Three plays later, he threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown.
In the long run, the events following the pick-six might have added even more reason to make him the No. 1 pick in April's draft, which has basically been a foregone conclusion since January anyway.
Luck proceeded to lead a game-tying drive in the last three minutes, and Stanford pulled off a triple-overtime victory. After his interception, he completed 7 of 9 passes for 59 yards and a touchdown, and he also rushed three times for 29 yards. Luck didn't throw a single incompletion in the extra sessions.
He's such a phenomenally gifted passer that he's surely going to turn around the franchise that is bad enough to pick first next year. And Luck has already said there's no way he's staying in school for another season, so that seed of doubt has been eliminated.
Now, if Stanford can run the table in November — at Oregon State before home games against No. 8 Oregon, California and Notre Dame, followed by a Pac-12 Championship Game against either Arizona State or UCLA — Luck will have a tremendous opportunity to close out his career by playing for a national title.
From there, he'll start another team's rebuilding process, so let's take a look at the teams in contention to win the Suck for Luck sweepstakes through Week 8 of the NFL season.
Colts (0-8): Luck has said he spoke with Peyton Manning last year when he was contemplating staying in school for one more season, and Manning helped Luck reach that decision. It would now be ironic if Luck took Manning's job.
Dolphins (0-7): Quarterback Matt Moore has tried to ruin ownership's dream of landing Luck with strong starts in the last three weeks. Of course, Moore and the Dolphins have yet to finish the job, and the Dolphins could be closing in on the star they covet to play quarterback.
Cardinals (1-6): So far, it's looked like a big mistake to trade for quarterback Kevin Kolb and then give him a big contract. Yet, it might be an even greater gaffe to pass on Luck because of the Kolb investment.
Rams (1-6): They wouldn't take Luck because they've got Sam Bradford, but landing the first overall pick could still reshape the Rams' future because they could acquire a massive amount of draft picks in return for a team in desperation for Luck. Those chances dipped this week, though, when the Rams inexplicably blew out the Saints.
Play the "Suck for Luck" board game to see which team will lose enough to win Andrew Luck.
