Stanford travels back to a different era; and it's not to the best of times

For decades Stanford fans became familiar with a script of how games would play out, especially against ranked or highly regarded opponents. The Cardinal quarterback would lead the offense in a high-scoring game, but the defense couldn't make a critical stop, and time would run out.

How the 41-38 loss to Washington State played out Saturday was like walking through a time machine.

Stanford's coaches made the right call to go a pass-first strategy with a faster pace to get KJ Costello and the offense in a rhythm early. The result was that the offense scored 28 points in the first half and the positive momentum was clearly visible among the players. Stanford's offense stalled to only 10 points in the second half, but 38 points ties the highest scoring output of the season.

The Cardinal defense couldn't make a critical stop when needed in the final 1:25 of the game. Washington State's Gardner Minshew made minced meat of Stanford's defense and there was a feeling of inevitability that he was given too much time for a go-ahead drive.

The parts that looked familiar from Stanford's video archives was a defense trying , but too often failing, to limit big plays -- Washington State had nine of at least 15 yards and three of at least 33 yards -- and an offense that needed to go through the air to keep up.

It nearly worked. But the fact it didn't put the Cardinal in chase position for the North Division title and not much optimism that the leader (the Cougars) will crash.

After the game fifth-year center Jesse Burkett credited the faster pace of play calling and getting to the line for helping the Cardinal better counter Washington State's pre-snap movement. The Cougar defensive linemen often did their shift and the Cardinal had plenty of time left before the snap.

That was a factor that helped create clean pockets and the best combined performance by Stanford's tackles Walker Little and A.T. Hall this season. And it was Stanford's best overall pass blocking grade (87.3) since UC Davis (90.8) and the top score against an FBS opponent. It helps that Washington State pass rush terror Hercules Mata'afa is gone, but that rating was accomplished without Nate Herbig (79.3 season pass blocking grade) and rotating Drew Dalman and Devery Hamilton at right guard.

Little's score is his third straight in the 80s and it's been an improving number each week. He has played through a shoulder injury and weathered a frustrating series of games. He has the skill set to excel in an offense that throws the ball 40 or more times in a game.

Costello's stat line ( 34-of-43 for 323 yards and four touchdowns) suggested it should be a score higher than 75.3. But playing quarterback is not fair and grading the position can largely be determined by a couple plays in a game. Costello's fumble gave Washington State a short field to score a touchdown. That play also dramatically affected Burkett's grade because it was his man who caused the fumble.

Also, Costello's much discussed checkdown throw to Bryce Love on fourth and three was a major negative play in his column. It was a throw short of the sticks, with no pressure that warranted the decision. He also missed Colby Parkinson up the seam on a drive that surrendered Stanford's chance to go up 38-31 in the fourth quarter rather than trail by that score.

Love's best run offense grade of the season was largely the result of one play: The 43-yard run out of shotgun on first down. Six of the previous seven first-down plays were pass attempts.

Arcega-Whiteside's overall run block grade was solid, but he put in a great effort to help set Love loose on that 43-yard gain.

There is a hard line of separation after Arcega-Whiteside, Smith and Irwin in receiving yards and pass offense grades. They accounted for 303 of Costello's 323 yards.

The frustrating part of Parkinson's low grade (58.8 for the season) is that there have been times Costello has forced the ball to him for incompletions and also times he's missed seeing Parkinson when he's open.

The grades from the Washington State game reinforce what has long been apparent this season: Pass blocking is the line's strength; Costello doesn't have to be great for the passing game to be and it's difficult to stop Stanford's top trio of pass catchers. And it showed that in a supporting role the run game can be effective (5.2 YPC) if there are enough times Stanford breaks its formational trends.

Pass rush has been a problem all season and Saturday did not change that story. Shaw highlighted that after the game. Washington State's passing game is too fast for four-man fronts to consistently get to the quarterback. That is, unless there is a dynamic, overpowering pass rusher among the group.

Stanford has good players in the front seven, but none that fit into that category. It calls into question whether the Cardinal needed to find some different ways to create pressure.

Stanford's best pass rush grade was from freshman Thomas Booker. He caused two quarterback hurries in 24 snaps. His woeful tackling grade was heavily impacted by one missed tackle.

Jordan Fox and Reid show flashes that lead to optimism for next year when they are stronger and improve technique. Fox's trajectory is back to a positive after a couple rough games earlier in the season.

It was good for the Cardinal to see Casey Toohill post a good game. The staff thought they played him too much last week -- his first back from injury -- and leaned on Reid and Fox instead.

Missed tackles were an eyesore for the Cardinal fans and coaches Saturday. And it probably wasn't a good film review day for the players. PFF identified 12 missed tackles, but defensive coordinator Lance Anderson consistently counts more when watching the game.

Branch (two), Antoine (two) and Holder (three) were the worst offenders. One of Antoine's misses set Jamire Calvin free on the play that set up Washington State's field goal to end the first half. Okereke had a chance to erase a big portion of those yards but his one missed tackle, according to PFF, was also on that play. Three points turned out to be a big deal and the Cougars were able to score 10 points on the drives bracketing halftime.

Holder's grade was his worst since 2015. He had a similar score last year against Utah, though. He was subbed out for several series and Eboh played for the likely not-100 percent-healthy Holder.

Adebo's tackling grade and physicality on the field is the type of play that supports the scheme that "allows" short completions. He allowed seven catches on seven targets for 50 yards. But he had no missed tackles and three of his eight tackles were labeled "stops", meaning the play was considered a loss for the offense.

The idea, though, is that five yard completions stop at five yards. During its best years Stanford's defensive front was strong enough that eventually there would be a negative play that put spread offenses behind schedule.

Stanford's defense doesn't have the playmakers to get off the field consistently against top offenses. Minshew had plenty of time find ways to beat the Cardinal downfield and the one sack was due to an impressive length of time of coverage.