Stanford Football: Cardinal experience true meaning of #Pac12AfterDark

SAN DIEGO, CA - SEPTEMBER 16: Fans and players look on while half of the stadiums lights went out during the second half of a game between the San Diego State Aztecs and the Stanford Cardinal at Qualcomm Stadium on September 16, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CA - SEPTEMBER 16: Fans and players look on while half of the stadiums lights went out during the second half of a game between the San Diego State Aztecs and the Stanford Cardinal at Qualcomm Stadium on September 16, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Stanford football was upset by San Diego State in a late night contest on the west coast, but that might not have been the wildest part of the game.

#Pac12AfterDark has become an all-encompassing label for the wacky antics of the late games on the west coast. Often starting as late as 10:30 p.m. ET, there are large portions of the country that are fast asleep when some of the most peculiar happenings of any given Saturday (or early Sunday morning) commence.

One of those bizarre occurrences came in the middle of Stanford’s road visit to San Diego State. If you were following along with this game on your phone you might have received a notification that the game had been delayed in the fourth quarter. That was accurate, however, the culprit wasn’t weather or a technical issue, it was the lights.

That’s right with a little less than four minutes on the clock the stadium went dark.

Stanford’s late rally would fall short, giving the Aztecs an upset victory on their home turf. Since opening their season with a decisive victory over Rice in Australia, the Cardinal are winless on American soil.

San Diego State isn’t a pushover. They’re expected to contend for a Mountain West Championship. And it’s not like the first team to hand Stanford a loss was that bad. The USC Trojans bested Stanford in Week 2 and won again in Week 3 in a wild one over the Texas Longhorns.

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Stanford will try to right the ship in Week 4, but once more it won’t be easy. The Cardinal host the UCLA Bruins who will be looking to bounce back from a non-conference loss of their own on the road at Memphis. One thing is for sure, Stanford had been make sure it remember to pay the electric bill.