Three Factors That Contributed to Stanford's Loss at SMU

That is not how Stanford football envisioned its weekend going. Coming off of a bye week, the Cardinal (2-4, 1-2 ACC) hit the road to face off against the SMU Mustangs in Dallas in the first of a very tough three-game stretch. Hungry to extend their win streak to two straight and get their season back on track, the Cardinal were locked in and ready to go for the early kickoff.

But things did not go the Cardinal's way on Saturday. From penalties that took away scoring plays and derailed drives, to the defense having no answers to SMU's high-powered offense, Stanford instead found itself going home with a 34-10 loss and once again hanging its season in the balance.

Here are observations from Stanford's loss to SMU in the third ACC game of the season.

Penalties, Penalties, Penalties

Stanford came into this game as massive underdogs and while the 34-10 final score proved most people right, the Cardinal were actually in it until late in the fourth. Playing a brand of very undisciplined football spoiled any hopes that the Cardinal had of coming back.

Amassing 10 penalties for 95 yards, the Cardinal beat themselves in many instances, with the most notable being a touchdown catch from Caden High being taken off the board because of a Stanford penalty which would have made it only a one score game at 17-24 with roughly six minutes to play.

SMU is a very good team and while Stanford showed at various points in the game that it had the pieces for an upset win, penalties against a team of that caliber never result in a win. And with games against Florida State and Miami still left on the docket for the Cardinal, playing disciplined is very important from here on out.

Defense Continues to Struggle

What a far cry from the start of the season. Starting off playing at an elite level, with strong performances against Hawaii, BYU and Boston College, Stanford's defense has since struggled, unable to contain Virginia and nearly allowing San José State to pull off the upset.

And against SMU, the defense once again faltered in some big moments, allowing SMU's offense to have a field day for the most part.

Allowing quarterback Kevin Jennings to complete 22 out of his 30 pass attempts for 247 yards and two touchdowns, while also struggling to contain SMU's running game and receiving core, the Mustangs were able to pull ahead in the first half and never look back, forcing the Cardinal to work extra hard in the second half.

The Cardinal defense was once the backbone of this year's team, but now, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered and things that need to be fixed.

The Offense Was Humming... Until It Wasn't

Offensively, Stanford showed a lot of promise against SMU's defense, with quarterback Ben Gulbranson making some good throws and the pass catchers, primarily CJ Williams and Sam Roush, putting up big numbers. The run game even showed signs of life as well, with running back Cole Tabb leading the way with nine carries for 62 yards and averaging 6.9 yards per carry.

But penalties, late game turnovers and the offensive line faltering in big moments led to the Cardinal managing only 10 points.

Finishing the day completing 22 out of his 40 pass attempts for 278 yards and an interception, Gulbranson threw a critical interception late in the fourth quarter inside the five yard line that resulted in a 95-yard pick six for SMU to make it 31-10, instead of Stanford scoring to make it a 24-17 game.