Recap of Stanford's loss against No. 18 Washington
After quickly falling behind 17-7 in the first half due to horrible offensive line play, turnovers, and Washington's offense clicking Stanford was unable to turn things around.
The Cardinal were able to hold Washington to a field goal out of the gates after a near targeting by Kendall Williamson, but again were unable to answer with a score of their own. They punted on their first possession, which of course led to a touchdown on a dime from Michael Penix Jr. who finally hit on a deep pass to give Washington a 27-7 lead. The Huskies would go on to hit another field goal to make it 30-7.
After finally being able to move the ball down the field, Tanner McKee connected with John Humphreys for a touchdown. The Cardinal would go for two and get it to cut the lead to 15. Even despite the touchdown, the offensive play calling for Stanford was looking extremely predictable. If it weren't for Humphreys getting away with a push off, the pass likely would have been incomplete.
The ensuing Washington possession led to another field goal after Stanford corner Salim Turner-Muhammad tripped and fell, on a 61-yard gain for Rome Odunze for 61 yards setting up Washington at their 25. The Cardinal did get a nice stop on third down again, but unlike most college kickers, Washington's kicker has been nails. On the contrary, Stanford's red zone defense has been very solid as Washington could have easily been nearing 50 points in the fourth.
Even with all of the red zone stops, Stanford's was still exposed all game by Odunze who had a career day. Something the Cardinal weren't expecting as they had Kyu Blue Kelly on Ja'Lynn Polk practically all game, which from a one-on-one stand point Kelly did phenomenal. Polk who prior to the game was second in catches, and first in touchdowns and yards per catch, did not record a catch until the fourth.
That's enough positives for Stanford, as Washington would go right down the field and score another touchdown to make it 40-15.
The Cardinal for some reason kept McKee in the game down 25, only for him to be sacked for the eighth time. The offense has two major issues right now, the line which was missing both tackles, couldn't give McKee any time, and the RPO looks for Stanford are developing way too slow.
Stanford would later connect on a meaningless touchdown, as McKee found Michael Wilson who took it 78-yards for the score to make the final score 40-22.
All in all, a very poor showing from the now 1-2 Stanford who will travel to Eugene next week to take on No. 15 Oregon. I will have more on what went wrong, what needs to change, and what David Shaw had to say tomorrow!
Stats Comparison:
Total Yards: Stanford 372, Washington 479
Passing Yards: Stanford 286, Washigton 309
Rushing Yards: Stanford 86, Washington 170
Penalties: Stanford 2-23, Washington 5-32
Turnovers: Stanford 3, Washington 0
Time of possession: Stanford 26:30 Washington 31:45
