As the Rascal Flatts song goes, “what hurts the most, is being so close.”

That is what Stanford is feeling after its gut-wrenching loss to those annoying little Golden Bears, losing out on a possible Rose Bowl trip.

That is why Toby Gerhart was emotional leaving the field.

“It hurts, it hurts a lot,” was all he could muster.

That almost goes without saying.  All the nationwide coverage, all the media attention, gave Cardinal fans something they haven’t had since before Tyrone Willingham left:

Hope.

Andrew Luck’s perfect spirals hitting Chris Owusu and Ryan Whalen in between the numbers. Gerhart showing Oregon how to play a man’s game by making the first four guys miss and then mak...

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