Despite a sluggish start, Stanford cruised to victory over
Boston College 38-22. The balanced Stanford offense, led by
Ryan Wells, proved to be too much for the Eagles.
Stanford won the coin toss and elected to receive. However,
the usual potent offense came out flat. The opening drive
lasted just three plays, which consisted of two incompletions
with a two yard run sandwiched in the middle. After Boston
College went three and out, Coy Wire broke through to block the
ensuing punt, which was recovered by Alex Smith at the BC 14.
But the offense could not take advantage of the excellent
field position that they were given. Randy Fasani threw two
incompletions (both were intended to Luke Powell), then was
stripped of the ball at the 23 by Scott Bradley. Antonio Baray
recovered for the defense. Six plays, minus seven yards,
one turnover. Not the way you want to start the year.
Dana Bible, known for his brand of "boreball," called
for a flea-flicker to open the Eagles' drive. However,
Brian St. Pierre overthrew his man, Dedrick Dewalt. After
picking up a first down, Bible called for Dewalt to take the ball
on a reverse play. Dewalt ended up burning the Stanford
defense for 28 yards down to the Stanford 28. The drive was
also aided by a Stanford personal foul, moving the ball to the
14. Three plays later, St. Pierre connected with Ryan Read
in the endzone, who somehow held onto the ball after sustaining a
big hit from Jason White.
The next time Boston College touched the ball, they had less
success. Colin "Redwood" Branch stopped the
dangerous William Green for a loss of four yards at the BC 36.
On third and 12, St. Pierre found Dewalt, but he was
limited to just eight yards, and they were forced to punt.
On the return, "Cool Hand" Luke Powell ended up
shaking, juking, spinning, and scampering his way to a 49 yards
to the Eagle 42 with 2:30 in the quarter.
Stanford cashed in on the excellent field position. Kerry
Carter started the drive breaking tackles for a twelve yard gain.
On the next play, Fasani kept the ball for an additional
eleven to the 19. Then, Stanford got on the board.
Fasani stepped aside to avoid one defender, spun around to
get away from another, and delivered a perfect pass to an open
Nick Sebes. It was Sebes' first collegiate reception and
touchdown. The score was tied 7-7 with 2:04 remaining in
the quarter.
After trading punts, Simba Hodari intercepted St. Pierre at the
Stanford 36. Brian Allen started the drive with three
consecutive runs, netting 14 yards. Two plays later, the
team scored again when Fasani completed his pass to Wells over
the middle. Wells side-stepped a defender and ran away from
another for the score and Stanford had its first lead at 14-7.
On their next drive, Boston College could not hold onto the ball
once again. Brian Taylor picked off a pass at the BC 31 and
returned it 32 yards to the 9 yard line. Kerry Carter
carried the ball twice in a row, the first time for four yards.
The second time, he punched it in from five yards out.
The lead was then 21-7 with 7:36 remaining in the half.
Later, the Eagles had the opportunity to close the gap after Eric
Johnson, who had been having a pretty good game, shanked a punt,
giving them possession at the Stanford 37. But they could
not capitalize. After a 20 yard run by Green, the offense
bogged down. Kevin McMyler attempted a 33 yard field goal,
but missed it wide to the right. Stanford took a 21-7
advantage into the break.
Special teams play was a concern coming into the game because
Stanford did not have a game under its belt yet. Disaster
ended up striking early in the third quarter when Eric Johnson
could not hold onto a snap and fumbled the ball. However,
the defense rose to the occasion once again. Austin Lee
dropped Dewalt for a nine yard loss. St. Pierre then threw
back to back incompletions. This time, McMyler was true
from 45 yards out to cut the lead to 21-10. The Eagles
struck again with 3:19 in the quarter when Ryan Read scored on a
23 yard pass. However, Matt Leonard (who had two sacks in
the game) blocked the extra point attempt, leaving the score
21-16. Boston College never completely recovered after
that.
Ryan Wells responded right away with yet another long touchdown
reception. Fasani ran a play fake, found Wells over the
middle, who broke a tackle for the 69 yard score.
From there, Stanford was able to put Boston College away.
Stanford took possession at their own three yard line, but
had little trouble moving the ball. Both Brian Allen and
Kerry Carter were able to pick up key first downs to keep the
drive alive while keeping the clock running. But it was
Teyo Johnson that finished the drive. He caught two passes
over the span of three plays, with the second being a 14 yard
jump ball for a touchdown. Stanford had traveled 97 yards
and had taken 6:11 off of the clock.
The Eagles were unable to get anywhere on their next drive.
Matt Leonard sacked St. Pierre for a ten yard loss at the
BC 18. McMyler only managed 30 yards on the punt. On
top of that, Boston College was called for kick-catch
interference, giving Stanford the ball at the 31. They
ended up going three and out, but Mike Biselli was able to make
the 41 yard field goal attempt.
Boston College scored a meaningless touchdown late in the game on
a 20 yard Jamal Burke reception. McMyler missed the extra
point to make the final score 38-22.
Game balls:
Offense:
Ryan Wells with his 138 yards on 6 receptions gets the
game ball. Both of his touchdowns were real game breakers.
The entire offensive line comes in a close second.
They provided Allen and Carter with large holes all night
long and never allowed Fasani to be sacked. Barring injury,
they should be a real strength of the team.
Defense:
It was a real coming out party for Matt Leonard, who had two
sacks and a blocked extra point. Hopefully he will be the
answer to Willie Howard.
Special teams:
Luke Powell used The Force and was able to turn the entire game
turned around with his 49 yard punt return. My guess is
that he'll return at least one punt for a touchdown this year.