This is a loss that will be painful to look back on for
Cardinalmaniacs™. So many "what ifs" will haunt
the Stanford fan base, in a game that was too much Wazzu and not
enough Card.
From the get-go, Stanford wanted to establish the run in this
game, and did just that with great success. Rushes of 14 and 20
yards from Brian Allen and Randy Fasani moved the opening drive
down the field and led to a Stanford TD in the air. That strike
from Fasani found Darin Naatjes in the endzone, the first of his
two scores on the day. Stanford's next scoring drive scored by
land, and totaled 65 of 69 yards on the ground. Brian Allen
picked up the TD and all the rushes on that drive but one
(Fasani), which was a microcosm of Stanford's offense for the
day. BA ran wild this Saturday, for 133 yards on just 20 carries.
3 of those carries resulted on TDs, and 6 of the carries resulted
in gains of 10 or more yards.
Then tack on a solid afternoon from Kerry Carter, averaging
almost 5 yards per carry on 10 rushes, and you get a clear
picture of ground-bound greatness. All in all, Stanford picked up
219 yards on the ground, including losses from a whopping seven
sacks.
But this game will ultimately be remembered for what Wazzu
succeeded in doing to Stanford, which was a lot of quick-strike
scoring and opportunities seized. In a first half that saw 59
total points and a two-score lead by the Cougs, there was a
striking imbalance of mistakes. Back-to-back scores by Wazzu
broke a 21-21 tie on two critical Stanford miscues. The first was
a blocked punt that the Cougs ran easily into the endzone, while
the second was a telegraphed Fasani dump-off pass against the
blitz that was picked up at the line and run for an even easier
score. There was also Chris Lewis' endzone TD on an underthrown
ball to an open Brett Pierce, and a Casey Moore fumble that gave
Wazzu a very short field for another of their scores.
Wazzu did plenty of things right in addition to capitalizing
on Stanford mistakes. One that stands out was a halfback pass for
a TD late in the first quarter. QB Jason Gesser made quite a few
key scrambles, and found his receivers on an unnerving number of
third-and-long situations. One of those go-to receivers for Wazzu
who scorched the Card was hoops standout Mike Bush, which gave
Stanford a rare chance to see what a Teyo-type athlete can do to
them. He caught just 4 balls, but 2 were for scores and they totaled 97 yards.
This all being said, Stanford at one point scored 18
unanswered points, and held the visiting Cougs scoreless for some
26 minutes. Stanford looked in control, moving steadily but
surely down the field on offense, and stuffing the bad guys on
defense. But then Randy Fasani was knocked out of the game at the
sideline on a first down scramble - the worm turned.
Stanford's offense stalled through the entire 4th quarter,
with both Lewis and a banged-up Fasani at the helm. And Wazzu's
offense began to find ways to move on the Cardinal "D"
once again. A 39-35 lead faded to a 39-45 defeat.
Of course, the Card were just one play away from a totally
different ballgame. Trailing by just a field goal, Stanford
looked downfield to tie or regain the lead in the middle of the
fourth quarter. Fasani specifically looked downfield on a key 3rd
and 7 and saw Caleb Bowman wide open around the Wazzu 25. Fasani
underthrew a bit, but Caleb had no defenders of concern and was
under the ball. But it bounced off his chest and hands to the
ground, as he crumpled to the turf. Nobody was more crushed that
Caleb, who has faced hands issues throughout his career.
Stanford punted, and never really had a shot to tie or win
again. Wazzu flat executed what they needed to to control the
clock and build their lead, while Stanford couldn't muster even a
first down in their final drive attempt.
The Cougs are on Cloud Nine at 6-0, undefeated in the
conference along with UCLA and Oregon, while the Card tasted
defeat for the first time and are left looking for answers.