Will Powers News

He has said he will decide whether to enter the NFL draft after he assesses how high he's likely to be picked.

Stanford football fans, you have a mission. Bring the noise! That was a request from Stanford head coach Jim Harbaugh as he addressed the "Council of Chiefs" today in the annual Big Game luncheon that was held at the Arrillaga Family Sports Center.

Taylor Mays sat before the media in full pads. USC's All-American safety answered questions in a measured tone and didn't react to the cheering and banging on the opposite wall that grew progressively louder.

One was containing the running game. USC rushed for 138 yards, but most of that came on an early 51-yard run by Joe McKnight and his 28-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

While Toby Gerhart rampaged through the Southern California defense in an awfully quiet Coliseum, the star tailback and his Cardinal teammates flattened a bunch of recent college football certainties as well.

Stanford running back Toby Gerhart scores a touchdown as Southern California's Taylor Mays attempts to make the tackle during the first half of a NCAA college more... Southern California quarterback Matt Barkley, center, is sacked by Stanford's Matt Masifilo, right, and Will Powers during the first half of an NCAA college football more...

Any manner of statistical evidence points to a USC victory today against No. 25 Stanford.

Coach Jim Harbaugh has challenged Stanford football players to achieve new heights from the moment he arrived three years ago.

PA Weekly Online Sports It could have turned into a day of reminiscing. Instead, Stanford football coach Jim Harbaugh was intent on keeping the focus on the here and now.

He made his debut earlier in the season, but it was at Tucson that Smith reclaimed his old spot as the starting left tackle for the Stanford Cardinal.

With a UA defense seemingly prepared to slow down Stanford's running game last week, freshman quarterback Andrew Luck threw for 423 yards - the third-highest mark in team history.

Kris Evans , who had lost his starting cornerback spot to Corey Gatewood in training camp, started for the first time this season.

Both quarterbacks had career nights. Arizona's Nick Foles was an amazing 40-for-51 for 415 yards and three touchdowns.

Senior linebacker Will Powers had no lingering doubts a few days after the Stanford football team stumbled in losing its first conference game of the season.

Stanford 's defense was shredded in the first half of Saturday's 38-28 defeat at Oregon State.

Look for Stanford to make lineup changes after its defense yielded 38 points and 463 yards to Oregon State.

In the waning moments of a taut Pacific-10 Conference game Saturday afternoon, UCLA's Kevin Craft seemed primed to break Stanford's spirit for the second consecutive season.

Stanford, the team that couldn't finish victories last year, ended one with an exclamation point Saturday.

"When I vote tomorrow, I'll put us in the Top 25," Harbaugh said. The Cardinal seem to have this down to a formula: Let Chris Owusu loose to score on a kickoff return, have Gerhart pound out the tough yards, and let the defense do the rest.

The good news for the Spartans is they no long have to try to wrap their arms around Toby Gerhart's muscular torso.