Toby Gerhart! Also, Andrew Luck is the Special One.

That was the best win since I’ve been a Stanford fan. Better than USC 2007, because this win announces the team as an offensive juggernaut, announces the team as a legitimate force, sends it bowling, and, most important—was not in any way flukey. The USC 2007 win was wonderful, but in retrospect we were lucky. But this win was in no way lucky.

The terrible thing about this win was that the excitement was always tempered by skepticism; skepticism that I’ve seen this all before…UCLA 2005, Notre Dame 2005, man, every Stanford fan knows the list. But this team at this moment was not ready to surrender the lead: the moment that was most emblematic for me was Nate Whitaker, after missing terribly, went up, kicked a 48 yard field goal, and sealed victory. It was a beautiful kick, certain to go in as soon as the ball left the toe. In the TV shot of the play, you can see a Stanford player, probably Bo McNally, look at the ball mid-flight and hold his arms up, that was how beautiful it was. It was perfect.

This was the kind of offensive performance you can dream on. It’s also the culmination of a number of great offensive efforts. Look up the point totals, just to realize what’s going on: the offense was good but just that in the first two games, but after that? 42, 34, 24, 28, 38, 33, 51. Not a bad production in the bunch, and this was the best of them all. The offensive line was dominant and set up everything for everyone else. Andrew Luck is the special one. He made one suspect throw, but was otherwise flawless, confirming the fact that very, very soon, he will be an NFL first-round pick and a franchise quarterback for some lucky team needing a great one. He has everything you’d like in a quarterback, and more. He’s positively Durantian as a prodigy: he just was born to play this game and no other. And Chris Owusu redeemed himself totally and completely: for all the skepticism about his hands, he made a tough TD grab with perfect hands; soft enough to catch, hard enough to hold on tight. And he flashed the speed and moves that make him a threat. Ryan Whalen was his usual dependable self. The tight ends played great. Offensively, everyone played great.

I’ve saved Toby Gerhart for last, because he’s awesome. From the first time I saw him play, against Navy in the opening of the new Stanford Stadium, I knew that he’d be good, but I had no idea he would be as dominant as he has become. He’s a great runner, and like all the great runners, he has will on top of the speed and the power. Selfishly, I have one more wish: Toby is eligible for one more year after this. None of us can rightfully expect that he sacrifice his body for the school for another year, but still…It would be awesome. With or without Toby Gerhart, I suspect Stanford will be just fine in 2010.

(Stay Jim Harbaugh, forever. Also, Michigan: stick with Rich Rodriguez. I’m completely serious and not concern trolling at all: you don’t want to go with the upheaval associated with going pro-style, spread, pro-style in your coaches’ style. It’ll disrupt your recruiting. Also, Rich is a good coach. Just give him time…and give Harbaugh time at Stanford.)

IT’S ALL RIGHT NOW.