Stanford Trolls Louisville After Upset Win With Perfect Bay Area-Appropriate Meme

As is their lot in life, the Cardinal left the college football world laughing Saturday.
Stanford celebrates its 38–35 upset win over No. 22 Louisville on Nov. 16, 2024.
Stanford celebrates its 38–35 upset win over No. 22 Louisville on Nov. 16, 2024. / Bob Kupbens-Imagn Images

It flew under the radar Saturday because it happened outside the auspices of the College Football Playoff race, but Stanford's upset of No. 22 Louisville was as shocking as any this week. The lowly Cardinal—whose last victory came all the way back on Sept. 20 against Syracuse—stunned the Cardinals on a 52-yard field goal from kicker Emmet Kenney as time expired.

The result of the football game itself, however, is of relatively little consequence to the Stanford football experience writ large. Thus, when the Cardinal pulled out their surprise victory, their athletic department's social media had the perfect meme ready.

Stanford posted a picture of Justin Timberlake as Sean Parker in the 2010 filmThe Social Network Photoshopped into university regalia, urging Louisville's Cardinals to "drop the 'S.' It's cleaner."

In the movie, for those unfamiliar, Parker—the founder of Napster—advises Facebook founders Eduardo Saverin (Andrew Garfield) and Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) to drop the "the" in the company's original name.

These events take place in the Bay Area adjacent to Stanford—although it seems, unfortunately, that the Cardinal's then-terrible football team never pops up on the characters' radars.


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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .