Stanford hangs on to win Sun Bowl

For the Stanford Cardinal football team to defeat the North Carolina Tar Heels in the Sun Bowl on Friday afternoon, the Cardinal defense was going to have to contain junior quarterback Mitch Trubisky and the Tar Heel passing game.

They did not do that.

Trubisky passed for 280 yards, including a touchdown with less than a minute to go to pull the Heels within two points of tying the game. What the Stanford defense did do was force three turnovers – including a pick six – which kept the team in the game despite being held to only one offensive touchdown of their own.

The No. 16 Cardinal managed to leave the Sun City with a 25-23 victory over a game UNC squad despite the high-profile absence of…