Stanford overcomes sloppiness in Seattle

There just seems to be something about the city of Seattle that gets Stanford’s offense out of its rhythm.

It was a different kind of offensive ineffectiveness than it was when the Cardinal lost at CenturyLink Field in 2012 — in that game, Stanford was held to just 235 yards of offense and constantly stagnated behind an unreliable Josh Nunes.

In 2014, the Cardinal gained 364 yards of offense to Washington’s 179, but as was the case in the USC game three weeks ago, the Cardinal kept finding ways to come away with nothing on its drives — a missed field goal, an interception and two fumbles that were recovered by Washington — that kept the Huskies and the home crowd in the game for all four quarters.

It sure wasn’t easy, and you bet it wasn’t pretty.

But after an increasingly persistent inability to finish drives gave Stanford fans fits through the first three quarters of Saturday’s game, Stanford finally gained the upper hand when a questionable fake punt call allowed the offense to take advantage of a short field. The resulting touchdown gave Stanford a 20-13 lead that it would not relinquish as the No. 16 Cardinal (3-1, 1-1 Pac-12) squeaked out a nail-biting victory over the Washington Huskies (4-1, 0-1).

“I think we are so much better than we are playing, and the point I got across to the team is it doesn’t matter how good we are, it matters how well we play,” said head coach David Shaw. “And right now, when you look at us right now, we are a semi-efficient, sloppy offense and that’s not one thing we’ve ever been known for and it’s one thing we better not be known for from here on out this season.”

Nowhere was that sloppiness more evident than in the ball protection afforded by the Stanford offense. After it had been a point of emphasis for the Cardinal throughout the weeks of practice leading into the game, Stanford still coughed up the ball three times to up its season total to 12 fumbles through just four games. In contrast, Stanford fumbled just 20 times in the 14 games that it played last season.

Senior quarterback Kevin Hogan was particularly struggling in that regard on Saturday, as he lost the ball twice deep in Washington territory — once at the Huskies’ 23 and then again at the Washington 16. In addition, senior tailback Remound Wright was stripped in the second quarter by linebacker Shaq Thompson, who returned it for a touchdown. That was not the only low point of the game for Wright, who was also flagged for a chop block for the second time this season.

The victory wouldn’t have been possible without another tremendous effort from the Cardinal defense, which allowed just 179 yards to Washington – an average of just 2.6 yards per play – and gave up just one offensive touchdown to keep the Cardinal in the game while their offense stagnated for much of the afternoon.

“Once again, [the defense] won the game for us,” said Shaw. “We put pressure on the quarterback, stopped the run and played smart defensively. Not enough is being said about how well we play as a team.”

The biggest defensive play of the afternoon came with eight minutes remaining in the game, when junior safety Zach Hoffpauir stuffed a fake punt at the Washington 47-yard line that ultimately set up Stanford’s game-winning drive.

“We gave up a fake punt last year,” Shaw said. “Whenever you give up a fake punt on film, you’re going to see it throughout the entire year because everyone… thinks you’re susceptible. We talked through it ad nauseum through the week, and our guys executed.”

Sophomore outside linebacker Peter Kalambayi spearheaded an overwhelming Stanford pass rush that sacked Washington quarterback Cyler Miles four times – with Kalambayi accounting for three – after having its way with a physically imposing Washington offensive line. The defense also forced five three-and-outs in Washington’s 14 drives.

Senior James Vaughters also had one of the most outstanding games of his career, leading the team with nine tackles and using not just his brute strength to power through his blocks, but also surprising agility and footwork on his blitzes to break into the backfield and wreak havoc on Miles.

On the offensive side, although Hogan had a relatively solid line of 17-for-26 with 178 yards, a touchdown and an interception, he seemed out of rhythm and wild all afternoon, never quite hitting his receivers in stride and often making his reads and throws late — in addition to the costly red-zone fumbles.

For the second year in a row, senior wide receiver Ty Montgomery led the Cardinal charge against the Huskies, leading the team with 149 all-purpose yards, including a 62-yard return on the opening kickoff of the game that set up a Jordan Williamson field goal.

But Montgomery’s biggest play of the game came early in the second quarter, when Hogan rolled left on a bootleg and looked like he wanted to tuck and run before he dumped it off to Montgomery down the left sideline, who bulldozed through two defenders, stayed in bounds and pushed a third defender for five yards into the end zone for an eye-popping touchdown that silenced all 66,512 on hand at Husky Stadium.

However, Washington later pulled within one score by taking advantage of three Stanford penalties for 35 yards to drive down the field for a touchdown before Thompson took back the Wright fumble for a touchdown to keep the game close heading into the final minutes.

“This is a talented team, and this is a team that you’re glad you play early,” Shaw said. “You play them late and they could be on a roll.”

Stanford will travel to Notre Dame next Saturday for its final nonconference matchup of the season.

Contact Do-Hyoung Park at dpark027 ‘at’ stanford.edu.