This was the first football season for Stanford's new singular nicknameCardinal; from1972 to1981, it was the pluralCardinals.[1]Both represented thecolor.
With consensusAll-AmericanJohn Elway at quarterback, the 1982 Cardinal were exciting - seven of its eleven games were decided in the fourth quarter - but maddeningly erratic:
After an impressive opening road win atPurdue, the Cardinal dropped a 35–31 decision at home to unrankedSan Jose State, coached by Elway's fatherJack, who became Stanford's head coach in1984.
In week 3 at #12Ohio State, Stanford won on a last-minute eighty-yard drive, scoring the decisive TD with 34 seconds remaining.[2]
In week 5 at #11Arizona State, Stanford scored a go-ahead touchdown in the final minute, only to lose on a Sun Devil TD with eleven seconds left on the clock.[2]
In week 7 atWashington State, the Cardinal scored the winning touchdown with 22 seconds left.[2]
In week 8 at home, Stanford scored thirty consecutive points to decisively defeat previously unbeaten #2Washington 43–31,[3] which put Elway on the cover ofSports Illustrated.[4][5]
In week 9, at home against unranked Arizona, it gave up 28 unanswered fourth quarter points to lose by fourteen.[6]
After a hard-fought 38–35 loss atRose Bowl-bound and 12th-rankedUCLA in week 10, the Cardinal traveled to Berkeley for its final scheduled game.
Elway's last football game at Stanford was one of the most famous games of all time, the 1982Big Game versus rivalCalifornia. It ended with "The Play," a kickoff return for a touchdown with four backwardlateral passes and one forward lateral pass that allowed Cal to win the game as time expired.
After that game, Elway congratulated theStanford Band trombone player that got run over in the end zone. Although Elway never led Stanford to abowl game, he had an accomplished college career. In his four seasons (1979–1982), he completed 774 passes for 9,349 yards and 77 touchdowns. Stanford had a 20–23–1 (.466) record during his tenure. Elway's 24 touchdown passes in 1982 led the nation, and he left with nearly every Stanford andPacific-10 career record for passing and total offense. Elway won Pac-10 Player of the Year honors for the second time in 1982, and was a consensusAll-American. In addition, he finished second inHeisman Trophyballoting.
