In a blueprint game that could've been pulled from the 2013 Stanford Media guide, the Cardinal produced its best effort of the season with a 23-13 win over Washington and reminded fans that yes, this program knows exactly who they are.
The Cardinal took the field on Saturday night with few believers, and it wasn't hard to understand why. This was a team that had logged three consecutive losses for the first time in the David Shaw Era and then snapped that losing streak in rather uninspiring fashion with a narrow win over a perennial conference doormat. This was a team that had entered the season with only three sure things -- Walker Little, K.J. Costello, and Paulson Adebo -- and the first two players were injured while the third had fallen from grace. This was a team that ranked near the bottom of the conference in almost every statistic that matters. Things were so bleak that people were no longer just wondering if the season could be saved, they were questioning the direction of the program. Vultures were circling.
Whether we accept this truth or not, the most vexing part of being a fan is caring passionately about something over which we have little knowledge and zero control. Our emotional swings, I think, are far greater than the players' reactions, so maybe it shouldn't have been a surprise when the Cardinal offense opened up the game with a drive that denied any hint of trepidation or concession. Even with a backup quarterback under center and two freshmen on the offensive line, the offense looked completely familiar -- if you hadn't been paying attention to Stanford football for the past seventeen games or so.
Cameron Scarlett ran for eight yards on the opening play of the drive, Davis Mills hit Colby Parkinson over the middle for twenty yards on the next play, and two plays later Scarlett rumbled ahead for eighteen and just like that the Cardinal was in field goal range. When Shaw had to burn a timeout to avoid a delay penalty on 3rd and 9, however, it felt like we were spiraling into a familiar eddy. It felt like Mills might hand off to Scarlett to move the ball to one hashmark or the other to better situate Jet Toner for a field goal attempt, so the actual play they ran was more than just your average 26-yard gain.
Wide receiver Simi Fehoko -- the heir apparent to J.J. Arcega-Whiteside's section of the playbook -- lined up in the left slot and ran past his defender and towards the left pylon. Mills, whose touch has looked better with each passing week, lofted a perfect ball that dropped nicely into Fehoko's hands just before he went out of bounds at the 5. A personal foul pushed the line of scrimmage to the Washington 2, and while it was mildly disheartening that two Scarlett runs and an errant Mills pass led to a field goal instead of a touchdown, the positive signs of the opening drive outweighed the disappointment of the four points left unclaimed.
Based on what we'd seen over the previous five games, it was reasonable to expect that the game would be determined by the Washington offense and the Stanford defense, so when the Huskies marched methodically down the field, with quarterback Jacob Eason and the offense succeeding where Mills and his group had not by punctuating their long drive with a three-yard touchdown pass to tight end Cade Otton, the concern was about more than just the 7-3 Washington lead. Would the Stanford defense be able to stop the Huskies? If not, would the Stanford offense be able to keep up?
With the jury still out on the Cardinal defense, Mills and the offense did their best to hold up their end. On 2nd and 5 from his own 25, Mills showed a dimension of his game that expands the offensive playbook. He looked to hand the ball off to Scarlett on a read-option play, but when the defense committed to Scarlett, Mills pulled the ball back and ran it himself for an easy twelve yards. As brilliant as K.J. Costello was in 2018, he almost never kept the ball on the option because that doesn't fit his skill set. Mills's athleticism and versatility is reminiscent of Andrew Luck and Kevin Hogan, and not just because of the touchdown pass he caught against Oregon State. The Stanford offense doesn't need a running quarterback like Cam Newton or Lamar Jackson, but it functions best with a signal caller who can extend plays and even call his own number four or five times a game. Mills gives them just that.
A few plays after that designed run, Mills was forced out of the pocket on 3rd down, but his two-yard scramble came up short of the sticks, and the Cardinal faced 4th and 2 at midfield. Everything I've ever seen from David Shaw told me that he would choose to punt, but instead he kept the offense out on the field. Perhaps more surprising given the state of the offensive line, Shaw sent in a running play, and Scarlett powered ahead for three yards and a 1st down. Earlier this season we'd seen the offense passing the ball on 3rd and short, and it didn't feel like Shaw was going against tendency but rather accepting a new reality. On this play, at least, he seemed to be reminding his team of its identity.
On the very next play we saw something else that was familiar, a high-pointed pass to Fehoko. We saw this play countless times last season as Costello fearlessly fired passes to one giant receiver or another, trusting his man to out leap the defender, and so it was here as Mills rifled a ball that was too tall for the Husky cornerback but just right for Fehoko and just right for a 23-yard gain and another Stanford 1st down.
The good news continued when Mills flipped a pass to Tucker Fisk for the blocking tight end's second career reception (Shaw was just showing off at this point) that netted sixteen yards and came just a foot or two shy of the end zone, but then there was the bad news. Just like the last drive, two runs and an incompletion left the ball on the Washington 2, and the Cardinal had to settle for a field goal yet again.
Few things raise the ire of a fan base quite like red zone failures, as we focus on the four points lost rather than the three points gained. While I tend not to be as critical of red zone field goals, these two lost opportunities were particularly egregious. You can't expect an offense to score every time it crosses the opponent's 20, but the Cardinal had 1st and goal at the 2 and 1st and goal at the 1 on its first two drives, but produced only six points. The offense had looked better than it had all season, but Stanford still trailed 7-6.
After the Stanford defense forced a quick punt from the Huskies, Mills and his offense took over at their own 27 and continued to assert themselves. A screen pass to Scarlett for six yards, a pass to Michael Wilson for 18, and a run from Scarlett for 7 brought up a 2nd and 3 from the Washington 42. Stanford's suddenly viable running game made the defense vulnerable to play action, so when Mills faked the handoff to Scarlett, the deception contributed to confusion on the other side of the ball. The Huskies were blitzing (it should be noted that Scarlett's blitz pick up was critical here), but the cornerback lined up across from Fehoko let him go, clearly expecting safety help. When that safety help never came, Fehoko was unguarded as he ran down the right sideline. There was no defender within shouting distance as Fehoko grabbed Mills's pass for his first career touchdown and a 13-7 Stanford lead.
The Huskies picked up a field goal to cut the lead to 13-10, but then the teams traded three empty possessions to finish out the half.
One of the hallmarks of the Stanford defense when it's been at its best has been the ability of defensive coordinator Lance Anderson to make adjustments at halftime. Stanford's stingiest defenses have always been even stingier in the second half, and that was the case against the Huskies.
During Washington's first drive of the second half, however, it looked like the Huskies had been the ones to make the adjustments. A chunk play from Eason to wide receiver Aaron Fuller for 35 yards followed by another on a 19-yard run from Newton pushed the ball deep into Stanford territory, but the Cardinal defense held firm from there. When Washington reached 4th and 2 at the Stanford 13 and Coach Chris Petersen decided to keep his offense on the field, the game hung in the balance. Even though the running game had been fairly effective, Eason dropped back to pass and looked to his left towards Andre Baccellia for a quick slant, the type of play that Stanford had struggled to defend during the first five games of the season. On this play, though, Paulson Adebo was lined up on Baccellia, and Adebo read the play perfectly. When Baccellia broke right, Adebo broke with him and cloaked him from behind. Eason tried to force the pass, but Adebo's length allowed him to reach around Baccellia and knock the ball down with his right hand, denying the Huskies and turning the ball back over to Mills and the offense. As the exuberant defense sprinted off, defensive backs coach Duane Akina matched their exuberance as he bounded ten yards out onto the field to greet Adebo. Akina is easily the most animated coach on the Stanford sideline, the polar opposite of the placid David Shaw, but his reaction here seemed different than usual. He wrapped an arm around his player's neck in an act that seemed equal parts celebration and relief. His star pupil had endured a rough start to the season, and you didn't have to hear Akina's words to understand the message -- Adebo was still Adebo.
The offense would manage only a single 1st down before punting the ball back to the Huskies, but the defense would get the ball back quickly. When USC and UCF were lighting up the scoreboard against the Cardinal earlier in the season, they were doing so because the Stanford defense was unable to manufacture even a hint of a pass rush. That was hardly the case against Washington. After completing his first five passes of the game, Eason spent the rest of the night running for cover. Although he'd be sacked only twice, he was constantly on the move and often threw the ball away to avoid big losses.
On 2nd and 5 from the 25, Eason was forced to scramble all the way back inside his 10 before escaping pressure from Jovann Swan and Andrew Pryts and dumping an incompletion to avoid the sack. He wasn't as fortunate on the next play, however, when Gabe Reid pulled him down for an 18-yard loss.
Thanks to possessions like that, Stanford was beginning to accumulate a significant edge in time of possession, and each time the offense took the field things began to feel more and more like what we'd been used to seeing back during the glory days. The Huskies' first two scoring drives lasted 5:20 and 4:01, but they only had two other possessions all night that lasted longer than two minutes. The Cardinal, meanwhile, had four drives that were longer than five minutes and not a single one less than two. All of that added up to an almost two to one possession gap of 39:01 to 20:59. Just like old times.
So even though it was only midway through the third quarter, the Cardinal offense was facing a fatigued Washington defense when they took over just inside midfield. A 22-yard pass over the middle to Parkinson and 17 yards on a catch and run from Osiris St. Brown helped move the ball deep into Washington territory, but then disaster struck. After an innocuous six-yard run from Scarlett moved the ball to the Washington 4, right guard Henry Hattis stayed on the ground clutching his lower leg, and his teammates knelt around him in support as the medical staff tended to him. There was no official word on his injury after the game, but he left the field on a cart and the gruesome replay led to speculation about broken bones.
Aside from the disappointment Hattis will likely feel if his injury indeed turns out to be season ending, there is real concern about the future of Stanford's offensive line. There are currently six healthy scholarship linemen. This was once a position of such depth that most freshman linemen arrived on campus with the clear understanding that they would redshirt their first year to focus on gaining the strength and weight necessary to contribute at this level. But with so many linemen going down to injury, that luxury is no longer possible.
And so as Hattis left the field, another freshman trotted in to take his place. Jake Hornibrook made his debut at right guard, so Shaw naturally called a play for Scarlett to run right behind him, and naturally Scarlett ran through the hole Hornibrook helped create and powered his way into the end zone for the touchdown and a 20-10 Stanford lead.
The Huskies responded with a field goal to get back within seven at 20-13, so when the Cardinal's ensuing drive was doomed by a holding penalty, Washington got the ball back on its own 15 but down by just a touchdown with 11:09 to play in the game. Last week the Stanford defense resembled a sieve during much of the second half against Oregon State, but Mills and his offense had protected them this week and kept them fresh. Nowhere was this more evident than in a pass rush that was ferocious during the fourth quarter.
Eason had time on 1st down and hit Aaron Fuller on the numbers only to watch his receiver drop the ball, but after that the defense turned up the pressure. On 2nd down it was Casey Toohill looping into the backfield and forcing Eason to throw the ball away to avoid being sacked for a safety. On 3rd down a blitzing Curtis Robinson bull rushed a running back, and the quarterback had to throw as he was backpedalling away from the pressure. His pass floated a bit, giving cornerback Kyu Kelly time to turn and locate the ball and make the interception. One of several freshmen to contribute this season, Kelly seems to have solidified his hold on the corner opposite Adebo, and just as when Adebo sprinted off the field after that 4th down pass break up earlier in the game, Kelly was met by Coach Akina who was at least as excited as any of his players.
But the news was not all good for the Cardinal. When the offense came out onto the field, it was with Jack West at quarterback instead of Mills. The cameras found Mills testing his mobility on the sidelines, and he appeared to be okay, but the training staff quickly ended his night. Mills never seemed to be limping and after the game Shaw would explain that they had erred on the side of caution, but the image of bags of ice being taped to Mills's knee is certainly cause for concern.
Back on the field, a face-masking penalty moved the ball into field goal range, and Jet Toner eventually added three points for the Cardinal, stretching the lead back to ten at 23-13. With 8:04 to play in the game, it was desperation time for the Huskies. They managed to move ball out to their own 47, but a holding penalty put them into a hole they couldn't dig out of. Faced with 4th and 19 from their own 38, Petersen made the painful decision to punt and give the ball back to the Stanford offense with just six minutes left in the game.
What happened next was fairly extraordinary. It used to be that this was the point in the game where the Stanford offensive line would take over and burn the clock, but that hasn't happened recently. Given that they were playing with three freshmen on the line and a third-stringer at quarterback, it seemed even less likely here, but Cameron Scarlett wasn't interested in what was likely.
He carried the ball on every snap of this possession. He looked to be stopped short of the marker on 3rd and 5, but he kept his legs churning and earned the 1st down by sheer force of will. Three plays later, and after the Huskies had burned their final two timeouts, Scarlett ploughed ahead for another 1st down, this time converting a 3rd and 6. His ninth carry of the drive came up short, and even though I did my best to convince Shaw to drive the final nail into the coffin by going for it on 4th and 2 with 1:01 left to play, it wasn't really necessary. Scarlett had already turned out the lights.
Scarlett had been the most consistent player on the Stanford offense through the first five games of the season, and even though he had never been spectacular, his consistency had netted 413 yards, enough to lead the conference in rushing. On this night, however, he was spectacular, carrying the ball 33 times for 151 yards and adding 32 yards on two receptions. And like so many Stanford running backs before him, Scarlett dominated the 4th quarter, running 14 times for 46 yards.
There are still questions about this team, most urgently surrounding the health of the linemen and the quarterbacks, but the future looks much different than it did a few days ago. While a ten-year bowl streak once seemed to be in jeopardy, the Cardinal now sits at 3-3 and won't have to leave Palo Alto until the second Saturday of November. They play just twice in the next twenty days, and it isn't inconceivable that they could win the next four games before hosting Cal on November 23rd.
It's foolish to think that far head, though, so instead we'll focus on what we know for sure after this 23-13 victory. Stanford Football is alive and well.
