Stanford came into the desert dinged up and off a devastating loss against
U-Dub. The Card's contest against "Being" John Mackovic's Arizona
Wildcats had disaster written all over it. Stanford led 48-16 coming into the
fourth quarter before Arizona tried a late and futile comeback.
Stanford jumped ahead 3-0 early on a 29 yard field goal from Mike Biselli.
However, Arizona responded right away with a 43 yard touchdown reception by
Clarence Farmer from Jason Johnson. After UA added a 22 yard field goal,
Stanford scored 24 straight points, with a Luke Powell touchdown reception sandwiched
between two of Teyo Johnson's TDs. Biselli also added another field goal.
The Wildcats ended the half with a 52 yard field goal. Stanford led 37-13 at the
half.
Not until the third quarter did things really begin to get interesting. On
the first play from scrimmage in the second half, Tank Williams caught a fumble
(created by Matt Friedrichs) in mid-air and returned it for a TD. After
another UA field goal, Stanford scored on a controversial play. After being
blitzed, the Arizona QB appeared to have thrown the ball away. Instead, Coy Wire
picked up the loose ball and returned it the full 89 yards for the score. After
a defensive stop, Kenneth Tolon had an impressive 71 yard touchdown run, somehow avoiding
falling to the ground as he was spun around near the line of scrimmage. Stanford had a 48-16 lead at the end of the third.
Biselli added another field goal early in the 4th before The Sheriff pulled
most of his first teamers, a call which nearly backfired horrendously. The offense
became stagnant and the defense became porous. Farmer, who had been previously contained in the game, ripped off 20 and 66 yard touchdown runs. Nursing a 51-30
lead with about five minutes to go, Arizona blocked a punt - Stanford's
second snafu on special teams in the game (the other being a bad snap on a
punt). Backup QB John Rattay soon found Malosi Leonard (brother of Matt) from 21
yards out with 4:17 to go. Fortunately, Stanford starters were reinserted in the
game and were able to stop the bleeding to hold on to win 51-37.
Box Score