. Toi Cook also walked, chasing LSU starter Barry Manuel.
In came McDonald, who drilled Ed Strague to load the bases, setting the table for Carey, who was batting .200 with 1 RBI in the Series and was 0 for 3 going into the 10th.
"That was a turning point," Stanford coach Mark Marquess said. "We played awful against LSU, then we got that big hit from Paul."
Said Carey, “A home run was in the back of my mind, believe it or not.”
Click here for Stanford highlights and interviews from the 1987 College World Series.
* * *
March 22, 1998
Men’s Basketball
NCAA Midwest Regional final (St. Louis, Mo.): Looking for a signature moment in Stanford sports history?
This one, from Bob Murphy’s radio call in the final minute of the 1998 NCAA Midwest Regional final against Rhode Island, is certainly as good as any:
“MADSEN STUFFED IT, MADSEN STUFFED IT . . . AND . . . HE . . . WAS . . . FOULED!”
The Cardinal reached its first Final Four since 1941-42 thanks to a dramatic 79-77 victory remembered most for a comeback that culminated in Mark Madsen’s dramatic three-point play.
Stanford trailed 71-65 with under a minute remaining, but began to foul and chipped away at the deficit. The Cardinal took the lead with 26 seconds left when Arthur Lee stripped the ball from a Ram player in the backcourt, and fed Madsen for a dunk as … “HE … WAS … FOULED!”
Midwest Regional MVP Arthur Lee’s scoring, passing and defense led to 13 of Stanford’s 14 points in the final minute, and here’s the play-by-play:
0:59: Rhode Island 71-65 … Rams extend lead following two free throws from Cuttino Mobley.
0:52: Rhode Island 71-68 … Lee’s third three-pointer makes it a one-possession game.
0:39: Rhode Island 74-70 … Three Rhode Island free throws sandwich a Madsen layup.
0:32: Rhode Island 74-73 … Lee converts a three-point play after a Rhode Island timeout.
0:26: Stanford 76-74 … Lee comes up with a steal and dishes to Madsen for a dunk. Fouled by Antonio Reynolds-Dean, Madsen completes iconic three-point play.
0:13: Stanford 77-74 … Kris Weems makes the first of two free throws. Rhode Island has a chance to tie but Tyson Wheeler misses all three of his free throws.
0:04: Stanford 79-74 … Two free throws by Lee put the game on ice.
0:00: Stanford 79-77 … Mobley drains a deep three-pointer as time expired.
The raucous reaction from Madsen and the intense joy of the pivotal moment will live forever in Stanford lore, even as the season ended in the semifinals with an 86-85 overtime loss to Kentucky.
The Final Minute:
* * *
Dec. 18, 2008
Women’s Volleyball
NCAA Semifinals (Omaha, Neb.): No team had ever fought back from a 0-2 deficit to win an NCAA semifinal match … until Stanford.
The Cardinal, with a formidable front line of Alix Klineman, Cynthia Barboza and Foluke Akinradewo – ravaged Texas down the stretch in the 20-25, 18-25, 25-15, 25-22, 15-13 victory.
The comeback took all they could muster as the trio played some of the best volleyball of their collegiate careers. Klineman had 20 kills, Akinradewo 17 on .452 hitting along with six critical blocks. However, it was Barboza who stood out, recording 15 of her 19 kills in the final three sets.
Stanford trailed 4-1 in the fifth when Akinradewo and Barboza put down consecutive kills to ignite a 5-1 Stanford rally. Klineman crushed a kill to tie the set at five, and Akinradewo served her second ace of the night to give Stanford its first lead, 6-5. The Cardinal maintained a slim lead the rest of the way, holding a 14-13 edge when Barboza ricocheted a ball off the Longhorn block and out of bounds on match point.
May 20, 2013
Women’s Tennis
NCAA Semifinals (Urbana, Ill.): The drama on the court had ramifications off the court. As Stanford took on Florida for the right to advance to the team final, never had the competition for the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup been any closer. And thanks to a gutsy performance by freshman Krista Hardebeck, it remained in Stanford’s hands for a 19th consecutive year.
With Stanford and two-time defending national champion Florida tied, 3-3, Hardebeck rallied to a 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 victory at No. 3 singles to give Stanford the victory. After dropping the first set, Hardebeck trailed 5-1 in the second before embarking on a stirring rally to force a tiebreaker in
which she eventually prevailed. The two schools also were locked in a duel for the Directors’ Cup.
Stanford’s 4-3 victory enabled it to advance to the final, where it earned another dramatic triumph, thanks to Kristie Ahn’s pivotal victory against Texas A&M.
The Stanford-Florida semifinal resulted in a 14-point point swing (according to the Directors' Cup scoring system), all from Hardebeck’s result. That proved to be the difference in Stanford’s Directors’ Cup victory, regardless of whether the Cardinal went on to beat A&M.
March 21, 2015
Women’s Swimming
NCAA Championships (Greensboro, N.C.): Through three legs of the NCAA 400-yard medley relay, Virginia seemed to have the race well in hand – until Stanford freshman Simone Manuel entered the water.
Manuel showed her big-time anchor ability with a split of 45.45 to make up a two-second deficit on Virginia’s Ellen Thomas while California’s four-time Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin was breathing down her neck. In fact, Manuel’s 45.45 split was more than a half-second faster than Franklin, who anchored Cal to third.
Manuel faced a 2.26-second deficit and she made it up with the fastest 100-yard split in history, out-touching Thomas by 0.01.
Stanford’s team of Ally Howe (52.00), Katie Olsen (58.07), Janet Hu (50.89) and Manuel finished with an NCAA, U.S. Open and American record time of 3:26.41. In fact, all three teams eclipsed the records, set by Stanford last year.
It was a huge freshman year for Manuel, who earned seven All-America honors, won four NCAA titles, and set American records in the 100-yard freestyle, as well as the medley relay.
May 27, 2015
Women’s Golf
NCAA Championships (Bradenton, Fla.): Midway through Stanford’s match-play dual against Baylor for the NCAA title, the situation looked bleak for the Cardinal.
Stanford earned the first point in the five-on-five format, but Baylor was leading handily in other three matches and on track for the team victory. Assuming Stanford captured a second point, it became evident early that the national championship would be decided by the final pairing – Stanford’s Mariah Stackhouse against Baylor’s lone senior, Hayley Davis.
The problem: Stackhouse fell behind by three holes only eight holes into the match. The deficit was down to one when Stackhouse appeared to get a break when Davis drove her tee shot on No. 16 into the mud on the downside of a high berm. But Davis responded with an incredible recovery to within eight feet to make birdie.
Stackhouse needed to win the last two holes to force a playoff – a near-impossible task against an All-American. But she somehow pulled it off, birdieing the 17th and 18th to draw even.
On the sudden-death 19th hole, played on the par-4 10th, Stackhouse found the back of the green on her second shot, and putted within a foot. Davis missed a five-footer and the title was Stanford’s.
“I envisioned some kind of crazy finish with me having to hit huge shots,” Stackhouse said. “I knew I was going to be down and I was going to have to do something crazy to come back.”
And, that’s what it was … crazy. Just like some of the other great comebacks in Stanford history.
Below is a sampling, in chronological order:
Dec. 31, 1978
Football
Bluebonnet Bowl (Houston, Texas): In only two years, Bill Walsh led a Stanford football resurgence, taking the Cardinals, as they were known at the time, to consecutive bowl games. In 1977, Stanford trounced LSU in the Sun Bowl, 24-14, and next faced heavily-favored Georgia (9-1-1) in the Astrodome.
Georgia immediately set out to dominate, taking a 22-0 lead by the early third quarter. However, Steve Dils, a fifth-year senior in his only season as a starter, sensed that the Bulldogs had grown overconfident and began to attack.
Dils threw touchdown passes to Ken Margerum (32 yards), Darrin Nelson (20 yards), and again to Margerum within a span of 4 ½ minutes to tie the game, 22-22.
The defense provided those chances, forcing a Georgia punt and three fumbles, one of which set up a go-ahead 24-yard field goal by Ken Naber with 14:50 left in the game to allow Stanford to seize the lead.
Gordy Ceresino made 20 tackles and earned Defensive MVP honors, while Dils (16 of 28 for 210 yards) was the Offensive MVP. The Cardinals lifted Walsh upon their shoulders in triumph afterward and San Francisco 49ers owner Eddie DeBartolo was impressed too. He hired Walsh nine days later, beginning a golden era in the history of the NFL franchise.
"Listen up for a minute," Ceresino said to his teammates in the locker room after the game. “At halftime, I told you that in two years I have never seen you quit on Bill and I asked you not to quit on him today. I knew you wouldn't.”
Watch the game broadcast by clicking here.
* * *
June 5, 1987
Baseball
College World Series (Omaha, Neb.): In what certainly must rank as one of the most dramatic endings to a College World Series game, freshman Paul Carey hit an opposite-field grand slam in the bottom of the 10th inning to give Stanford a 6-5 victory over LSU.
Carey's homer came on a 1-and-1 count off freshman Ben McDonald, who would be the No. 1 pick in the 1989 amateur draft and spend nine seasons in the big leagues. Had Stanford been defeated, it would have been ousted from the double-elimination tournament.
Instead, the Cardinal – with eight future major leaguers – followed by beating Texas, 9-3, to set up a championship showdown against No. 1 Oklahoma State, which Stanford won, 9-5.
Stanford would not have gotten there without Carey’s heroics. Stanford trailed 5-2 with one out in the bottom of the 10th, when Ruben Amaro fell behind in the count 1-2. He battled, fouling off pitches before drawing a walk. Toi Cook also walked, chasing LSU starter Barry Manuel.
In came McDonald, who drilled Ed Strague to load the bases, setting the table for Carey, who was batting .200 with 1 RBI in the Series and was 0 for 3 going into the 10th.
"That was a turning point," Stanford coach Mark Marquess said. "We played awful against LSU, then we got that big hit from Paul."
Said Carey, “A home run was in the back of my mind, believe it or not.”
Click here for Stanford highlights and interviews from the 1987 College World Series.
* * *
March 22, 1998
Men’s Basketball
NCAA Midwest Regional final (St. Louis, Mo.): Looking for a signature moment in Stanford sports history?
This one, from Bob Murphy’s radio call in the final minute of the 1998 NCAA Midwest Regional final against Rhode Island, is certainly as good as any:
“MADSEN STUFFED IT, MADSEN STUFFED IT . . . AND . . . HE . . . WAS . . . FOULED!”
The Cardinal reached its first Final Four since 1941-42 thanks to a dramatic 79-77 victory remembered most for a comeback that culminated in Mark Madsen’s dramatic three-point play.
Stanford trailed 71-65 with under a minute remaining, but began to foul and chipped away at the deficit. The Cardinal took the lead with 26 seconds left when Arthur Lee stripped the ball from a Ram player in the backcourt, and fed Madsen for a dunk as … “HE … WAS … FOULED!”
Midwest Regional MVP Arthur Lee’s scoring, passing and defense led to 13 of Stanford’s 14 points in the final minute, and here’s the play-by-play:
0:59: Rhode Island 71-65 … Rams extend lead following two free throws from Cuttino Mobley.
0:52: Rhode Island 71-68 … Lee’s third three-pointer makes it a one-possession game.
0:39: Rhode Island 74-70 … Three Rhode Island free throws sandwich a Madsen layup.
0:32: Rhode Island 74-73 … Lee converts a three-point play after a Rhode Island timeout.
0:26: Stanford 76-74 … Lee comes up with a steal and dishes to Madsen for a dunk. Fouled by Antonio Reynolds-Dean, Madsen completes iconic three-point play.
0:13: Stanford 77-74 … Kris Weems makes the first of two free throws. Rhode Island has a chance to tie but Tyson Wheeler misses all three of his free throws.
0:04: Stanford 79-74 … Two free throws by Lee put the game on ice.
0:00: Stanford 79-77 … Mobley drains a deep three-pointer as time expired.
The raucous reaction from Madsen and the intense joy of the pivotal moment will live forever in Stanford lore, even as the season ended in the semifinals with an 86-85 overtime loss to Kentucky.
The Final Minute:
* * *
Dec. 18, 2008
Women’s Volleyball
NCAA Semifinals (Omaha, Neb.): No team had ever fought back from a 0-2 deficit to win an NCAA semifinal match … until Stanford.
The Cardinal, with a formidable front line of Alix Klineman, Cynthia Barboza and Foluke Akinradewo – ravaged Texas down the stretch in the 20-25, 18-25, 25-15, 25-22, 15-13 victory.
The comeback took all they could muster as the trio played some of the best volleyball of their collegiate careers. Klineman had 20 kills, Akinradewo 17 on .452 hitting along with six critical blocks. However, it was Barboza who stood out, recording 15 of her 19 kills in the final three sets.
Stanford trailed 4-1 in the fifth when Akinradewo and Barboza put down consecutive kills to ignite a 5-1 Stanford rally. Klineman crushed a kill to tie the set at five, and Akinradewo served her second ace of the night to give Stanford its first lead, 6-5. The Cardinal maintained a slim lead the rest of the way, holding a 14-13 edge when Barboza ricocheted a ball off the Longhorn block and out of bounds on match point.
* * *
May 20, 2013
Women’s Tennis
NCAA Semifinals (Urbana, Ill.): The drama on the court had ramifications off the court. As Stanford took on Florida for the right to advance to the team final, never had the competition for the Learfield Sports Directors’ Cup been any closer. And thanks to a gutsy performance by freshman Krista Hardebeck, it remained in Stanford’s hands for a 19th consecutive year.
With Stanford and two-time defending national champion Florida tied, 3-3, Hardebeck rallied to a 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 victory at No. 3 singles to give Stanford the victory. After dropping the first set, Hardebeck trailed 5-1 in the second before embarking on a stirring rally to force a tiebreaker in
which she eventually prevailed. The two schools also were locked in a duel for the Directors’ Cup.
Stanford’s 4-3 victory enabled it to advance to the final, where it earned another dramatic triumph, thanks to Kristie Ahn’s pivotal victory against Texas A&M.
The Stanford-Florida semifinal resulted in a 14-point point swing (according to the Directors' Cup scoring system), all from Hardebeck’s result. That proved to be the difference in Stanford’s Directors’ Cup victory, regardless of whether the Cardinal went on to beat A&M.
* * *
March 21, 2015
Women’s Swimming
NCAA Championships (Greensboro, N.C.): Through three legs of the NCAA 400-yard medley relay, Virginia seemed to have the race well in hand – until Stanford freshman Simone Manuel entered the water.
Manuel showed her big-time anchor ability with a split of 45.45 to make up a two-second deficit on Virginia’s Ellen Thomas while California’s four-time Olympic gold medalist Missy Franklin was breathing down her neck. In fact, Manuel’s 45.45 split was more than a half-second faster than Franklin, who anchored Cal to third.
Manuel faced a 2.26-second deficit and she made it up with the fastest 100-yard split in history, out-touching Thomas by 0.01.
Stanford’s team of Ally Howe (52.00), Katie Olsen (58.07), Janet Hu (50.89) and Manuel finished with an NCAA, U.S. Open and American record time of 3:26.41. In fact, all three teams eclipsed the records, set by Stanford last year.
It was a huge freshman year for Manuel, who earned seven All-America honors, won four NCAA titles, and set American records in the 100-yard freestyle, as well as the medley relay.
* * *
May 27, 2015
Women’s Golf
NCAA Championships (Bradenton, Fla.): Midway through Stanford’s match-play dual against Baylor for the NCAA title, the situation looked bleak for the Cardinal.
Stanford earned the first point in the five-on-five format, but Baylor was leading handily in other three matches and on track for the team victory. Assuming Stanford captured a second point, it became evident early that the national championship would be decided by the final pairing – Stanford’s Mariah Stackhouse against Baylor’s lone senior, Hayley Davis.
The problem: Stackhouse fell behind by three holes only eight holes into the match. The deficit was down to one when Stackhouse appeared to get a break when Davis drove her tee shot on No. 16 into the mud on the downside of a high berm. But Davis responded with an incredible recovery to within eight feet to make birdie.
Stackhouse needed to win the last two holes to force a playoff – a near-impossible task against an All-American. But she somehow pulled it off, birdieing the 17th and 18th to draw even.
On the sudden-death 19th hole, played on the par-4 10th, Stackhouse found the back of the green on her second shot, and putted within a foot. Davis missed a five-footer and the title was Stanford’s.
“I envisioned some kind of crazy finish with me having to hit huge shots,” Stackhouse said. “I knew I was going to be down and I was going to have to do something crazy to come back.”
And, that’s what it was … crazy. Just like some of the other great comebacks in Stanford history.
