What Went Wrong for Stanford Football Against BYU

Another week, another loss for the Stanford Cardinal. Coming off of a bye week and hitting the road to face BYU in Provo, the Cardinal were hungry for their first win of the Frank Reich/Andrew Luck Era, hoping to right the ship after a slow start to the season. But once again, the game against BYU proved too much for Stanford, who fell 27-3 to drop to 0-2 on the season.

The Cardinal displayed a lot of promise, primarily on defense, but struggled in a lot of other areas that ultimately contributed to another heartbreak. With conference play looming and the ACC expected to be very cutthroat this year, Stanford will need to improve quickly if it hopes to compete in a loaded conference. Here are the main areas that went wrong for the Stanford Cardinal in Week 2.

Passing Game

This is starting to get all too familiar, and it will single-handedly ruin Stanford's season if not addressed. For the second straight week, Stanford struggled mightily in the pass game, with quarterback Ben Gulbranson having a hard time making the necessary plays to move the ball for Stanford.

Going 17 of 32 on his pass attempts for 142 yards and two interceptions, both of Gulbranson's interceptions came at a bad time, with his second pick of the game coming with around two minutes to go in the game and essentially sealed the win for BYU. It also capped off a drive in which Stanford eas finally moving the ball offensively.

Stanford will need to score a lot this season in order to win games, especially when going up against those top teams like Clemson, Miami, SMU, etc. and if the Cardinal keep getting inconsistent QB play, the season will not end well.

Rushing attack

In complete contrast from the opening game against Hawaii, the run game for Stanford struggled to get anything going, taking away a major bright spot for the rebuilding Cardinal.

In the loss to Hawaii, running back Micah Ford burst onto the scene with a big game. But in the loss to BYU, Stanford's running backs were not much of a factor, with Ford leading the way with 12 carries for 21 yards, averaging only 1.8 yards per carry.

The running game was a major reason why Stanford was able to stay in the game against Hawaii, but against BYU, the lackluster run game forced Stanford to resort to the pass more—a major issue for this team.

Offensive line

Defensively, the Cardinal shined brightly, making several key plays to keep them in the game and prevent BYU from ever really running away with it. But this game, most of the issues stemmed from the offense, with the line play being a big problem.

Against Hawaii, strong blocking allowed for the Cardinal to run the ball well. While the quarterback play was not good, the line at least set up plenty of chances for Gulbranson to make a play.

But this week, the line struggled to give good looks, affecting running lanes for the running back and giving less leeway for Gulbranson. The season will keep getting harder, making line play vital as the season progresses.