PULLMAN – The Washington State Cougars held seventh-ranked Stanford to a season-low 10 points in the first half and trailed by just three. When Isiah Barton zoomed 50 yards with the opening kickoff return in the second half, the Cougars were in position to pull off a major upset.
Then … nothing. The Cougars went three-and-out; the defense gave up a 62-yard pass and a 10-yard touchdown pass in short order; and the seventh-ranked Cardinal was well on its way to a 44-14 victory Saturday night.
“If we play the same way (on defense) in the second half as we played in the first half, we’re in it,” WSU defensive tackle Anthony Laurenzi said.
WSU players and coaches offered differing opinions on whether the Cougars wore down in the second half against the big, physical Cardinal.
“They made plays in the second half and we didn’t” said defensive coordinator Chris Ball, who said he did not think his players wore down. “We needed to get off the field on third down.”
Indeed, Stanford converted on seven of eight third downs in the second half, compared with three of nine for WSU.
“We came out flat (in the second half),” Laurenzi said.
The Cougars had 90 more seconds of possession time than Stanford for the game. However, the Cardinal had a 6-0 advantage in quarterback sacks, a 139-48 edge in rushing yards and a 475-257 lead in total yards.
Stepfan Taylor, who ran for 142 yards and two touchdowns against WSU last season, ran for 100 yards and one TD Saturday.
Because of injuries, the Cougars started third-string defensive end Jordan Pu’u Robinson and true freshman linebacker Chester Su’a. Su’a recovered a fumble, and Ball said the highly touted Hawaii native “played very well.”
STANFORD PRIDE
Stanford is one of the world’s most respected academic institutions, and Cardinal football players are anything but “dumb jocks.”
Eighteen football upperclassmen are engineering majors. Sixty-five players posted 3.0 grade point averages or higher in the spring quarter.
Stanford QB Andrew Luck might have gone No. 1 in the NFL draft this year, but the redshirt junior said part of the reason he remained in school was because he wanted to earn his degree in architectural design.
Luck is one of several Stanford football players who were high school valedictorians. Another valedictorian was freshman defensive back Wayne Lyons, who graduated from high school with an impressive 5.3 GPA and arrived at Stanford with 43 college credits already on his transcript.
Stanford has won 17 straight Directors’ Cups, presented annually to the school with the best overall showing in NCAA championships. Stanford has won 101 NCAA team titles; WSU has won two (boxing in 1937 and men’s indoor track in 1977).
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