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Washington establishes itself as Pac-12 favorite in blowout over Stanford
It’s safe to say the preseason hype for Washington was justified.
Stanford has been the class of the Pac-12 in three of the last four seasons, but on Friday night in Seattle, the Cardinal didn’t even belong on the same field as Chris Petersen’s Washington Huskies.
Washington dominated Stanford in every facet of the game in an emphatic 44-6 win at Husky Stadium. Stanford, its offensive line especially, was completely overwhelmed by the speed of Washington’s defense from the start. Pressure was constantly in the face of Cardinal signal-caller Ryan Burns and star running back Christian McCaffrey had no room to maneuver.
Meanwhile, Stanford’s usually stout defense couldn’t muster a single stop in the first half. Stud sophomore quarterback Jake Browning picked apart the Cardinal secondary, which was down two starters, while Myles Gaskin picked up big chunks of yardage on the ground.
By the time halftime rolled around, the Huskies outgained Stanford 225 yards to 83, had six sacks and led 23-0.
Things weren’t any better for Stanford in the second half.
The Cardinal actually managed to force a punt on Washington’s first drive of the second half. The punt, which was nearly blocked, was a short one that fluttered toward McCaffrey. McCaffrey tried to get his blockers away from the ball, but it careened off a teammate and Washington pounced on the loose ball.
Four plays later, Gaskin reached the end zone for the second time of the night to expand the lead to 30-0, essentially sealing the win with more than 25 minutes of regulation remaining.
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Washington winning this game didn’t come as a surprise, but for the Huskies to win with this level of dominance was jarring. This win was a statement — not just in the Pac-12. With a performance like this, Washington established itself as a legitimate College Football Playoff contender through five weeks.
The game was completely one-sided from the start. Stanford was sacked twice and went three-and-out to start the game and Washington quickly marched down the field, going 64 yards in seven plays to open the scoring.
That sequence was a sign of things to come. Stanford was rattled, too, committing a number of false start penalties in the first quarter as the UW fans got louder and louder.
And when the Cardinal finally moved the ball some, it failed miserably on a fourth-and-two play in Stanford territory when the ball was snapped before Keller Chryst, who was in at QB briefly for Burns, was ready.
While Burns (and Chryst) had defenders in his face coming from all angles all night, Browning had a clean pocket to operate from. He was an efficient 15-of-21 for 210 yards and three touchdowns. Gaskin, another sophomore, racked up 100 yards and two scores on 18 carries with junior Lavon Coleman pitching in 74 yards. In all, the Huskies put up 424 yards of offense in the win.
As efficient as the UW offense was, its defense was the story. Stanford’s offense isn’t explosive by any means, but David Shaw’s teams have won a lot of games by bullying their way down the field and controlling the ball with stellar line play. On this night, Washington completely controlled the trenches on both sides and Shaw’s vanilla play calling didn’t stand a chance.
In the end, Stanford mustered only 213 yards of total offense, with McCaffrey registering 49 yards on 12 carries, his lowest total since Nov. 22, 2014 when he was a true freshman backup.
It’s only September, but the Huskies are the clear frontrunner in not just the Pac-12 North, but the league as a whole. This win is a huge one, no doubt, and UW can establish even more distance between itself and the rest of the division when it goes on the road to Oregon next weekend. The Huskies haven’t beaten the Ducks since 2003.
For more Washington news, visit TheDawgReport.com.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
