Stanford Cardinal 1-1 Overall (1-0 Conference)

This Week’s Score: Wake Forest 24 – Stanford 17

Next Week’s Opponent: San Jose State

One of the most frustrating games of the week from a Pac-10 perspective, I was really just surprised more than anything about the way this game turned out.

My biggest concern was that the travel mixed with the early start time in a different time zone would result in the Cardinal coming out sluggish and falling behind early, which would put Andrew Luck in a tough spot trying to lead his team back on the road.

Quite the opposite happened; Stanford came out strong and looked good on both sides of the ball. Andrew Luck showed a lot of poise, leading the team to a touchdown on the opening drive and then bouncing back from an interception with another touchdown drive. The Cardinal controlled the clock and the tempo of the game and entered the half up 17-3.

Wake Forest is not built to be a come from behind team; they run the ball a lot and usually just ask QB Riley Skinner to manage the game. It looked like Stanford had the game well in hand; and then the wheels fell off.

Wake was able to run the ball at will in the second half as Stanford never made them uncomfortable running their offense.

It goes without saying to anyone who saw the game that it would have been a totally different game had the referees not made such a bad call on a phantom clipping penalty that negated a 39-yard run by Toby Gerhart that would have put the Cardinal well within field goal range with five minutes left in the game. That play was absurd, and the refereeing was shaky at best throughout the game.

It is a valid excuse and a valid gripe, but we’ve come to expect lousy officiating. It could have definitely changed the outcome of the game, but it doesn’t change the fact that Stanford was outplayed in the second half.

Did they get too comfortable? Did they try to out-think themselves? It was a tale of two halves Saturday, and it turned what should have been an impressive win into a whole new slew of question marks.

Offensively there was plenty to love. Andrew Luck looked good and Toby Gerhart averaged nearly five yards a carry. You come to expect production from Gerhart, but seeing the wide receivers play as well as they did was very nice.

Ryan Whalen led the way with nine catches for 123 yards, including both touchdown grabs. Chris Owusu built on his explosive game against Washington State and showed no signs of being hampered by the mild concussion he suffered in that game, racking up 90 total yards (six catches for 60, one rush for 10, and one kick return for 20).

Defensively, there are some major red flags that Coach Jim Harbaugh will have to address this week. Giving up 251 yards on the ground (5.6 yards per carry) was unacceptable, and in a conference as loaded with talented backs as the Pac-10 is, that is going to need to get patched up in a hurry.

It’s always a shame when a bad call or two ends up deciding the game. But it should re-enforce Jim Harbaugh’s blue collar mentality; if you play hard and execute well for the entire 60 minutes, it’s a lot less likely to be in the referee’s hands down the stretch.