Photo credit: @StanfordFball

By: Ana Kieu

PALO ALTO, Calif. — The unranked Stanford Cardinal stunned the No. 9 Washington Huskies in a 30-22 win at Stanford Stadium on Friday night.

The 120th Big Game against the Cal Bears is next week, but the Cardinal’s game against the Huskies was also a pretty big deal. This unbalanced matchup was Stanford’s biggest regular-season Pac-12 game since the Cal game in 2015.

In case you haven’t already heard, a loss would eliminate the Cardinal from the Pac-12 North title race and put the Huskies in the driver’s seat as they look for a second straight conference title. So if Stanford pulls off a win, they’d have to beat Cal, and hope that Washington State has a third conference loss to Utah or Washington. Stanford will then hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over Washington.

This was the only Pac-12 game this evening, and the Huskies won the coin toss at the beginning of the contest. The opening drive stalled near midfield, Jake Bailey had a stunning boot, and Washington started their first drive at their own 12.

Besides the thoughts in the minds of Cardinal fans, it was almost expected that the Huskies would strike first—and they did. Myles Gaskin ran for a two-yard touchdown, and the PAT kick by Tristan Vizcaino was good. The Huskies took a late 7-0 lead with 6:16 left in the opening quarter.

The Huskies held onto the same 7-0 lead over the Cardinal at the end of the first quarter.

The Cardinal got even with the Huskies early in the second quarter. Bryce Love rushed for a one-yard touchdown, the PAT kick by J.J. Parson was good, and Stanford tied the game at seven apiece at the 14:55 mark.

But the Huskies didn’t waste any time in regaining the lead (14-7) as Myles scored his second rushing touchdown of the game, a 15-yarder, just 3:18 later.

The Cardinal pulled within four after Jet Toner kicked a 38-yard field goal with 1:32 left in the second quarter. Though, the Huskies continued to hold onto a 14-10 lead.

Joel Whitford punted 42 yards to the Stanford 25, a fair catch was made by Jay Tyler, and the Cardinal’s drive began on the Washington 42 with 46 seconds left.

The Huskies did what was expected and carried a 14-10 lead to the locker room at end of the first half against the Cardinal.

Both the Cardinal and Huskies were fired up for the second half of the game. Stanford’s defense forced a Washington three-and-out to start the second half. The Washington offense started at their own 35.

The Cardinal took their first lead of the night on Love’s second rushing touchdown of the game, a 13-yarder, to get ahead 17-14 with 9:15 left in the third quarter.

The Cardinal added to their existing lead on a 32-yard field goal by Toner, who gave Stanford a 20-14 lead with just one second left, and that was the score after three quarters.

Toner kicked another field goal, a 31-yarder, to expand the Cardinal’s lead to 23-14 at the 11:45 mark of the fourth quarter.

The Cardinal added to their lead on Love’s third rushing touchdown of the game, a nine-yarder, to make it 30-14 with 8:48 left in the quarter. The PAT kick by Toner was good.

The Huskies didn’t back down just yet. Gaskin scored his third rushing touchdown of the game on a one-yard rush. Washington decided to go for the two-point conversion, which turned out to be successful. However, the Cardinal continued to lead 30-22 with 4:22 left in regulation.

And, finally, the Cardinal (7-3) beat the Huskies (8-2) by a score of 30-22 at home.

Notes
Houston Astros manager, former MLB catcher, and Stanford alumni A.J. Hinch gave the Cardinal team a wonderful message before the game. Hinch said: “Every game is an elimination game. If you could have done more, then you didn’t do enough. Be accountable to yourself, and be accountable to your teammates.”

Tonight’s attendance at Stanford Stadium was 44,589.

Love notched his eighth 100-yard rushing game. He’s tied for most in the FBS.

Up Next
The Cardinal host the Cal Bears on Saturday, November 18.

The Huskies host the Utah Utes on Saturday, November 18.