Washington State edges Stanford 34-31; Cougars get fifth straight win against Cardinal

Washington State Cougars running back Max Borghi (21) goes up against Stanford Cardinal defender Stephen Herron (left) during Sat Oct 16, 2021 game at Pullman (AP News photo)

Washington State Edges Stanford 34-31

By Barbara Mason

Saturday afternoon the Stanford Cardinal (3-4) took on Washington State Cougars (4-3) at Washington State in Pullman. With two similar records to start the game WSU faces a team that has celebrated two upsets this season. The first against USC by the score of 42-28 and the second a stunning win over 9th ranked Oregon 31-24 in overtime. WSU has won it’s last four games against Stanford which included a 49-22 victory the last time they met. WSU continued their winning way with it’s fifth straight win 34-31 in a comeback on Saturday.

WSU has two of the best receivers in the Pac-12, Calvin Jackson Jr. and Travell Harris. These two players rank third and fourth in the conference. Stanford will have to keep both of these players under wraps. The Cardinal defense will have their hands full containing WSU quarterback Jayden de Laura who has been having a banner year.

Stanford came out strong in the first quarter. Quarterback Tanner McKee threw for a 45 yard touchdown to Benjamin Yoroek. Stanford would add a couple of field goals; a 45 yard and 32 yard strike to lead 13-0 at the end of the quarter.

WSU would come roaring back as Jayden de Laura threw three touchdowns in the second quarter. Travell Harris had the first touchdown, a 32 yard pass. De Laura would hit Calvin Jackson Jr. for 31 yards and the third for ten yards to De’Zhaun Stribling. WSU led by the score of 20-13. The Cardinal would block the PAT on the second touchdown. Stanford would kick a 31 yard field goal as the half came to an end. At the half the score was 20-16 in favor of WSU.

WSU had the ball to open the second half. The Stanford defense was able to hold and put the ball back into the hands of their offense. Penalties hurt Stanford on their first drive of the third quarter putting WSU back into the drivers seat. De Laura went right to work driving downfield culminating in a six play drive for 66 yards and their fourth touchdown of the game. The Cougars had extended their lead to 27-16. Stopping De Laura was proving a major challenge for the Stanford defense.

A pass interference called on WSU coupled with some nice play by McKee was huge for Stanford setting them up with a first and goal on the WSU one yard line as the third quarter came to an end.

Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee would rush for the touchdown. The two point conversion was successful and Stanford trailed by a field goal 27-24. McKee was not finished. On Stanford’s next drive he would complete an 8 yard pass to Austin Jones for a touchdown taking the lead 31-27 with 3:42 left in the game. The WSU offense had really cooled letting Stanford back into this game.

Jayden de Laura got back on track in the latter minutes of the fourth quarter and moved his team downfield. Max Borghi rushed for a two yard touchdown giving WSU the lead and the win 34-31. The small window that Stanford had closed completely when McKee fumbled and WSU recovered with 1:30 left on the clock.

It was almost a great finish for the Cardinal but they just could not hold the Cougars at the end.

Next up for Stanford will be the Washington Huskies on Saturday October 30 at Stanford Stadium. The time for kickoff is TBD.

Stanford vs Washington State Preview

by Jerry Feitelberg

The Stanford Cardinal returns home to meet the Cougars of Washington State University Friday Night at Stanford Stadium. Game time will be at 6pm and will be on national television broadcast on ESPN and on KNBR Radio 1050.

Stanford (3-2, 1-1 Pac-12) will be looking to get back on the winning track after a tough loss last Saturday to Notre Dame. The will be playing the pass-happy Washington State Cougars(2-4, 1-2 Pac-12) coached by Mike Leach. Leach is in his third year as head coach and took the Cougars to their first bowl game in 10 years last year. Leach also coached at Texas Tech and was very successful using the passing game and had the Red Raiders ranked nationally during his tenure there. The Cougars lost a wild game last week to call 60-59. The Cougars’ quarterback, Connor Halliday, passed for a national record of 734 yards and six touchdowns but they did not win as they missed an easy field goal and let the game slip away. So far this year, Halliday leads the country in yards passing(3052), touchdowns (26) and total offense(498.0 yards per game.)

The Stanford defense will certainly have to be on their toes to stop the passing game. Stanford leads the country in scoring defense (8.6 points per game) and ranks second in passing yards allowed (107.04)

It does not look like the Cardinal defense will have to worry about the Cougars’ running game and they will be concentrating on stopping Halliday and the passing game as Halliday is averaging 62 attempts per game. However, Halliday will call a running play when he feels the play will confuse the Stanford defense and to keep them honest.

It is not known at this time if Stanford’s quarterback,Kevin Hogan, will play Friday. Hogan was injured in the Notre Dame game and did not practice Monday. Hogan was limited in Tuesday’s practice and was expected to practice without limitations on Wednesday. Backup QB Evan Crower has been taking snaps with the first-team offense and will be ready if Hogan can’t go.

Notes:

Stanford is ranked first nationally in scoring defense and second in total defense(232 yards/game) and passing defense. Stanford has allowed just 43 points through five games. The defense allowed 36 and the other points came on an Stanford offensive fumble which was returned for a score.

Stanford has held opponents under 30 points in each of its past 28 games, the nation’s longest such streak. The Cardinal is 39-4 at Stanford Stadium since the final home game of 2007. Stanford is 8-0 following a loss under head coach David Shaw.

Stanford leads the series 38-25-1 and won the last meeting 55-17 last year.

The Cardinal has won the last six games in the series and has averaged 43 points per game during that span.

Should be an interesting game. Get there early as parking is going to be horrific due to the unusual 6pm start time Friday night.–

Jerry Feitelberg
jyf1938

Cal mistake prone again, falls to Washington State

Cal’s offensive numbers are eye-popping, but they don’t obscure the fact that the Bears are rapidly losing ground in the otherwise upwardly-mobile Pac-12.

The Bears fell prey to early miscues and turnovers again, and fell to Washington State on Saturday, 44-22.  With only one win over Portland State in the previous 12 months, Cal has dropped nine straight games to FBS competition and fell to 1-4 on the season.

Daniel Lasco’s fumble at WSU’s 3-yard line on Cal’s first possession and a bushel of penalties on the second poisoned Cal’s first quarter that ended with WSU leading 14-0.  In the previous two games, Cal trailed Oregon 27-0 and Ohio State 21-0 establishing a disturbing pattern that has Coach Sonny Dykes looking for answers.

“Right now we are having a very difficult time running the football, which is putting a lot of pressure on our offensive line,” Dykes said.  “We are not good enough up front to pass protect.  Jared (Goff) had pressure on him all day and got a little rattled because of it.”

Goff may have been rattled, but in Dykes’ system the pass plays just keep coming.  The true freshman signal caller again threw for 400 yards, attempting 58 passes that produced two lengthy touchdown plays.  But the Bears never got closer than 14-12 in the second quarter as Washington State’s Connor Halliday attempted 67 passes, completing 41 for a total of 521 yards and three touchdowns.

Ultimately, the 44,000 that attended saw another lengthy football game, filled with big plays but lacking in competitiveness.   The mistake-plagued Bears committed 11 penalties and five turnovers to rob the afternoon of any drama.

And while the Bears fluctuated between the mistakes and the home runs like Chris Harper’s 89-yard touchdown catch and run, Washington State was remarkably steady in moving the ball via the pass as Halliday was sacked just once.

“The offensive line played unreal,” Halliday said of his protectors.  “That was huge.  Those guys really got in a rhythm up front and dominated the game.  I think I got hit twice.  That’s a lot of fun back there when you have all that time to get rid of the ball.”

The Bears had beaten Washington State eight straight times prior to Saturday, but the slow start and mounting injuries put a stop to that streak.  Prior to the game, Dykes announced that center Chris Adcock will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury.  Also, this week safety Alex Logan retired due to recurring injuries and prominent pass rusher Chris McCain was dismissed due to repeated personal conduct issues.

During the game, the Bears lost linebacker Jalen Jefferson, safety Joel Willis and corners Stefan McClure and Kameron Jackson to injury, more bad news for a defense that has surrendered a whopping 45 points per game.

As for the rest of the challenging schedule and Cal’s mounting losing streak against conference competition, they will see three currently-ranked teams (Washington, Stanford and UCLA) as well as Oregon State, currently 4-1 and 2-0 in the conference in the final seven weeks.   On the positive side, the Bears could be healthier once the schedule eases in November with home games against USC and Arizona and a road trip to Colorado.

Next Saturday, the Bears face 12^th-ranked UCLA at the Rose Bowl.