STANFORD, Calif. — After wrapping up their most lopsided win in 59 years, the Stanford players know that if they can pull off one more victory this season it will be their most gratifying.
Toby Gerhart tied a Stanford single-game record by running for four touchdowns and the Cardinal moved one step closer to bowl eligibility with a 58-0 victory over Washington State on Saturday.
Stanford needs one win in its final three games to be eligible for a bowl for the first time since 2001. But that last win will be much harder to come by than this one was, with the Cardinal having road games at Oregon and California surrounding a home game against No. 7 Southern California.
“That’s the way we like it. Being the favorite today was kind of a weird feeling,” said safety Bo McNally, who had an interception and a fumble recovery. “It’s kind of nice going in feeling like you’re being underestimated a little bit. … We have a chance to do something really great for Stanford football.”
The Cardinal (5-4, 4-2 Pac-10) overwhelmed the overmatched Cougars (1-8, 0-6) in front of only a few thousand fans who braved the elements in a driving rain storm. The victory was the biggest for Stanford since a 63-0 victory over Idaho in 1949 and first shutout in conference play since beating Oregon 17-0 in 1974.
The Cougars were shut out for the second straight game after going 280 straight contests scoring at least once. That streak that dated to 1984 ended two weeks ago in a 69-0 loss to USC and Washington State has now been outscored 172-0 since late in the first half against Oregon State on Oct. 11. The Cougars hadn’t been blanked in consecutive games since 1969.
“We have some people on the team who are competitors and they’ll get down about this, and then we’ve got some who just want to quit,” quarterback Kevin Lopina said. “We can’t have that. We have to have everyone on board as a team.
We have some people here and there who aren’t really into it. … We just need people who want to win. We have some people that when we lose it’s not really a big deal to them.”
Washington State also set a single-season record for most points allowed in Pac-10 play at 350, surpassing the 2001 California team that gave up 333 points in conference action.
The Cougars turned the ball over four times in the first half and five overall and were unable to score on two trips inside the Stanford 20. The first chance ended when Nico Grasu’s field goal attempt was blocked late in the first quarter and the second ended when Lopina threw his second interception into the end zone in the final minute of the half.
“We all want to make the plays,” coach Paul Wulff said. “We just didn’t make them, hang on to the ball or catch the ball. We kept shooting ourselves in the foot when we got close to the red zone. There were a lot of plays left on that field. On offense, there were touchdowns left on that field.”
Gerhart ran for 132 yards on 22 carries for his league-leading sixth 100-yard game of the season. Anthony Kimble added 92 yards rushing, including a 62-yard touchdown run in the third quarter as Stanford finished with 344 yards on the ground for their third best total ever.
“When it rains, people have to turn to the run a little bit,” Gerhart said. “The ball is wet so throwing the ball is a little more risky. It works to our advantage. We’ve been running the ball great all year. In a situation like this, we couldn’t have asked for better weather I guess.”
Tavita Pritchard also threw a touchdown pass and Alex Loukas ran for a score for the Cardinal, who had their highest-scoring game since beating San Jose State 63-26 in 2002. Almost as impressive was playing turnover-free ball in these treacherous conditions.
“The difference in the game especially in the first half was the turnovers,” coach Jim Harbaugh said. “We were getting them fortunately and we weren’t turning it over. That was the difference. Washington State was gaining some yards, they were moving the ball.”
Even the debut of heralded freshman quarterback J.T. Levenseller didn’t help the Cougars. The Cougars were planning to redshirt Levenseller but changed course because of a spate of injuries. On his first play, Levenseller botched a handoff to Logwone Mitz and McNally recovered for the Cardinal at the 28, setting up Gerhart’s third touchdown run.
After Aaron Zagory kicked a 39-yard field goal on Stanford’s first possession, Gerhart scored touchdowns on four of Stanford’s next five drives. That tied the school record for touchdowns in a game set by Darrin Nelson in 1981 and reached four other times before Gerhart did it.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
