Stanford's season came to a crossroads late in the third quarter of the Pac-12 Championship Game. The Cardinal had just taken a 20-16 halftime lead, but the Trojans were marching against a defense that had been unable to register a stop since halftime.
This was shaping up to be one of those whoever-has-the-ball-last-wins affairs. It was a situation Stanford wanted to avoid, especially after sweating through similarly offensive-minded nail-biters against Oregon and Notre Dame the previous month.