After a controversial decision by University of Washington head coach Chris Petersen set him up, Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan romped five yards on a rollout for what proved to be the game-winning touchdown with 4:29 to play Saturday at Husky Stadium, lifting the Cardinal to a 20-13 victory that snapped a four-game winning streak and left the Huskies 0-1 in Pac-12 play.
With the score tied 13-13 and less than seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, Washington faced fourth and nine from its own 47. Petersen decided to run from punt formation, rather than punt and bury Stanford deep in its own territory. The Cardinal snuffed Shaq Thompson’s rushing attempt for no gain and took over at the UW 47.
Six plays later, after Stanford ate 3:08 of clock, Hogan executed his decisive bootleg.
Petersen subsequently elected to decline a penalty on Stanford for an out-of-bounds kickoff, which would have given Washington a first down at its 35-yard line with 4:29 left. Preferring that the Cardinal re-boot it to the dangerous returner John Ross, the Huskies instead wound up at their 16-yard line, a loss of 19, after Ross was buried on the second kickoff.
The Huskies couldn’t advance beyond their 23-yard line. They had a final possession inside two minutes, and reached the Stanford 28, but QB Cyler Miles couldn’t deliver the ball.
Stanford raced to a 10-0 lead on a 35-yard Jordan Williamson field goal and Hogan’s 17-yard TD pass to Tyler Montgomery. The Huskies trimmed the margin to 10-6 on a 25-yard TD from Miles to WR Jaydon Mickens (PAT missed), but Williamson’s 32-yard field goal gave Stanford a 13-6 lead at 5:46 of the second.
Thompson’s 32-yard fumble return for a touchdown tied the game 13-13 at intermission.
Other than the Miles touchdown pass to Mickens, the Huskies couldn’t generate any offense against Stanford, which gained 364 yards to Washington’s 179. Miles completed 15 of 29 for only 98 yards and couldn’t find an open receiver in the second half. Kasen Williams caught just one pass for 14 yards.
The Huskies couldn’t run the ball, either, gaining 81 yards on the ground to Stanford’s 186. Lavon Coleman led the Huskies with 58 yards.
The game might have taken a different turn if John Ross’s kickoff return TD to open the game had not been nullified by an illegal block. After Stanford made it 3-0, Ross returned the kickoff 100 yards, only to have it wiped out. Against Illinois, Ross also had a 100-yard kickoff return called back due to an illegal block.
SCORING SUMMARY
1st Qtr. (Cardinal, 3-0): J. Williamson 35 FG, 12:16. Drive: 6 plays, 17 yards in 2:44.
2nd Qtr. (Cardinal 10-0): T. Montgomery 17 pass from K. Hogan (J. Williamson kick), 12:57. Drive: 9 plays, 77 yards in 4:44.
2nd Qtr. (Huskies 10-6): J. Mickens 25 pass from C. Miles (kick missed), 9:59. Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards in 2:58.
2nd Qtr. (Cardinal 13-6): J. Williamson 32 FG, 5:46. Drive: 10 plays, 67 yards, 4:13.
2nd Qtr. (Huskies 13-13): S. Thompson 32 fumble return (C. Van Winkle kick).
4th Qtr. (Cardinal 20-13): K. Hogan 4 run (J. Williamson kick), 4:29. Drive: 6 plays, 47 yards in 3:08.
3 Comments
The Dawgs just lacked the power and the talent to pull off an upset today. Admittedly, Stanford is a powerful team and it could have been a lot worse. The Husky pass protection was abysmal for the first three quarters, but improved somewhat in the fourth quarter. But even when Miles had time to throw, his passes were mostly off target. A lot of the Husky plays seemed poorly designed.
During the upcoming bye week, hopefully the Dawgs can fix at least some of the problems that were exposed today.
Also the Husky pass rush was pretty anemic for most of the game. Hogan seemed often to have lots of time to pick his targets.
On one hand, the Dawgs were able to hang with the #16 ranked team that typically is in the top ten in the nation. On the other, this was a winnable game for them on their home field no less. Hard to believe this same Husky team racked up 59 points a few weeks ago. Lot of preventable mistakes on the Huskies part.