[1][14] The Cardinal held a 10–0 lead late in the first half due to an Andrew Luck touchdown pass to Coby Fleener and a 40-yard Jordan Williamson field goal.

Duke made a game of it after safety Lee Butler returned a deflected pass 76 yards for a touchdown and the Blue Devils recovered an onside kick on the next play.

The second half was all Stanford, as Luck threw two more touchdowns, Jonathan Stewart ran for a 30-yard score, and Tyler Gaffney added a one-yard plunge to rout the Blue Devils.

[3] The victory was costly for the Cardinal, however, as junior linebacker and leading tackler Shayne Skov suffered a season-ending knee injury in the second quarter.

Stanford's Coby Fleener scored on 18 and 51-yard receptions and Stepfan Taylor added two rushing touchdowns as the Cardinal downed UCLA 45–19.

[5] Andrew Luck threw an interception on his first pass of the game, but recovered to throw four second-half passes—two to tight end Levine Toilolo—as the Cardinal routed the Cougars, 44–14.

On the ensuing kickoff of that final Cougar touchdown, Stanford's Ty Montgomery returned the kick 96 yards as time expired to give the Cardinal a 30-point win.

[17] The team won by its ninth consecutive 25+ point victory margin, the longest such streak in the BCS era since Boise State in 2002.

[7][18] The Cardinal outlasted the Trojans in a triple overtime thriller, winning 56–48, and remaining unbeaten and in the hunt for the 2012 BCS National Championship Game.

In the fourth quarter, Trojans quarterback Matt Barkley put USC ahead on a 28-yard touchdown pass to Marqise Lee, which was followed by a Stanford field goal to tie the game at 27 apiece.

[8] With about 5 minutes remaining, Stanford began what they hoped would be a game-winning last drive, but Luck's pass was intercepted by Nickell Robey and returned for a USC score to put the Trojans on top.

The Bears added two Giorgio Tavecchio field goals and a 17-yard touchdown pass from Zack Maynard to Keenan Allen to move in front 13–7, before a Tyler Gaffney run gave Stanford back the lead in the middle of the third quarter.

The Bears scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to move within 3 points with seconds to play, but Stanford recovered the onside kick to retain possession of the Axe for another year.