Three quarters was as much as I could bear last night. Heading into the fourth quarter, Stanford trailed 27-10 and had a 97.5% chance of losing, according to ESPN. UCLA snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Cardinal, and the LA Times detailed the following morning that Bruins players celebrated as if they had won a bowl game.
The LA Times wrote, “It took the Cardinal starting a third-string quarterback and three freshmen on the offensive line, but UCLA’s 34-16 victory at Stanford Stadium won’t come with any asterisks.”
I have a message for both the LA Times and the UCLA players: this game will have an asterisk in the minds of Cardinal fans.
No team could ever fathom the number of injuries Stanford has faced this season. The Cardinal played with their third-string quarterback and six total offensive linemen. On defense, they were missing two key linebackers. To make matters worse, they lost their dependable kicker, Jet Toner.
Stanford essentially fielded a high school team on offense. They had three true freshmen on the offensive line, a true freshman at kicker, and their third-string quarterback, Jack West, made his first collegiate start.
To all the UCLA fans reading this article, I’ll debrief you on the players you missed seeing Thursday night.
Stanford’s first-string quarterback, KJ Costello, has been injured all year, but I should not have to remind the Bruins faithful of his talent.
Last year, he led the PAC-12 in passing efficiency, and against the Bruins, Costello torched the defense for 344 yards and five scores. And the year before last, Costello played his first meaningful minutes as the Stanford quarterback and sparked a Stanford victory...over UCLA.
Davis Mills replaced the injured Costello and made the senior quarterback a distant memory. He played well in the team’s win versus Oregon State, and versus Washington, Mills looked like an efficient and talented game manager—-qualities that made him the nation’s top quarterback recruit out of high school.
More importantly, with a shortage of linemen, Mills’ ability to throw on the run and roll out of the pocket made protection schemes easier. West did not show that ability last night, which led to seven sacks.
On any given night, Stanford’s offensive line would not allow seven sacks. Yes, West held the ball too long, but it’s hard to make decisive, quick passes without having a full grasp of the playbook. It’s also hard to avoid pressure when the team starts three true freshmen on the line, who also don’t have a full grasp of the blocking schemes. There were growing pains for players who probably never expected to see playing time this year.
Imagine if Stanford had Walker Little healthy. The junior offensive tackle was a preseason All-American and a potential top 10 pick. Or imagine if they had their two other starters healthy, too. Half of Stanford’s starting linemen are out for the year. They would never have allowed seven sacks. And they certainly would have cleared more room for Cameron Scarlett to run.
These are just a few examples of Stanford’s injury problems. For the most part, injuries are random, so yes, this game should come with an asterisk.
UCLA came closer to seeing the Stanford scout team than the actual one, so yes in my eyes, Stanford’s streak versus UCLA is still alive.
Comments
No asterisk
That was the best we had yesterday evening, and that’s who has to play the game.
By Jeff Tarnungus on 10.18.19 1:06pm
Yep
Even with a 3rd string QB, with time to prepare that was a weak effort.
By worldblee on 10.18.19 3:39pm
Excuses.
Maybe even legitimate excuses, but excuses nonetheless. All teams deal with injuries, sometimes even multiple injuries to key positions — it’s a part of the game. Jack West isn’t some walk-on either, he was a highly touted 4-star recruit who simply played poorly last night.
Moreover, UCLA fields one of the youngest teams in the country, and it regularly shows. We also lost our top receiver for the entire year, Josh Kelley for the first few games of the season, as well as DTR against the Beavers last week, but you won’t hear UCLA fans claiming that our winning streak against OSU is still alive.
I understand you’re feeling cheated about the outcome of last night’s game, and "in [your] eyes Stanford’s streak against UCLA is still alive," but make no mistake, your team lost and the streak is over. Better to own up to that reality than make excuses about what might have happened if injuries didn’t exist in football.
By Fiat-Lux on 10.18.19 2:45pm
I can assure you
that no Stanford fan is going to agree with Charlie on this one. The streak is dead. Long live the streak.
In recent weeks, Charlie has done a great job of fishing for controversy; and to his credit, he has drawn a lot of Stanford fans and friends who otherwise would have stayed away from Rule of Tree. So he has had a hand in revitalizing this moribund website in a down year.
Members of Bruins Nation also count as "posters". I think Charlie was fishing for you; and you bit. Congratulations on your win, and wait till next year!
By Jeff Tarnungus on 10.18.19 3:06pm
No One Is Feeling Cheated
Congrats on the win. UCLA has played a tough schedule so far this year and may well be a little better than its record. I would have said the same about Stanford….before the UCLA loss. No excuses. Stanford had no answers on defense for a mobile QB (however inaccurate) which led to short passes turning into longer gains and runs that gashed our secondary. On offense, Stanford did not show up with a gameplan to win given its current limitations.
Stanford will be lucky to be a .500 team this year and UCLA may just get there as well.
Asteriks should be reserved for SEC teams who play 2 – 3 cupcakes every year.
By hoyaparanoia on 10.18.19 6:05pm
Thanks for saying it Charlie
but at the end of the day A loss is a loss… The game was very tough to watch and for most of it I found myself daydreaming about next season lol. If I am on the Cardinal coaching staff my focus for the next recruiting season would be defense, defense, defense. We need more hard nose players on the line and in the secondary. Even if the offense struggles( which wont be the case over the next couple seasons), giving up 35-45 points a game is unacceptable for a program of this caliber
By Slot_Man22 on 10.18.19 3:15pm
UCLA was missing players, too
All teams have injuries. You can’t use that as an excuse The Cardinal were just flat last night. No energy. UCLA wanted to win this game more than Stanford did and it showed.
By BrettW2015 on 10.18.19 3:34pm
I'll give UCLA's win an asterix
Our O line and QB injuries are simply beyond belief; we’re 3 standard deviations out there. Shaw needs to address this. Is it conditioning? Is it simply really bad luck? We need to know, and if it is fixable, fix it.
I would like to be charitable, but Jack West played the worst QB game I’ve ever seen wearing a Stanford uni, going back into the 70s, when we had a 6’7’ guy (Mike Cordova?) who threw the ball into the ground on almost every attempt, killing all the gophers under the sod of old Stanford Stadium. I doubt Jack will ever start in later seasons; he’s not very good.
The crowds in those days rivaled that of last night, too, about 200 people scattered around a facility built for thousands. Shameful.
We’ll grit our teeth as Stanford tries to get a bowl berth. It won’t be easy, and impossible if neither Mills nor Costello become available. Shaw also needs to be looking at QB hard in recruiting. KJ will be gone next year; Mills seems unable to play more than a couple of games before his knees founder; West ain’t it. Is there yet another in the lineup who might be impressed for the duration? I seem to recall we got some top-notch QB prospect one or two classes back. I hope it wasn’t West! Otherwise, we have to find somebody who can play game after game (gotta have an O line to help insure that). And yes, get some D linemen like we used to have. The current crew are pretty good; build on it. The current, small (about 14 commits) 2020 class is ranked about 23. If Shaw can fill it out to 24 recruits, it could be Top Ten. It includes one ESPN 5-star OL; lots of 4s. No QBs. If Shaw can fill it out, we’re going to be a very good team down the road.
By jafco99 on 10.18.19 10:04pm
The top-notch QB prospect you are referring to
is Tanner McKee, considered by some to be the second-coming of Andrew Luck. Let’s see.
https://247sports.com/player/tanner-mckee-80173/
Davis Mills could be truly excellent if he can stay healthy and has an O-line to work behind.
McKee is currently on a Mormon mission and will return for the 2020 season.
By Jeff Tarnungus on 10.19.19 3:00am
Thanks Jeff.
That makes me feel a lot better. This kid Tanner shows and looks a bit like Steve Young. Or Andrew.
By jafco99 on 10.19.19 8:59am