By Daniel Dullum
Saturday, September 28, 2013

Stanford erupted for a 21-point third quarter Saturday en route to a resounding 55-17 trouncing of Washington State in Pac-12 football at Seattle. It was the Cardinal’s 12th straight win.

Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan completed 18 of 25 passes for 286 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception.

Leading 17-3 at halftime, the No. 5-ranked Cardinal (4-0 overall, 2-0 Pac-12) scored three times within the opening four minutes in the third quarter, and twice more in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter to blow the game open.

Hogan found Devon Cajuste on touchdown passes of 57 and 33 yards in the first half, and connected with Michael Rector on a 45-yard score during a third quarter stretch in which Stanford ran only two offensive plays.

The defense again rose to the occasion for Stanford, especially in the third quarter, when Jordan Richards and Trent Murphy each returned an interception 30 yards for touchdowns. This happened while Stanford extended its 17-3 halftime edge to a 38-3 advantage.

Cajuste snared four passes for 115 yards and two Cardinal touchdowns, and Rector caught two passes for 93 yards and one TD.

Cougars backup quarterback Austin Apodaca was 15 of 29 passing for 138 yards, two touchdowns and an interception, as Washington State dropped .
Connor Halliday, who started at quarterback for the Courgars, was 24 of 36 for 184 yards and one INT before leaving with an undisclosed injury.

Stanford was without All-America left guard David Yankey, who was away to address a family issue, and free safety Ed Reynolds, who was suspended for the first half due to his ejection from the game for “targeting” last week against Arizona State/

Washington State (3-2, 1-1) saw its three-game winning streak snapped, along with a chance to start a season 4-1 for the first time since 2006.

Next week, the Cardinal return home to host Washington. Game time is 7:30 p.m. at Stanford Stadium.

(subject Stanford football)

(TAGS,Stanford,Cardinal,football,Washington State)