The lights went out late in the fourth quarter with less than four minutes to play at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium and it was not in Stanford’s favor. San Diego State came out from what seemed like a second halftime, and had all the momentum for the win. The lights came back on in the stadium after a 25 minute delay and Rashaad Penny had a 6 yard rush that eventually lead to the game winning touchdown by David Wells from quarterback Christian Chapman. The Cardinal couldn't answer the bell: with just 52 seconds left in the game Keller Chryst threw an interception to Kameron Kelly on the ensuing play to end the game.
Stanford fell 20-17, pushing San Diego State to a now 3-0 record and Stanford to a 1-2 record.
The Cardinal struggled from the start of the game on offense. Bryce Love finally struck with the first touchdown of the game with a 51 yard run to the endzone, the score 7-3. At the end of the second quarter, Rashaad Penny had a short 4 yard run to take the score to 10-7 before heading into the half. There was little to no offense outside of Love and it seemed as though the Cardinal could not find their footing offensively. The Cardinal finished with just 88 yards of total offense at the end of the first half and 51 of that came from one scoring play from Love.
In the third quarter, John Baron II hit a 36 yard field goal to give the Aztecs the 13-7 lead. Stanford’s kicker Jet Toner responded with a field goal of his own.
Bryce Love once again exploded with a 53 yard run giving the Cardinal a 17-13 lead with 14:51 left in the game.
Then the lights went out in the stadium causing a twenty-five minute delay to get them up and running while fans in the stadium used their cell phone lights to try and shed some sort of light to the place. After the lights came back on, the game was essentially over with Penny leading the way on the winning drive.
Stanford’s defense tried to keep pace and was able to keep the game close.
The Aztecs, however, controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball all night long. Stanford did not get a first down in the first quarter going three and out in three straight possessions. San Diego State meanwhile seemed to dominate the time of possession.
Coach Shaw from the beginning tried to mix things up from last weeks loss to USC reshuffling the offensive line. There seemed to be no other options for coach Shaw besides finally feeding the ball to Love more in the second half but it was too late.
Bryce Love had 13 carries for 184 yards with two touchdowns while San Diego State held Keller Chryst to a mere 80 passing yards and two interceptions. Trent Irwin led the Cardinal in receiving with 6 receptions for 49 yards.
San Diego was no cake-walk coming into the game having beat Arizona State last week and looking strong with one of the nation's best running backs in Rashaad Penny. Penny, the national rushing leader, had 32 carries for 175 yards and 1 touchdown in tonight’s game. San Diego State’s quarterback Christian Chapman was 21-29 for 187 yards with 1 touchdown.
SDSU has won three consecutive meetings against power 5 teams for the first time in its Division I era (since 1969).
The Cardinal have a lot of work to do on offense. Seeing glimpses of Ryan Burns tonight and the tweaks along the offensive line were signs that Shaw is still shuffling things around to get things in order but there has to be answers before UCLA next week. Stanford will take on the Bruins in Palo Alto in their opening home game for the year hoping to avoid a third straight loss.
Comments
I no longer believe in Khryst
Maybe he can get it together but right now Burns, who was bad last year, looked more authoritative and effective in his brief stints than Khryst does. Khryst does not look good in the pocket, where he takes too long to make bad decisions. On the occasions where Shaw rolled him out so he had a simplified read he was better, but that’s not a long term solution.
Get the ball in Love’s hands more often, use the TEs, and if this is what Khryst has to offer as a senior then try out Costello or give Burns the job back.
By worldblee on 09.17.17 8:35am
Big vent before I rewatch that ugh game: chryst was plain bad
We are looking at 10 point differential in the game directly as a result of the two turnovers.
Love single handedly carrying a lost cause on the offensive side while the defense bent a lot but still kept them in the game before the dam broke. Shaw better make a change in the QB + OC room otherwise this will be downhill quick.
Chins up, nowhere to go but up. Lets extend UCLA streak!
By layman on 09.17.17 9:06am
Time to Rebuild
The Ryan Burns experiment was a failure and now it is time to jettison Keller Chryst. The abysmal success by the offense is not just the O-line’s fault. Even after revamping the line, five guys can’t stop 6 or 7 guys. To slow down constant blitzes, the QB has to dial in plays that attack the vacated spots. Chryst doesn’t do that. Sure, he’s pressured on almost every throw, but that’s gonna happen when you take way, way too long to throw. Also, when you have decent receivers, you have to give them a chance to get open. By always staring down his one (and only) option, Chryst allows the other side’s defense to send two or even three players to cover that one receiver. And when you have an open, tall tight end over the middle late in the game, you maybe miss high but never five feet in front of him into the ground. Getting outplayed by Sam Darnold is nothing to be ashamed of, but getting thoroughly outplayed by San Diego State’s QB is downright embarrassing. Chryst, like Burns, just isn’t very good.
Let’s face it Cardinal fans, Stanford is simply a mediocre team this year, with a few excellent players. It is likely to lose to Washington, Wash. State, Oregon, and Utah and could lose to either or both UCLA and Notre Dame. Why? Several reasons. In addition to weak QB play, the inside linebacker play is even worse. Missed tackles, overrunning plays and leaving gaping holes, slow blitzes. Neither starting defensive end is strong enough to get any penetration or to get loose from run blocks. The offensive line is loaded with experienced four star recruits, but they are just not that good except on occasional sweeps. Tyler is not the guy for punt returns, yet he’s still in there, getting five yards as he runs to the side every time. He’s too short to see holes. And finally there is the coaching. Shaw keeps reading his play sheet all game, but inserts the same plays time and time again. He could coach this team the same way with a 3 × 5 index card. Where are the tight ends, David? When you do insert three receivers (as in the play resulting in Chyrst’s first interception), how is it that they end up in the same place downfield? Why don’t we see Bryce Love on any jet sweeps, as that would clearly slow down the blitzes? And what in the world do you and the other coaches say to the players at halftime, as the adjustments seem virtually non-existent two games in a row?
Ryan Burns can’t throw (although he can block), we know that. Why did it take so long last year for the coaches to see that? Chryst just as clearly can’t execute short passes quickly. So Stanford can go ahead and keep beating its head against the same walls (and keep getting beaten by better prepared teams) or gear up for next year. Put Costello in, even if he doesn’t yet have complete mastery of the vaunted, complicated (but never used) Stanford play book. Just as you’ve done with Little on the O-line and Wedington in the receiver corps, start giving younger players more experience. Stop rotating your inside linebackers so they can learn from their mistakes rather than keep repeating them. Give the players who’ll return next year experience, so they’ll be better next year. ’Cause this year is over.
By SU74 on 09.17.17 9:07am
Thank you for saying everything I'm thinking.
By velocitytoo on 09.17.17 9:26pm
Would it help to simplify the offense?
I’m not nearly as conversant as you seem to be, but to my ‘regular fan’ eyes, it looks to me like a LOT of qbs struggle with Stanford’s offense. When you’ve got multiple 4 and 5 star recruits (Nunes, Burns, Chryst) all struggling to make timely decisions back there, have you made the game too complicated? Also, they all seem to be scared of making a mistake out there, which just seems deadly.
Meanwhile, Darnold and Rosen were able to jump in as frosh and sling the ball effectively. Is it just that they’re more like Luck and Hogan, or is it a function of the system they’re in and the coaching they get?
By g8tgod on 09.17.17 9:42pm
It Is Going To Be A Long Week.............
…..and potentially an even longer season.
The fixes here are broad and deep. Not sure that Shaw has it in him, and our purported style of football with the current offensive approach and a bend and then break defense is not going to work. It was pretty clear what was going to happen at the end of the game when SDSU had the ball with 4:00 minutes to go. We were just lucky that they punched it in with almost a minute left……………but Chryst took care of that. Two timeouts and only needing a field goal………….and he airs out a duck to a covered receiver.
It was very instructive to watch SDSU play the game that we should have. Their QB is nothing special at all, yet plays were dialed up that made him effective – and he stood in the pocket time and time again completing passes before getting flattened. Lots of misdirection, roll outs, Penny lining up in different places.
If someone had told me that Bryce love would rush for more than 150 yards in each of our first three games I would have to be thinking that we are 3 – 0. But it is deceiving. He has gotten his yards through a handful of big plays, often created on his own, rather than through any sustained rushing offense. Our TOP last night was……………….18:46! Is that a record low in the Shaw era?
The truth is…………we were by far the worst 10 win team last year in the country given our performance and schedule. We beat nobody good until North Carolina, and that was tough. And we had Christian McCaffrey to make up for our sins. Our expectations this year should have been for a 7 – 5 season. Chryst (and Stanford) have now been fully exposed following up their run at the end of last year and opening up with Rice.
Completely swapping out our offensive line and playing the Ryan Burns shuffle smacks of desperation…………….but also a complete inability to put the right team on the field despite a deep roster of quality players. There was an attempt to do a few things differently at times with playcalling, but it was not enough and potentially not the right stuff. And of course we are going to a kick a field goal at 4th and 1 in the red zone, then play field position and defense. Not to Shaw………..we don’t have a defense.
I don’t think that we will see the changes we need, but perhaps a season deteriorating out of control will ultimately result in something that works. The question is – Does Shaw revert to form next year, as always.
Next up……Josh Rosen and the Bruins!
By hoyaparanoia on 09.17.17 9:30am
I didn't see the game
due to a 04:30 AM kick-off time in my part of the world. And frankly, I am glad that I didn’t. From the comments, it sounds as if this was vintage Bad-Shaw. No offensive creativity (in fact, practically no offense at all), no adjustments, no game preparation. This may be the long-awaited descent into mediocrity!
By Jeff Tarnungus on 09.17.17 11:01am
Recap
We lost exactly how you would imagine we would lose to the Aztecs.
By stanfordman on 09.17.17 10:17pm
Depressing
I have decided NOT to watch any replay. I have seen far too many games in which Shaw’s game management and play-calling have left me alternatively shouting in fury or shaking my head in infinite puzzlement. Even when we ended up winning those games, the question remained: why did it have to be that arduous and painful?
By Jeff Tarnungus on 09.18.17 3:46am
Program Getting Stale
We need to shake things up. Mark Helfrich for OC. Bloomgren has done nothing to justify still being here.
By stanfordman on 09.17.17 11:45am
Good game.
When an elite Power 5 program gives one up to a G5 program it’s probably deemed totally unacceptable- like our team losing to a lesser FBS conference or even FCS. But, please don’t consider it a bad loss. San Diego State is possibly the best (or one of the best) of the G5, and there are a lot of good programs in G5. We are blessed coach Rocky Long, and I believe he and Coach Shaw play a similar game. Our team may have a Doak Walker and Lou Groza finalist or winner on it this year, and while our QB gets no credibility, he is, in fact, a champion- doing nothing extraordinary, but everything consistently good enough. We’ve held our own in formidable situations, like when Davis Webb threw for 522 yards when we beat Cal, and when we beat Houston in the Vegas bowl- the early NY6 favorite.
I know nothing will take the sting away from this loss, but just keep in mind that we’re not the Aztecs of old, and we’re an unusual G5. We have a lot of respect for the Cardinal, and as the season moves on you might find out your program isn’t as screwed up as you think- and that in fact, the Aztecs are truly formidable despite the lack of respect we garner from AP, the Coaches Poll, and general sportscasters who are usually fast asleep when we play.
Sorry if this seems like a troll post- not the intention. I’ll bet ASU feels like last week wasn’t a bad loss- and if we run the table this year and, god willing, make a NY6 appearance: Stanford might consider the 2017 Aztecs special, and one day consider this loss understandable.
By Aztec Nation on 09.17.17 12:31pm
Agree With Your Post
The Aztecs are a VERY GOOD team, fully capable of going undefeated this year and beating a strong Power 5 team in the postseason. There is an abundance of individual talent, and a coach that gets the most out of it. You will have a Doak Walker and a Lou Groza finalist and, while your QB is not spectacular, he got the job done brilliantly – despite taking a pounding from time to time. I think, as Stanford fans, we knew that going into the game – though your QB play was way above my expectations. We also knew that there was a realistic chance that the game would go the way it did. So….congratulations on a great win! Just sorry that it had to come at Stanford’s expense but, truth be told, we deserved it. And our frustration is precisely because we knew what had to be done to beat the Aztecs – stop the run and put some points on the board, and we failed to do either in a fairly spectacular way. Three turnovers and 80 yards passing on offense (we won’t even subtract the negative passing yards from sacks) is pathetic beyond comprehension, but most particularly in light of the weapons we have that we chose not to use (Tight Ends) and an understanding going into the game that we needed a game plan where our QB could deliver the ball quickly given our sieve of an offensive line. This stands in contrast to what I thought was an exceptional game plan and playcalling exercised by Rocky Long – designed to provide misdirection in the run game, lots of play action passes, and utilizing roll outs to get the most out of your QB’s limited arm strength.
There is no shame in losing to the Aztecs, and it is not totally unacceptable. Playing the way we are, we will likely lose to teams of far lesser quality. But our game plan and execution certainly was unacceptable. We have a lot of pride, but it does not extend to arrogance.
Congratulations again and have a great season.
By hoyaparanoia on 09.17.17 1:19pm
Nice post, Hoya!
By Jeff Tarnungus on 09.17.17 1:27pm
No disrespect intended to SDSU at all
They are a very good team, and they just took it to Stanford. No shame in losing to a team which plays the game well.
The problem that most of us Stanford fans had was with how Stanford played. Some of that can be caused by a good opponent, but when so many of one’s wounds are self-inflicted, one has to accept the responsibility for that. The Cardinal did not play well, making unforced errors at the worst possible times; the coaches seemingly had nothing in the way of adjustments during the game, and their between game adjustments were… at least open to being questioned.
I can’t speak for others, but after Stanford destroyed Rice, I was hopeful. It’s not that Rice is any good, but in years past, the Cardinal might have beaten a team like that 28-3 or something. I was looking forward to that USC game and was sorely disappointed - not because the team lost (that happens), but because Stanford seemed to not play its own game, as if it has forgotten its identity. The San Diego State game was in a similar vein. :(
By g8tgod on 09.17.17 9:52pm
Whoa... not sure how that last bit ended up in strikethrough mode, but that was not intentional.
By g8tgod on 09.17.17 10:27pm
Beginning and ending dashes -
By RavenousUte on 09.19.17 1:10pm