On Saturday, Stanford football suffered an embarrassing 52-14 loss to Washington State. Washington State quarterback Cameron Ward led the way for the Cougars going 16-32 for 176 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 0 interceptions while running back Nakia Watson rushed for 166 yards and 1 touchdown on 16 carries. Stanford tight end Benjamin Yurosek was the top receiver for Stanford with 8 receptions for 90 yards, though he did have one fumble that was lost. Stanford freshman edge David Bailey had 9 tackles (5 solo) and 2 tackles for a loss. Washington State improves to 5-4 overall and 2-4 in the Pac-12 while Stanford falls to 3-6 overall and 1-6 in the Pac-12.
“I’ve never used excuses. And I won’t start now,” Stanford head coach David Shaw said after the game. “Never just have been involved in a game where we lose four defensive starters on the opening drive. We prepare our backups to play, get them out there. Try to get them going. But that was really difficult today, really difficult. Because the only way to combat it is on the offensive side. We lacked snaps. We lacked experience and some key positions.
“Jacob Mangum-Farrar was out already as a senior for us in the linebacker room. And to lose two of our captains, both Levani and Ricky, and one of the best leaders on our team, Patrick Fields—to be without those guys was tough. And we needed the offense to cover for it, bottom line.
“You can’t fumble, can’t lose four fumbles, particularly, in a half. Turnovers have been hurting us all year, in particular fumbles. Made it impossible today.
“The drives that we did not go backwards we scored. The problem was there was only two of them. We had an opportunity late in the game. The game was already decided. We expect more. I expect more. We need more.”
With Jacob Mangum-Farrar already out for the game, Stanford came into the game without one of their better defensive players. To make matters worse, Patrick Fields and Ricky Miezan both got injured on the first play from scrimmage as they each got credited for the tackle. The next play, Levani Damuni went down as well. On the same play that Damuni went down, Watson had a 65 yard gain up the middle to the Stanford 13 yard line. Washington State would find the end zone on a three yard touchdown run by Leyton Smithson. It was a 7-0 lead for Washington State with 12:48 to go in the 1st quarter.
After a 23 yard return by Jason Thompson, Stanford would get the ball on their own 24 to start the next drive with 12:43 to go in the quarter. The drive would result in a quick three and out as Tanner McKee went 0-3 on his first three passes. This set up a 28 yard punt by Ryan Sanborn that went out of bounds at the Washington State 45 yard line with 11:53 to go in the quarter.
Watson would get things going for Washington State on an eight yard rush to the Stanford 47 yard line. On a 3rd and 2, Watson would get the first down on a four yard gain. After an incomplete pass, Ward would rush to the right for a 13 yard gain, to the Stanford 30 yard line. After a five yard completion, Ward would connect with Orion Peters for an 18 yard completion to the Stanford 7 yard line. Ward would then connect with Anderson Grover for a seven yard touchdown completion. 14-0 Washington State lead with 9:29 to go in the 1st quarter.
After another quick three and out by Stanford, Washington State would get the ball back on their own 25 yard line with 7:55 to go in the 1st quarter. On a 2nd and 10, Smithson would get an 11 yard completion to move the chains after which Watson had a 29 yard completion to the Stanford 35 yard line. After an incomplete pass, Ward would connect with Billy Riviere for a 20 yard completion to the Stanford 15 yard line. Then, from 15 yards out, Ward would hang onto the ball and rush for a 15 yard touchdown. 21-0 Washington State lead with 6:27 to go in the quarter.
Stanford would start the next drive on their own 32 yard line after a 27 yard return by Thompson. On a 2nd and 10, McKee would connect with Yurosek for a 13 yard completion to the Stanford 45 yard line. McKee would then find Elijah Higgins for a 31 yard completion, getting the ball to the Washington State 24 yard line. On 2nd and 10 from the 24 yard line, Ashton Daniels would connect with Mitch Leigber for a 23 yard completion to the Washington State 1 yard line. On 2nd and 1 from the 1 yard line, Daniels would rush up the middle for the touchdown. 21-7 with 3:42 to go in the quarter.
The next Washington State drive started on their own 25 yard line after a touchback by Joshua Karty. That drive would end in a three and out as Washington State punted the ball to the Stanford 25 yard line where it was returned by Thompson for 10 yards. After a nine yard loss by McKee, McKee would find Yurosek for an 18 yard gain, setting up 3rd and 1 from the Stanford 44 yard line. However, Leigber would fumble, resulting in a turnover for the Cardinal. Washington State had the ball with 2:31 to go in the quarter.
Washington State would start on the 44 yard line and have their drive killed by an unsportsmanlike call. This resulted in a punt, giving Stanford the ball back on their own 10 yard line with 1:47 to go in the quarter. Stanford’s drive would continue into the 2nd quarter as Washington State led 21-7. Stanford’s drive stalled due to a 10 yard holding penalty, forcing them to punt on a 4th and 14 from their own 29 yard line. Sanborn’s punt would be for 50 yards to the Washington State 21 yard line which would get returned for 21 yards to the 42 yard line.
Washington State started their drive on their own 42 yard line with 12:06 to go in the half. Watson would get things going with a 14 yard rush up the middle to the Stanford 44 yard line. Washington State would then move the chains gradually to set up 1st and 10 on the Stanford 33 yard line. On 2nd and 10 from the Stanford 33 yard line,
Lincoln Victor would rush for a negative gain of minus 19 yards while also fumbling the ball. David Bailey forced the fumble, but it was recovered by Victor. This resulted in a Washington State punt that was fair caught at the Stanford 5 yard line with 8:37 to go in the half.
On 1st and 10 from the Stanford 21 yard line, Daniels would fumble the ball and have it returned for a touchdown as Francisco Mauigoa forced the fumble while Jaden Hicks scooped it up and took it back to the house. 28-7 Washington State lead with 8:06 to go in the half.
On the ensuing kickoff return, Thompson would muff the return though Jonathan McGill was able to pounce on the ball, keeping the ball with Stanford. It looked like McGill fumbled, but upon review, he was down before the fumble as his elbow was clearly down. This gave Stanford the ball on their own 9 yard line with 7:59 to go in the half.
After a 19 yard run by McKee and an 11 yard rush by Mudia Reuben, Higgins would fumble the ball on a 22 yard completion, giving Washington State the ball back on their own 38 yard line with 6:20 to go in the half. Washington State would eventually march down the field and score a touchdown as Donovan Ollie found the end zone on a nine yard touchdown with 2:03 to go until halftime. 35-7 Washington State lead.
In what was turning into a comedy of errors, Stanford would fumble the ball and lose possession on the next drive as well. This time it was Yurosek who had the honors of fumbling the ball. With little time to rest, the tired Stanford defense then gave up a 41 yard touchdown run by Watson, making it a 42-7 lead for Washington State. A lead they would take into halftime.
At this point, it was clear what was going to happen. Washington State was going to win. The only question was what the final score would be. Stanford would get the ball to start the second half and to their credit found the end zone on their opening drive. On 1st and 10 from their own 26 yard line, McKee got things going by finding Brycen Tremayne for a 6 yard completion. Brendon Barrow, who was limited due to injury, had an 11 yard gain to the Stanford 43 yard line. Higgins then had an 11 yard reception after which John Humphreys had a 26 yard completion, advancing to the Washington State 20 yard line.
On 2nd and 10, Humphreys would draw a pass interference call, getting Stanford the ball on the 6 yard line. After another pass interference call against the Cougars, it was 1st and goal from the 2 yard line and Daniels from there punched it in. 42-14 with 11:53 to go in the 3rd.
From there, Washington State would calmly add 10 more points the rest of the way to win 52-14. Dean Janikowski drilled a 22 yard field goal with 5:43 to go in the 3rd quarter and then with 11:27 to go in the game, Washington State tacked on another seven points as John Mateer connected with Peters for a 27 yard touchdown.
For Washington State, this is a nice win. Stanford came in with a bit of confidence having won at Notre Dame before coming back home to beat Arizona State. Not to mention nearly beating a very good Oregon State team. This is a game they could have lost and they won soundly. One has to give them a lot of credit.
As for Stanford, this one really stings. Not just that they lost but the fact that they got walloped. This one wasn’t close from the jump. Given that the defense has been getting better over the course of the season and they suffered an abundance of injuries that really did seem out of their control (Kendall Williamson also went down), I’m willing to cut them a bit of slack. I can’t give them a total hall pass. The guys coming in have to be better, but it’s ok to acknowledge the reality of the situation that those guys went down and those guys are all key to the defense.
The offense is the side of the ball that I think has much less of an excuse. While it is true that the running backs are dropping like flies, there are still plenty of weapons in the passing games for them to get more out of. And then having five fumbles, four of which were recovered by Washington State is just inexcusable. That can’t be happening. The offensive woes are really a collective team failure. The schemes need to be more creative in getting more out of the receivers and then guys just have to take care of the ball. Period.
“Too many near misses in our passing game,” Shaw lamented. “Too many off the fingertips, starting first drive against USC. Too many of our best players just not quite making it. Four more today. A little bit long. A little bit high. Off the fingertips. Two drops, two definite drops.”
At this point, all that Stanford can do is put this loss behind them as best they can, shake this off, and get ready to face a really talented Utah team on the road in Salt Lake City. They’re probably gonna get rocked like a hurricane in Utah, but then again, for 24 to 72 hours once a year, the stars align for a female giant panda to be able to conceive.
“Had a really nice stretch of three weeks playing really good football,” Shaw said. “The last two weeks have not been our best football, not even close. Still glimpses. I still say when we didn’t go backwards, we didn’t have penalties, we didn’t miss blocks, we didn’t miss throws, we didn’t fumble the ball—we looked like us, marched down the field, scored touchdowns.
“Lots to clean up. A lot to really look at. But it’s not about scheme for us right now, it’s about pride. And like I said, I’m ultimately responsible, but we have to play better. Our best players have to play better. We’ve got to put them in a better position to go out there and execute.
“You’re missing all of your running backs. And Brendon Barrow tried to come back today, didn’t really have it. Eventually I had to pull him out. We don’t have the running backs. We get as much as we can out of the guys that went out there and played. But we just need more out of our best players. And they have more to give. And gotta make it happen.
“And they have more to give. And gotta make it happen.
“Difficult loss. It’s going to be a difficult week of preparation, to go into a hostile environment. Do we have the players to win? Absolutely. Regardless of injury, we do.
“We’ve got to go out there and execute. The plan’s got to be great. The plan’s got to be better than the plan we had today. We have to play better than we played today.”
The kickoff time and TV station for the Utah game has not been announced, but it will be on Saturday, November 12th on KNBR 1050 radio.
“We have to turn the page and believe in everybody in our locker room and in our facilities,” McKee said. “Utah isa great team. Very hostile environment. We know it’s going to be cold and it’s going to be loud and we just have to believe in our guys left and right.
"And we know we’ll be the underdog especially after today’s performance. We’re probably not going to have a lot of people betting that Stanford is going to pull up a big upset. But we know in our locker room we definitely can, we have the capability. We have the potential. We have the talent. We just have to go out and execute, like Coach said, play our game.”
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