By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Nov. 2, 2023
In a game full of scoring, the outcome of No. 5 Washington’s game at Stanford on Saturday night came down to a fourth-quarter trick play dialed up by Troy Taylor, the Cardinal football head coach and offensive play caller.
On fourth down and two, the Cardinal needed to reach the home 30-yard line to keep its offense on the field and preserve a chance to erase a 35-33 deficit with three minutes and 23 seconds in the fourth quarter. Operating under center in a tight formation, sophomore quarterback Ashton Daniels took the snap and pitched the ball to Tiger Bachmeier, who was standing behind him and to his left. The freshman receiver ran several steps to the right and planted his feet while facing an oncoming defender.
Little-used receiver Jayson Raines had set the edge on the right side of the line. As soon as the ball was snapped, ignoring and ignored by pass rushers, Raines began running a curl route toward the right sideline. Now, approaching the home 35-yard line, the junior turned back toward Bachmeier, who had thrown a weak pass. Raines reached down to corral the ball, but it dribbled off of his hands and onto the turf for an incompletion and a turnover on downs.
The Huskies, who entered the game 7-0 (4-0 Pac-12), had struggled to separate themselves from lowly Stanford most of the night. The unsuccessful trick play, which handed the visitors possession at the home 28, was all the opportunity they needed. Washington gave the ball four straight times to junior running back Dillon Johnson. The series culminated in a 13-yard rushing touchdown with 96 seconds left on the clock, giving Washington a commanding 42-33 lead.
The Cardinal offense got a quick first down before stalling near midfield. Daniels was ultimately sacked on fourth and 3 at the home 48, enabling the visitors to kneel three times and extend their record to 8-0. Meanwhile, Stanford fell to 2-6 (1-5 Pac-12) after its best showing yet against a ranked opponent.
After blowout losses to then–No. 6 USC, then–No. 9 Oregon and then–No. 25 UCLA, the Cardinal fought the Huskies to a virtual standstill. Washington’s Heisman Trophy–caliber quarterback, Michael Penix Jr., made plenty of big plays, completing 21 of 37 throws for 369 yards and four touchdowns. Johnson led all runners with 84 yards on 18 carries, while Ja’Lynn Polk had five catches for 148 yards and two scores and Rome Odunze caught six balls for 89 yards and a score.
But the Cardinal defense did its part by forcing two red-zone turnovers in the fourth quarter, and Daniels used his arm and legs to keep Stanford within striking distance. The sophomore slinger completed 31 of 48 passes, both career highs, for 367 yards and a touchdown. Daniels also paced Stanford with 18 carries for 81 yards and tied a personal best with two rushing touchdowns. For the second straight week, Daniels’s favorite targets were sophomore receiver Elic Ayomanor (nine grabs for 146 yards and a score) and Bachmeier (10 catches for 95 yards, both career highs).
Washington recorded the only points of the first quarter on a one-yard run by tight end Jack Westover with 6:26 to play. The Cardinal evened the score early in the second on an easy five-yard Daniels run that occurred after the quarterback spotted a misaligned Huskies defensive front before the snap. The tying drive was powered by a 20-yard reception by sophomore tight end Sam Roush and a pair of 15-yard penalties assessed against Washington defenders.
The visitors promptly reclaimed the lead on a leaping seven-yard Odunze scoring reception.
Later, a 36-yard punt by freshman Aidan Flintoft forced the Huskies to start their subsequent possession on their own 8-yard line, but that proved no obstacle. Penix launced a deep ball from the end zone that Polk caught while crossing the 50-yard line. With the defender having been run over and knocked down by Polk around the visitor 30, the receiver faced no serious pursuit on his way to paydirt and a 21-7 Washington lead.
The Stanford offense answered with a mix of Daniels passes and rushes, including a 30-yard strike to Bachmeier and an 11-yard quarterback run. When the drive stalled at the visitor 5, senior placekicker Joshua Karty sent a 23-yarder through the uprights to make the score 21-10 with 65 seconds remaining in the half.
The Cardinal got the ball back quickly after Penix threw three straight incomplete passes. A 17-yard connection with Ayomanor and a 24-yard Daniels run on fourth down helped position the ball at the visitor 29 with five seconds to go in the quarter. That was Karty’s cue to hit a 47-yard boomer that brought Stanford to within 21-13 at the break.
The Huskies got the ball first after intermission but found themselves in a third and 37 hole following a holding call, a 12-yard sack by junior linebacker Wilfredo Aybar and a delay-of-game penalty. A 20-yard Polk catch on third down only set up the Huskies for a punt from better field position.
Going the other way, the Cardinal used a defensive-pass-interference flag to set up a beautiful 39-yard touchdown pass from Daniels to Ayomanor. A Fox Sports 1 replay showed Roush making a key block to give Daniels an extra second to escape backside pressure and set up outside the pocket for a throw. The two-point conversion try failed, leaving the score 21-19 in favor of the visitors.
Later in the quarter, Washington boosted its margin with Penix passes to Polk for 13 yards, Odunze for 23 and Polk for 10 yards and a score.
Stanford quickly answered with a six-play, 75-yard drive that included a superb throw that Ayomanor initially bobbled before securing as two Huskies defenders started to tackle him at the 29-yard line. The throw netted 53 yards for the Cardinal. Unfortunately, Ayomanor appeared to injure his shoulder on the tackle and would not return to the contest.
Three plays later, Raines caught a Daniels dart over the middle in traffic for a seven-yard gain to move the sticks on third down and one. On the next snap, Daniels used blocks from freshman running back Sedrick Irvin and sophomore right guard Jake Maikkula to run around left end for a two-yard touchdown. That cut Stanford’s deficit to 28-26 after the extra point was kicked.
The Huskies responded with a seven-play, 79-yard march that used less than two minutes and included a 25-yard one-handed Odunze catch, a 13-yard Johnson run and a 15-yard Bernard reception. The series ended with Devin Culp catching a 24-yard touchdown. The senior tight end lined up in the backfield and easily ran past sophomore outside linebacker Tevarua Tafiti, who seemed to think that fifth-year senior inside linebacker Tristan Sinclair would cover Culp. The expectation wasn’t borne out, and the tight end was wide open when Penix threw. The play upped Washington’s advantage to 35-26 less than a minute into the fourth quarter
The Cardinal offense turned in a three and out that was capped by a 40-yard Flintoft punt that was returned 16 yards to the home 48. Penix and friends needed just three plays to get first down at the Stanford 19.
But after Penix completed a seven-yard pass to Odunze, Tafiti chopped at the receiver’s right arm and knocked the ball loose. Junior safety Mitch Leigber recovered at the 12 and ran the ball back five yards, thereby preserving the two-point lead.
Soon after, Daniels threw a 15-yard dart up the middle to Roush. Two snaps later, he unleashed a well-thrown deep ball up the middle that was caught for a 44-yard gain by freshman Jackson Harris, a receiver playing in his first collegiate game. Daniels’s accuracy was especially commendable because he faked a handoff before standing tall in a collapsing pocket as he made the pass.
Two plays after that, Daniels pump-faked, ran out of another collapsing pocket and sidearmed an impressive throw on the move that was caught by a sliding E.J. Smith. The seven-yard gain set up a first and goal at the 2 that paid off on the very next play when sophomore quarterback Justin Lamson used blocks from Smith and from left guard Trevor Mayberry to score a short rushing touchdown. Karty’s extra point made the score 35-33 in favor of the visitors with 6:16 remaining in regulation.
Karty attempted an onside kick, but Odunze recovered at midfield for the Huskies. (According to my unofficial count, Stanford and in-game opponents have successfully kicked onside five times in 23 attempts since the start of the 2011 season.) The visitors drew a defensive-pass-interference call on fifth-year senior cornerback Zahran Manley off of a throw to Odunze. Immediately afterward, a 16-yard Bernard catch moved Washington to the Cardinal 17.
Penix then lofted a ball that Odunze attempted to catch over Manley’s shoulder while running into the end zone. However, the pigskin glanced off of the receiver’s arm and floated in front of Manley’s face, prompting the cornerback to snag it with his left arm for an end-zone interception with 5:05 to go in the quarter.
Three snaps later, Daniels was stuffed at the line on a third-and-two run, and Raines couldn’t corral Bachmeier’s gadget throw on fourth down. The Huskies took over with 3:20 to go and gave the ball to Johnson four times. His 13-yard touchdown run with 96 seconds remaining gave Washington a 42-33 lead.
The Cardinal offense tried to make the score respectable but mustered little more than a 16-yard Bryce Farrell reception and a seven-yard Smith run. Ultimately, Daniels was sacked on fourth down at the home 48. That enabled the Huskies to put the seal on a hair-raising 42-33 victory by kneeling three times.
Stanford will hit the road this Saturday, facing 4-4 Washington State in Pullman in a 6 p.m. kickoff on the Pac-12 Networks.
Links
• ESPN
Washington–Stanford team statistics
Washington–Stanford box score
Washington–Stanford play-by-play
Washington–Stanford video highlights
• GoStanford.com
2023–24 Stanford football media information
2023–24 Stanford football roster
Washington–Stanford interactive box score
Washington–Stanford static box score, style A (PDF)
Washington–Stanford static box score, style B (PDF)
• GoHuskies.com
2023–24 Washington football roster
• YouTube
Matthew Loves Ball: Washington–Stanford extended video highlights
• Social media
Start of thread: X/Twitter Game tweets by @memomoment
Game-day and game-day-adjacent @memomoment tweets
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