Stanford balanced in easy win over ASU

Stanford Cardinal 2009 ... Head Coach: Jim Harbaugh

2009 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 5-7
2009 Record: 5-3

9/5 at Wash St W 39-14
9/12 at Wake Forest L 24-17
9/19 San Jose St W 42-17
9/26 Washington W 34-14
10/3 UCLA W 24-16
10/10 at Oregon St L 38-28
10/17 at Arizona L 43-38
10/24 Arizona St W 33-14
10/31 OPEN DATE
11/7 Oregon
11/14 at USC
11/21 California
11/28 Notre Dame

2008 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 3-9
2008 Record: 5-7

8/28 Oregon St W 36-28
9/6 at Arizona St L 41-17
9/13 at TCU L 31-14
9/20 San Jose St W 23-10
9/27 at Wash W 35-28
10/4 at No Dame L 28-21
10/11 Arizona W 24-23
10/18 at UCLA L 23-20
10/25 OPEN DATE
11/1 Wash St W 58-0
11/8 at Oregon L 35-28
11/15 USC L 45-23
11/22 at California L 37-16
11/29 OPEN DATE

Stanford Cardinal

Oct. 24
at Stanford 33 … Arizona State 14
Stanford got up 24-0 in the first half on a 22-yard touchdown run from Jamal-Rashad Patterson on a reverse and two short scoring runs from Toby Gerhart and Owen Marecic. ASU never threatened, even after an 18-yard Chris McGaha touchdown catch in the third quarter and a 40-yard T.J. Simpson score in the fourth. Stephfan Taylor put the game away for the Cardinal with a 33-yard touchdown run. ASU committed ten penalties to Stanford’s three.
Player of the Game: Stanford RB Toby Gerhart ran 27 times for 125 yards and a score.
Arizona State: Passing: Danny Sullivan, 12-23, 143 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Dimitri Nance, 7-35, Receiving: Chris McGaha, 6-80, 1 TD
Stanford: Passing: Andrew Luck, 17-28 , 236 yds
Rushing: Toby Gerhart, 27-125, 1 TD, Receiving: Ryan Whalen, 7-93 
What It All Means: This was a tremendous win to not only stop the slide after two straight losses, but it was a season-saver with Oregon, USC, and Cal coming up next and with Notre Dame to finish up. The Cardinal will struggle to get a win over the final month to get to a bowl game, and there’s almost no way there will be two wins, even with three of the final four games at home. The offensive balance continues to be strong and the defense did a great job of keeping ASU from ever getting in the game. With two weeks of to prepare, the run defense has work to do to get ready for Oregon.

Oct. 17
at Arizona 43 … Stanford 38
In a wild night of passing, it was a 57-yard Nic Grigsby run that decided the game and gave Arizona the win. Stanford had a chance to put the game away, but blew it on fourth and one on the Arizona eight with a dropped pass by Chris Owusu and opened the door for a Wildcat rally. Greg Nwoko ran for a 43-yard score for the Wildcats in the fourth quarter, but it was QB Nick Foles who dominated with 415 yards and three scoring passes, but Stanford’s Andrew Luck helped the Cardinal get up early and finished with 423 yards and three touchdown passes. But his one interception proved costly with Robert Golden taking it 79 yards for a touchdown in the first few minutes. Stanford finished with 584 yards and Arizona cranked out 553.
Player of the Game: Arizona QB Nick Foles completed 40-of-51 passes for 415 yards and three touchdowns
Stanford: Passing: Andrew Luck, 21-35, 423 yds, 3 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Toby Gerhart, 28-123, 2 TD, Receiving: Chris Owusu, 5-116, 1 TD
Arizona: Passing: Nick Foles, 40-51, 415 yds, 3 TD
Rushing: Nic Grigsby, 7-89, 1 TD, Receiving: Juron Criner, 12-152 
What It All Means: Stanford has fought well and is far better than it has been in past years, but with two straight road losses, it’s a critical time for the program. There isn’t a layup the rest of the way with Arizona State’s strong defense up next, and then Oregon, at USC, Cal, and Notre Dame. Four of the five games are at home, but the Cardinal needs two wins, and needs a healthy Toby Gerhart. Andrew Luck threw for 423 yards against the Wildcats, but when he needed to connect on a few key plays late, he didn’t. This is still one of the Pac 10’s most exciting teams and has a chance to make some noise in the title chase with a little more on defense.

Oct. 10
at Oregon State 38 … Stanford 28
Jacquizz Rodgers ran for 189 yards with scoring runs from seven, two, and 12 yards out for a 21-0 Oregon State lead. He later added five-yard scoring dash, while his brother, James, added a 16-yard touchdown catch. In the battle of top Pac 10 running backs, Stanford’s Toby Gerhart didn’t get going until late running for fourth quarter scores from 11 and two yards away. OSU outgained Stanford 463 yards to 375.
Player of the Game: Oregon State RB Jacquizz Rodgers ran 33 times for 189 yards and four touchdowns, and he caught five passes for 82 yards.
Stanford: Passing: Andrew Luck, 12-30, 226 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Toby Gerhart, 20-96, 2 TD, Receiving: Ryan Whalen, 5-85
Oregon State: Passing: Sean Canfield, 22-32, 290 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Jacquizz Rodgers, 33-189, 4 TD, Receiving: James Rodgers, 6-78, 1 TD
What It All Means: The defense picked bad time to come up with its worst game of the year. The run defense was shoved around too much early on and before the team could blink, it was 21-0 Beavers. Andrew Luck is a great quarterback prospect and he bombed away to try to get the team back in the game, but the offense couldn’t go with Toby Gerhart and the running game and can’t rely on Luck to carry the team … for now. This was a step back with the big boys of the Pac 10 still to play, but there’s still time to get back in the Pac 10 title hunt. Luck needs to be better on third downs and the defense has to be stronger, earlier against Arizona.

Oct. 3
at Stanford 24 … UCLA 16
Toby Gerhart ran for three short touchdown runs on the way to a 24-6 lead, and then Stanford held on as Johnathan Franklin ran for a one-yard score and Kai Forbath hit one of his three field goals in the fourth quarter. The Bruins only managed 299 yards of total offense and converted just 2-of-10 third down chances.
Player of the Game: Stanford RB Toby Gerhart ran 29 times for 134 yards and three touchdowns, and he caught two passes for 24 yards.
UCLA: Passing: Kevin Craft, 22-34, 204 yds
Rushing: Johnathan Franklin, 14-58, 1 TD, Receiving: Taylor Embree, 4-33
Stanford: Passing: Andrew Luck, 14-20, 198 yds
Rushing: Toby Gerhart, 29-134, 3 TD, Receiving: Ryan Whalen, 6-118
What It All Means: Toby Gerhart has Stanford in a position to go bowling, but with an efficient, effective passer in Andrew Luck to go along with the running game, and a defense that was able to keep the middling UCLA attack in check, the dreams have to be a lot bigger. A bad call against Wake Forest away from being unbeaten, the Cardinal now has to show it can come up with victories in two winnable road games against Oregon State and Arizona. Win those, and all of a sudden Stanford becomes one of the biggest stories in college football before dealing with Oregon, at USC, Cal, and Notre Dame to close things out. 

Sept. 26
at Stanford 34 … Washington 14
Stanford dominated the Huskies from the start with Chris Owusu taking the opening kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown, and then it was all Toby Gerhart. The Cardinal running back scored on a 60-yard touchdown in the first quarter and controlled the game from then on. Washington got its first touchdown on a freak play when Stanford QB Andrew Luck thought the play was dead and flipped the ball. Justin Glenn took the fumble 51 yards for a score, but that was UW’s main highlight. Jake Locker connected with Jermaine Kearse on a 19-yard touchdown pass to get the Huskies within three in the second quarter, but Stanford scored ten unanswered points with Luck closing it out with a nine-yard dash.
Player of the Game: Stanford RB Toby Gerhart ran 27 times for 200 yards and a score.
Washington: Passing: Jake Locker, 16-31, 191 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Chris Polk, 19-75, Receiving: James Johnson, 3-37
Stanford: Passing: Andrew Luck, 7-14, 103 yds
Rushing: Toby Gerhart, 27-200, 1 TD, Receiving: Coby Fleener, 3-57 
What It All Means: Quietly, Stanford is putting together a nice start to the season with a 2-0 run in the Pac 10 and needing just three wins to get back to a bowl game. Toby Gerhart is running hard, consistent, and well, and he’s allowing Andrew Luck to ease into his role as the starting quarterback. Part of the reason for the early success is the play of the offensive line. It’s giving Luck ten days to throw while opening things up for Gerhart. With a rested UCLA up next, the Cardinal has to hope the formula keeps working and that it’s not up to Luck to win games by himself. It shouldn’t take too many points to put the punchless Bruins away.

Sept. 19
at Stanford 42 … San Jose State 17
Toby Gerhart ran for two short scores in the first half and Corey Gatewood returned an interception 23 yards for a score on the way to a 28-7 lead. Chris Owusu returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown and caught a 22-yard touchdown pass in the third, and Richard Sherman returned a punt 48 yards for a touchdown. San Jose State managed just 228 yards of offense.
Player of the Game: Stanford RB Toby Gerhart ran 24 times for 113 yards and two touchdowns
San Jose State: Passing: Jordan La Secla, 17-30, 155 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Lamon Muldrow, 5-35, Receiving: Kevin Jurovich, 9-103
Stanford: Passing: Andrew Luck, 9-12, 170 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Toby Gerhart, 24-113, 2 TD, Receiving: Ryan Whalen, 3-63
What It All Means: The Cardinal is playing extremely well. Not only is the offense balanced and effective, but the defense is doing a great job. San Jose State isn’t exactly Texas Tech offensively, but the Stanford D was able to generate good pressure with six sacks while allowing just 24 net yards rushing. On the down side, there were nine penalties and four turnovers with three fumbles. There can’t be those same mistakes against Washington or UCLA over the next two weeks. 

Sept. 12
at Wake Forest 24 ... Stanford 17
Riley Skinner ran for a one-yard touchdown with two seconds to play to cap an 11-play, 97-yard drive to pull out the comeback win. In a tale of two halves, Stanford dominated early with Andrew Luck connecting with Ryan Whalen from 26 yards and 17 yards out on the way to a 17-3 lead. And then the Wake Forest defense stepped up while the offense took over with Riley Skinner throwing a nine-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Williams to go along with his game-winning score. Wake Forest held on to the ball for 19:44 in the second half.
Player of the Game: Wake Forest QB Riley Skinner completed 18-of-26 passes for 187 yards and a score, and he ran for 21 yards and the game-winning score.
Stanford: Passing: Andrew Luck, 23-34, 276 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Toby Gerhart, 17-82, Receiving: Ryan Whalen, 9-123, 2 TD
Wake Forest: Passing: Riley Skinner, 18-26, 187 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Josh Adams, 8-54, Receiving: Chris Givens, 5-32
What It All Means: Andrew Luck looked like he was about to become the type of player who could carry Stanford to a huge season, and he still might be that, but he sputtered and struggled way too much in the second half as the offense simply stopped working. The Wake Forest defense had something to do with that, but Luck failed to come up with the third down plays needed to stop the momentum. In a game like this, Toby Gerhart and the running game have to take over, and it didn't happen. Defensively, Clinton Snyder had a whale of a game making 13 tackles, while Bo McNally was all over the field making ten stops. Being more consistent against San Jose State is a must before kicking off the Pac 10 season against Washington.

Sept. 5
Stanford 39 ... at Washington State 14
Andrew Luck had a decent debut as the Stanford starting quarterback with a 63-yard touchdown pass to Chris Owusu, but the game belonged to Toby Gerhart and the running game that went for 288 yards. Gerhart started off the scoring with a one-yard scoring run, and a two-point conversion, and he ended the fun with a 39-yard scoring dash late in the fourth. Washington State pulled within 22-10 on a five-yard Jared Karstetter touchdown grab, but Owusu answered with a, 85-yard kickoff return for a score.
Player of the Game: Stanford RB Toby Gerhart ran 23 times for 121 yards and two scores.
Washington State: Passing: Kevin Lopina, 10-16, 122 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Dwight Tardy, 13-58, Receiving: Daniel Blackledge, 6-67
Stanford: Passing: Andrew Luck, 11-23, 193 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Toby Gerhart, 23-121, 2 TD, Receiving: Ryan Whalen, 4-74
What It All Means: Andrew Luck was fine, but he didn't do anything special with his arm. He basically didn't screw things up, but he showed some excellent upside and a decent command for the offense considering he's a freshman. His talent is as an athlete, running for 53 yards and adding another element to the attack. Toby Gerhart is the offense, but the rest of the runners produced and Chris Owusu gave the Cardinal another home run hitter. If the Cardinal can go to Wake Forest and win, it'll likely have a 4-0 start, with San Jose State and Washington to follow, before dealing with UCLA. If the team plays like this over the next month, it'll be in for a big year.