The news has spread in Year of the Upset

Stanford wasn’t the only sky-high team after the Cardinal upset USC last Saturday.

Another West Coast school was flying home at 30,000 feet after its loss to North Dakota State, in Fargo, when news of USC’s defeat penetrated air space.

“The plane was going nuts,” UC Davis Coach Bob Biggs said of the reaction.

Why?

In September 2005, a UC Davis team still transitioning from Division II status pulled off one of the all-time shockers when it uprooted Stanford, 20-17, in Palo Alto.

Two years later, Stanford pulled its upset number on USC, the No. 1 team in the USA Today coaches’ poll.

In the measuring-stick sports world, that’s beating the team that beat the team.

There are current Davis players who played against Stanford -- defensive end James Amos had a sack against Trent Edwards; cornerback Adam Cook recovered a fumble -- and Stanford players who took part in both the UC Davis loss and the USC victory.

“That’s what makes it so intriguing, and so much fun,” Biggs said of college football. “You go to a game and anything can happen. Sometimes at the pro level you miss out on that.”

There have always been upsets in college football. In 1942, 28-point underdog Holy Cross upset No. 1 Boston College, 55-12. In 1974, 35-point favorite Notre Dame lost to Purdue.

In 1998, Temple, as a 35-point under-owl, upset Virginia Tech in Blacksburg.

But there sure seem to be more now.

Just last week victory-starved Notre Dame finally won a game while powerhouse Rutgers lost -- on the same day!

Can you believe it?

This recent Lilliputian takeover seems to have started with Boise State’s victory against Oklahoma in the Jan. 1 Fiesta Bowl.

Two of the biggest upsets in college football history, Appalachian State over Michigan and Stanford over USC, occurred this season before Columbus Day.

Already, seven I-AA schools have defeated major-conference opponents, and among Bowl Championship Series bottom dwellers, Florida Atlantic of the Sun Belt defeated Minnesota of the Big Ten.

Coaches have long credited (or blamed) the 85-scholarship limit for leveling the field, but that salary-cap provision has been in place since 1994.

How do you explain 2007?

“I don’t have any idea what’s going on,” Florida Atlantic Coach Howard Schnellenberger said.

But he does know this: “Beating up on Goliath has always been a very popular thing and I think that it’s a good thing for football.”

The most obvious explanation is the proliferation of offense.

Years ago, schools that had little chance of competing against beefcake powerhouses used the run-option as an equalizer. Think of the military academies -- all those years Navy led the country in rushing.

Today, the equalizer is the spread and speed.

Appalachian State used it to upset Michigan and, a week later, Oregon used it to destroy the Wolverines.

Missouri, which hasn’t won a conference title since 1969, is 5-0 and running the kind of plays you used to draw up on the playground.

“We saw it as an advantage, as something that would give us an innate advantage against certain teams and certain types of programs,” said Oregon Coach Mike Bellotti, who switched to the spread three years ago. “I think that has been borne to be true.”

The spread stretches opposing defenses out horizontally and helps a team overcome physical disparities.

The option attack was an effective monkey wrench, but not nearly as attractive.

“It’s difficult to recruit kids to play the option,” Biggs said. “It’s probably like the Princeton, back-door style in basketball. It’s tough to recruit premier guys to play that.”

What kid, though, doesn’t like pinball?

Schnellenberger, who coached Miami to its first of five national titles, actually thinks the spread has affected both sides of the ball.

“More and more good teams are going to that, and paying a dear price in some respects,” he said.

What price?

“Your defense is not playing against an offense that will test your manhood,” he said.

What else is going on here?

Schnellenberger, jokingly, blamed global warming.

Bellotti, seriously, cited the emerging global village.

“The one thing I do know now is the world is a smaller place,” Bellotti said. “Geographic recruiting might not be as strong as it used to be because kids feel more connected to the entire world. . . . So they are more willing go away to school.”

Another intangible ingredient: the stick-around factor.

Stanford didn’t use the spread offense to beat USC, but it kept the game close long enough to think it had a chance.

UC Davis did the same thing to pull off its win at Stanford.

“You’ve got to remember, you’re dealing with kids,” Biggs said. “Regardless how good USC is or Stanford was over us, and they were clearly better than us, when it starts to get tight, kids who thought they didn’t have chance start to believe. And start making plays.”

Two years ago, Aggies quarterback Jon Grant capped a 72-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown pass to Blaise Smith for the game winner.

“It’s an amazing thing,” Biggs said of momentum. “It’s hard to describe.”

Two years later, against USC, Stanford receiver Mark Bradford caught the game-winning touchdown pass from quarterback Tavita Pritchard.

What a plane ride home it was back from Los Angeles -- and from Fargo.

Blitz package

* OK, back to reality: Stanford is a six-point home underdog this week to Texas Christian, a 3-3 team coming off a loss to Wyoming. “All I really know is that TCU doesn’t care if we beat USC, and they’re preparing themselves to come in here and beat us,” Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh said.

* Remember when? If Stanford ends up costing USC the national title this year, it wouldn’t be the first time. On Oct. 13, 1979, at the Coliseum, Stanford scored 21 unanswered points to tie No. 1 USC, 21-21. The Trojans finished 10-0-1 and ended up No. 2 in both polls behind Alabama.

* Wake up the offense: Notre Dame earned its first win of the season but actually dropped a spot, from 118th to last, in national total offense. With 140 yards against the UCLA, the Irish average dipped to 185.7 a game.

* USC is tied for 117th nationally in penalty yardage, averaging 85.8 a game. Only Kansas State (93.4) and Texas Tech (98.5) are averaging more.

* Did you know: Louisiana State is the only top-10 team in the Associated Press preseason poll that has yet to lose? There are 11 remaining unbeaten major college teams.

* Poll watch 2007: How the ESPN flagship voted in this week’s AP poll: Craig James dropped USC to No. 6, and has Boston College at No. 14. James does not have 6-0 Hawaii ranked. James also has Illinois at No. 12 and Missouri at No. 13, even though Missouri defeated Illinois. Chris Fowler dropped USC to No. 6 and has Hawaii at No. 24. Kirk Herbstreit dropped USC to No. 9 and has Hawaii at No. 21.

Among the AP scribes, Stewart Mandel of SI.com dropped USC all the way to No. 20. Scott Wolf, who covers USC for the Los Angeles Daily News, had the Trojans No. 11 on his ballot. Voters in the USA Today coaches’ and Harris polls have to make their final ballots public.

* It’s getting ugly out there for UCLA Coach Karl Dorrell, who checks in at No. 4 this week on the latest “Coaches Hot Seat” website. The only coaches more under fire than Dorrell right now are Arkansas’ Houston Nutt, Mike Stoops of Arizona and Kirk Ferentz of Iowa. The site lists Dorrell’s chances of getting fired at 10 to 1. Pete Carroll, despite last weekend’s despicable loss to Stanford, is safe by the odds of 1,000,000 to 1. Far as we know, UCLA Athletic Director Dan Guerrero is not being guided by Internet outlets or fan blogs.

* Wouldn’t it be something if Boston College quarterback Matt Ryan won the Heisman Trophy this year with a big final game against Miami and Doug Flutie doing the analysis for ESPN?

* Knock offs: Boston College denied Notre Dame a national title in 1993 when the Eagles upset the Irish a week after Notre Dame beat Florida State in South Bend.

In 2002, Boston College beat Notre Dame in South Bend after first-year coach Ty Willingham had the Irish at 8-0 and No. 4 in the country following a win against Florida State. Saturday, Notre Dame has a chance to put No. 4 Boston College out of the national title race when the schools meet in South Bend. Boston College seeks its fifth consecutive victory against Notre Dame.

* More connections: Last year, UC Davis handed the University of San Diego its only loss of the season. That San Diego team was coached by Harbaugh, who accepted the Stanford job a few weeks later.

* Hooked (ouch) on a feeling: Harbaugh said Stanford’s upset over USC was probably the biggest he has been a part of since his San Diego team defeated a really good Dayton squad back in 2004.

chris.dufresne@latimes.com