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What went wrong for Stanford in their loss to No. 18 Washington

Stanford certainly underwhelmed in their second straight loss
Kevin Borba|
What went wrong for Stanford in their loss to No. 18 Washington
What went wrong for Stanford in their loss to No. 18 Washington

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Stanford CardinalWashington Huskies

Even despite having two weeks of preparation to take on No. 18 Washington, Stanford was overmatched and outplayed on Saturday in their 40-22 loss. 

The game wasn't even as close as the score indicated as Stanford was able to connect on a touchdown late, when the game was well out of reach. Despite the game being so lopsided to finish, similar to the USC game, Stanford had chances to answer but were unable to take advantage.

There were quite a few things that went wrong, but I am going to breakdown the most costly mistakes for Stanford that were the difference between them getting blown out and it being a close game that they could have actually won. 

Poor offensive line play

This one should come as no surprise. In total Stanford gave up eight sacks on the day, with six of them coming in the first half. This issue will coincide with the next one I bring up, because the offensive line was not always put in the best position. However, the pocket was constantly collapsing on Tanner McKee, and oftentimes before the play could even develop. When you have a quarterback like McKee isn't a dual threat, he needs time to scan the field. McKee was getting what felt like one Mississippi before the defense was in his lap. It also didn't help that they were without their two starting tackles. 

On this play early in the game, Stanford is in a 3rd-and-8 situation. Washington brings four, and Stanford also has running back Casey Filkins stay to help pick up the pass rush. However, Washington easily collapses the edges, and forces McKee to work his way up in the pocket that was also heavily penetrated making him have to try and use his feet more than he would like. 

The Stanford offensive line struggled all game in pass protection especially when they plays required time to develop. 

Poor play calling

I had this as one of the main issues in the USC loss, and it is something that carried over to this game. For starters, Stanford has never been one to push the envelope, but yesterday's offensive showing was as bland as it gets. For starters, even before Walter Rouse went out and especially after, I was not a fan of the RPO plays that were taking about two or even three seconds for McKee to decide if he was going to pull the ball. When the defense is generating as much as pressure as they were, and your plays aren't even close to being developed, it sets the offense up for failure. It also seemed ridiculous to attempt the fake fumble play that the broadcast didn't pick up on, but consisted of McKee acting as if he lost the ball. It appeared to be the shotgun form of the play they ran in the Rose Bowl years ago. If your line is at full strength sure try that, but again, it put them in comprising situations that required them to block too long. 

This play wasn't even the best example of it taking extremely long to develop, but as you can see by the time McKee pulls and drops back none of the receivers are open or close to finishing their route, and the pocket has already collapsed. It is just extremely confusing as to why you would want your depleted offensive line to try and block longer they need to be.  

I would have liked to see more plays of just quick outs or slants, and rely on the athletes you have to make plays after the catch.

 This play was nothing special, but it takes advantage of the size mismatch between the safety and Yurosek. The big tight end is able to haul in the pass fight through some tackles and, get a chunk of yards. 

This play takes a tad longer than the previous in terms of getting the ball out, but Mckee's pump fake creates enough confusing to allow Michael Wilson to get wide open. They also ran a similar look on the John Humphreys touchdown. Nothing special, allows the offensive line to not have to block as long, and gets a play maker in open space.

Untimely turnovers

Turnovers are clearly an issue with this Stanford team this season, as they now have 11 through the first three games which is one of the highest margins in the country. Tanner McKee was the culprit of all three of them yesterday as he threw an unlucky interception, and fumbled twice. 

This isn't to harp on the obvious as we all know if you don't win the turnover battle you will lose the game, but it is to point out that Stanford cannot capitalize on momentum, ever.

It's hard to blame anyone on this play as it appears Filkins fell as soon as he started to cut outside, and McKee was already well into his throw before he could even realize. However, Stanford had a couple turnovers in the red zone against USC and continue to not be able to take advantage of successful drives. If they score here the game is tied, and the Cardinal may be within striking distance the rets of the way. However, Washington takes advantage, and gets three to give them a 10-point lead. A margin that never occurred again, as Stanford trailed by nearly two or more scores the rest of the way. 

The fumble in the fourth may hurt more than people realize, as Stanford was just able to hold Washington to a field goal after a huge offensive play for the Huskies got them in the red zone giving Stanford what appeared to be a lifeline. 

With nearly 11 minutes left in the quarter, if Stanford was able to score here and gone for the two-point conversion, they could have cut the the lead to 10 and had enough time to get a couple more stops. However, they gave Washington the ball at their 30, which allowed them to ice the game. Stanford's offenses biggest enemy is themselves, as when they need a big play the most, they just are unable to produce. 

Cannot prevent the big plays on defense

We all knew that the defense was going to struggle against this high octane offense, but all things considered they did better than I thought. They held Penix to his lowest passing yard total, touchdowns, completion percentage, rating, and QBR of the season. The issue for Stanford was there were unable to prevent the big plays, as Washington had seven plays that went for 20 or more yards, with three of them being 30 or more. 

Trailing by 10 in the second quarter, the Stanford defense has Washington in a 2nd-and-1 scenario . The running back is about a yard behind the quarterback indicating a run, but Stanford's defense isn't able to even touch him. Giving up touchdowns hurt no matter what, but especially when they come on big runs like this.

This play is one of the key plays of the game that prevented Stanford from getting back into it. The defense was able to hold them to a field goal, but if they can prevent Washington going from their own 20 to the five in one play, this again sets Stanford up to try and stage a comeback. The defense was able to get stops at times, but they just were not able to to get them at the right time. 

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Kevin Borba
KEVIN BORBA

Managing Editor and Publisher of CardinalCountry.com, formerly a Pac-12 Network Production Assistant and a contributing writer for USA Today's Longhorns Wire. I am a proud graduate of Quinnipiac University's sports journalism master's program. Follow me on Twitter @Kevin__Borba 

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