Published Oct 29, 2023
Recap: Stanford gives #5 Washington a scare before Halloween
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Ben Parker  •  CardinalSportsReport
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On Saturday, Stanford football gave #5 Washington a real scare on The Farm. Washington won by a final score of 42-33, nearly allowing Stanford to convert a fourth down that could have led to a game-winning field goal. While it ends up being a game of coulda woulda shouldas, Stanford can still hold their heads high knowing they battled a top-five team all the way to the very end.

Washington quarterback Michael Penix, Jr. was the top performer for the Huskies, going 21-38 for 369 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 1 interception. Washington running back Dillon Johnson, Jr. rushed for 84 yards and 1 touchdown on 18 carries while wide receiver Ja’Lynn Polk had five receptions for 148 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Stanford quarterback Ashton Daniels was the top performer for the Cardinal, going 31-50 for 367 yards, 1 touchdown, and 0 interceptions while also rushing for 98 yards and 2 touchdowns on 18 carries. Stanford redshirt freshman wide receiver Elic Ayomanor went down with what looked like a shoulder injury and did not finish the game. But before he went down, Ayomanor had nine receptions for 146 yards and 1 touchdown.

Washington improves to 8-0 overall and 5-0 in the Pac-12 while Stanford falls to 2-6 overall and 1-5 in the Pac-12. It’ll be interesting to see what ranking Washington has on Sunday considering this is their second straight narrow victory over a team who they were heavily favored against (27.5 point favorites).

BOX SCORE: Washington at Stanford-Saturday, October 28th

VIDEO: Stanford Football Postgame Press Conference: Washington

“Yeah, talked to them briefly. Told them how proud I was,” Stanford head coach Troy Taylor said of what he told the team after the game. “Talked about coming out fast and competing, and, you know, obviously we're not satisfied with coming close. I am proud of how they played and how they competed.

“You know, sometimes in life you don't get the tangible reward for great effort, preparation, and making plays. But the resiliency of these guys and their ready and willingness to play and give everything they got against a really, really good team, super proud. We'll learn from it and move on to next week against another really good team, Washington State Cougars.”

Stanford got the ball to start the game as Bryce Farrell had a kick return for 17 yards to get things going. Stanford was able to move the chains a couple of times to get the first down in their opening drive, but they ultimately had to punt. On 4th and 22 from the Stanford 36 yard line, Stanford punter Connor Weselman punted up a wounded duck that only traveled 14 yards. Washington had great field position as a result, getting the ball at the 50 yard line with 9:07 to go in the 1st quarter.

Washington would find the end zone on their opening drive as Jack Westover found the end zone from one yard out to give them a 7-0 lead with 6:26 to go in the 1st quarter. The next two drives for each team both ended in punts. Freshman Aidan Flintoft came in to punt for Stanford going forward and he did much better, at least putting some stink on his punts as opposed to floating up whimpering pigs.

Stanford would trail 7-0 at the end of the 1st quarter but had the ball on their own 32 yard line to start the 2nd quarter. They had a bit of momentum. Thanks to a 20 yard reception by Sam Roush, Stanford got the ball to the Washington 27 yard line. A facemask against Washington helped Stanford get 12 yards out and from there, Daniels found Ayomanor for a seven yard completion before running it into the end zone himself from five yards out. It was tied 7-7 with 12:24 to go in the 2nd quarter.

Washington got the ball on their own 25 yard line following a touchback. Polk had a 13 yard reception in the drive while Rome Odunze had an 18 yard reception. Later on, Devin Culp got a 29 reception to get Washington inside the 10 yard line. From there, Penix found Odunze for a seven yard touchdown reception. 14-7 lead for Washington with 9:20 to go in the 2nd quarter.

Stanford would get the ball to start their next drive on their own 25 yard line. Stanford would move the chains once for a first down, but ultimately had to punt. Flintoft would punt it 36 yards, getting the ball inside the 10 yard line. The 8 yard line to be exact. That part is important because Washington would then score on a 92 yard touchdown as Penix found Polk at the 50 yard line. Polk took it to the house from there. 21-7 lead for Washington with 5:09 to go in the half.

Stanford would start their next drive on their own 25 yard line. The opening play of the drive was Daniels finding Tiger Bachmeier for a 30 yard completion. Daniels later on had an 11 yard run while Bachmeier later had a 12 yard reception. This ultimately led to Joshua Karty attempting a 23 yard field goal, which he made with 1:06 to go in the half. Neither team would score the rest of the half, making it a 21-10 lead for Washington at halftime.

Washington got the ball to start the 3rd quarter at their own 25 yard line. They ultimately ended up having to punt thanks to Wilfredo Aybar coming up with a huge sack that resulted in a loss of 12 yards. With 11:17 to go in the 3rd quarter, Stanford had the ball on their own 32 yard line.

A pass interference call against Washington helped Stanford move the chains on the drive as Daniels was trying to find Bachmeier. Later on, Daniels hooked up with Ayomanor for a 39 yard touchdown reception. Stanford went for a two-point conversion and didn’t convert. It was now a 21-19 lead for Washington with 10:01 to go in the 3rd quarter.

After both teams traded punts, Washington had the ball on their own 48 yard line with 5:23 to go in the 3rd. Polk had a 13 yard reception in the drive before Penix later found Odunze for a 23 yard completion. Penix then found Polk for a 10 yard touchdown. It was now a 28-19 lead for Washington with 3:55 to go in the 3rd.

Stanford quickly responded after getting the ball on their own 25 yard line to start the next drive. The big play of the drive was Daniels to Ayomanor for a 53 yard gain. With the ball inside the 20 yard line, Stanford was able to find the end zone from there as Daniels ended the drive with a two yard rushing touchdown following receptions from Sam Roush and Jayson Raines. After the extra point was good, it was a 28-26 lead for Washington with 1:17 to go in the 3rd.

That would remain the score entering the 4th quarter. The 4th quarter opened up with Washington having the ball at the Stanford 39 yard line on 3rd and 8. Germie Bernard then had a 15 yard reception before Penix found Culp for a 24 yard touchdown pass. Washington now led 35-26 with 14:14 seconds to go.

Stanford’s next drive resulted in a 40 yard punt by Flintoft to the Washington 32 yard line with 13:11 to go. It looked like Stanford would run out of gas.

But then, Stanford’s defense went to work. On 1st and 10 from the Stanford 19 yard line, Stanford outside linebacker Teva Tafiti forced a fumble that was recovered by safety Mitch Leigber on the Stanford 17 yard line.

Stanford would capitalize as Roush had a 15 yard reception before Daniels later found freshman Jackson Harris for a 44 yard completion. The first reception of his career. From there, Daniels rushed for four yards before then finding E.J. Smith down the sideline for a seven yard completion. From two yards out, Justin Lamson rushed the ball into the end zone, making it a 35-33 game with 6:16 to go.

Stanford attempted an onside kick but did not recover, this gave Washington the ball back at midfield. Washington moved the ball down the field well and set up a 1st and 10 from the Stanford 17 yard line.

“Yeah, could be one of those things we could certainly try and pin them back, and we've done that before,” Taylor said of the onside kick. “They're really good on offense, and I thought we're going to have to -- give us an opportunity, we get a good bounce, which we did. Josh made a great kick. The ball popped up and came loose. So just kind of playing the odds that we might get an opportunity. There is an argument to be made to kick it deep; that's what we did.”

Penix then threw an interception in the end zone as Stanford cornerback Zahran Manley picked him off in the left corner of the end zone. This resulted in a touchback, giving Stanford the ball with 5:05 to go on their own 20 yard line.

“We played man coverage,” Manley said of his interception. “Rome widened his split so initially I was off. When he widened out I wanted to press him because I had a feeling they would go deep and take a shot. I think he ran a double move.

“I just tried to stay on top, have good eye control. Tried to play his hands for the PBU, and then I just saw the ball and I just grabbed it. It was a heads-up fun play for me.”

“Massive,” Taylor said of forcing two turnovers on defense. “Unbelievable play by Tristan Sinclair, and Mitch got it and Zahran. That was great. Gave us an opportunity. Yeah, so those were both huge.”

With 3:23 to go, Stanford had 4th and 2 from their own 28 yard line. Stanford drew up a trick play for Bachmeier to throw the ball to Raines, who had some real estate in front of him. Unfortunately, Raines was not able to secure the pass as he was credited with a drop. This resulted in a turnover on downs.

“Oh, you know, it's the play probably a lot of people will remember, but many more plays in that game and opportunities, not just one play,” Taylor said of that call on fourth down.

“You know, Tiger Bachmeier, you know, it was really Casey Filkins that typically runs that play for us. We practice it. Casey wasn't up and Tiger has practiced it a couple times and he was ready to roll. Jayson Raines was trying to catch the ball and make something happen. You know, I told him in the huddle, you're going to be open. Catch it and do something with it. Those guys are just trying to make a play. Came up a little bit short, but super proud of those guys and everybody on our team, everybody on the roster.”

“Yeah, it was a play that we just been practicing for a while and was just time to call it in a big game like this,” Bachmeier added. “We were all excited to call it and then, you know, was just whatever happened, you know.

“Yeah. That's really all I have to say about it. But I don't know. It's tough.”

From there, Washington tacked on one more score as Dillon Johnson had a 13 yard touchdown that iced the game away. 42-33 would be the final score, which looks a lot better than a 35-33 victory if you are Washington team who is concerned about style points for the College Football Playoff.

For Stanford, this loss stings in that they had a chance to pull off the upset. At the same time, they have to feel really proud with how they competed. They could have given up and gotten blown out. Instead, they battled for the duration of the entire game and actually had a chance to win in the closing minutes. They gave Washington a real scare in this one. Stanford head coach Troy Taylor has his team playing hard and focused each week. That’s something that speaks volumes of the job he is doing.

“Yeah, like we're a resilient group and we're hungry, and every week we just try to get better,” Manley said. “Even though we lost the game, which is unfortunate, there is a lot of positives we can grow and learn from. That's really what we're trying to do. Just set the foundation for this team for the years to come with the new regime that Coach Taylor is setting forth. We won't get too down on it. We'll watch the tape and get better and attack Washington State next week.”

As for Washington, talk about dodging a bullet. A loss to Stanford would have killed their hopes for a national championship. Instead, their national championship hopes stay alive as do their Pac-12 championship hopes. They remain undefeated and that’s all that matters. Plus, they ended up winning by nine points in the end, so maybe the committee won’t look too unfavorably on this outcome. Still, after a shaky win over Arizona State, they need to figure out why these past two games have been close and get better.

“A W is a W, so of course we're happy to be 8-0, but there's going to be a lot of corrections that we can look at,” Washington cornerback Jabbar Muhammad said. “Got to watch the film. That wasn't our best football, so we know we can be better. We're going to watch the film and try to clean it up.”

Up next for Stanford is a road game at Washington State on Saturday, November 4th. That will kick off at 6:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks and KNBR 1050 AM radio.

“We're going to go and watch the film tomorrow and we're get the same exact talk whether we win or lose,” Bachmeier said. “It's about coming back and hammering on all the things we need to get better at, to every finite detail.

“It's going to be the same as after Colorado game, UCLA game, and this game. You can see that progression coming from it. Somewhere, something has to click for us, you know.”

Note: Troy Taylor had no word on Elic Ayomanor’s status going forward. They hope to have more clarity on that come Monday.

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