Stanford at SMU
Down by two TD’s to start the 4th Qtr., Stanford QB Ben Gulbranson served up a Pick-6 to put this one out of reach. With just four minutes remaining SMU would come down the field and add a 48 yard field goal to give us a 34-10 final and give Stanford their fourth loss of the season to go along with their 10 point win against Boston College and 30-29 squeaker against San Jose State. I thought for sure it was going to be the Cardinal, now 2-4, who would go winless this year. Then it looked like UCLA, also 2-4, were trying to earn that distinction. But so far it’s been Oregon State all the way—now 0-7. The biggest danger of them ruining a perfect losing season is probably coming up this next Saturday as they’ll be hosting Lafayette, a non-Major, at home—we’ll see. After dumping their head coach there will be a substitute teacher in charge and that can always translate to a lot of fun instead of business. So, I think they could still pull off the loss.
Where was I, oh yes, I guess we should start this one from the beginning. Both teams were held to three-and-outs to start the game and Stanford ended up punting the ball away on their second possession at the end of a seven play drive, a Cardinal penalty, and two sacks. With half the 1st Qtr left SMU would go on a 13 play 75 yard drive that ended in the end zone on a 19 yard TD pass from Junior QB Kevin Jennings to Freshman RB Derrick McFall to go up 7-0. Stanford would punt away the remaining possession of the quarter. The Mustangs would add three points to the scoreboard with a 32 yard field goal to start the 2nd Qtr. Getting all the way down to the SMU one yard line on their next possession the Cardinal would go for it and lose a yard. Starting at their own 2 yard line the Mustangs would find the end zone again in just six plays including an 87 yard TD run by Sophomore RB Chris Johnson Jr. With less than a minute left in the half, Stanford QB Ben Gulbrason would complete consecutive passes of 12, 18, and 31 yards—long enough for 1st downs and to pause the clock—and then a 14 yard TD pass with just 2 seconds left to make it a 17-7 game at the break.
Stanford would get the ball to start the second half but would have to punt it away after just six plays. Five plays and 82 yards later on SMU’s first possession of the 3rd Qtr they would find the end zone again, this time on a 42 yard TD pass from Jennings to the RB Chris Johnson Jr. who ran one in from 87 yards out the first half, putting the Mustangs up 24-7. Both teams were held to three-and-outs on their next possessions followed by another SMU field goal to go up 27-7 to end the third. If I were composing a song instead of writing a football game recap I would have put a repeat sign at the very beginning and then right at the end of this sentence as you’ll have to go back up to the top to find out what happens next.
For Stanford, Senior QB Ben Gulbranson was 22-of-40 for 278 yards, 1 TD to Senior WR CJ Williams, and 1 interception while also losing 40 yards on the ground running for his life. With Gulbranson’s minus yards aside, Cole Tabb and Micah Ford combined for 115 yards on 25 rushing attempts without finding the end zone. You can credit the SMU defense for that lack of offensive production as they recorded six sacks, eight tackles for loss, and six pass disruptions. Their Junior QB Kevin Jennings connected on over 70% of his passes for 247 yards, 2 TD’s—1 to Sophomore RB Chris Johnson Jr. and the other to Freshman RB Derrick McFall—and no interceptions. On the ground that same Chris Johnson Jr. led the way with 96 of the team’s 123 yard total and only rushing TD. There was was just 17 yards of difference in total yards of offense and Stanford had the ball 13 minutes longer but they also had 95 yards in penalties and turned the ball over twice—once for that pick six.