WEST POINT N.Y. — Stanford flew across the country and painted this town red.
In front of a sellout crowd at Blaik Field at Michie Stadium, the No. 5 Cardinal handed Army its second-straight double-digit loss, defeating the Black Knights, 34-20 on Saturday.
“When you’re playing somebody like that, you find out who you really are,” Army head coach Rich Ellerson said. “Against a power offense like that, you are always trying to maintain your leverage and maintain your numbers.”
At the start of the contest, it appeared as if Army’s slow, methodical ground game would be enough to stagger the up-tempo power attack from Stanford.
Army took a quick lead after junior defensive end Mike Ugenyi forced Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan (11-of-18, 188 yards, three TDs) to fumble and four plays later, Daniel Grochowski kicked a 39-yard field goal to put the Black Knights ahead 3-0.
After another quick three-and-out by Stanford, Army kicked another field goal for a 6-0 lead.
“They came out there with a little bit different approach than what we had seen,” said defensive end Josh Mauro, who led Stanford with seven tackles. “It just took guys having the will to do their jobs. We made some adjustments in the second half to stop the inside run.”
It was only a matter of time before the Cardinal got their offense rolling. On its ensuing drive Stanford utilized big plays, highlighted by a 25-yard run by Tyler Gaffney (20 carries, 132 yards, two TDs) which helped set up a 26-yard touchdown pass from Hogan to sophomore wide receiver Mike Rector.
Following an Army punt, Hogan connected with Ty Montgomery for a 46-yard touchdown pass on a drive that took just nine seconds off the clock and gave Stanford a 14-6 lead.
“They put up 34 points on our defense,” Army defensive back Geoffrey Bacon said. “They do what they do very well. We need to continue to get better against the deep ball and the play action.”
Army’s offense, which relies heavily on the run, seemed unable to get a rhythm going with the Black Knights alternating signal-callers.
After replacing quarterback Angel Santiago, A.J. Schurr led two stalled drives for the Black Knights and Ellerson sent Santiago back into the game with 3:53 left in the first half and his team trailing 17-6.
With Santiago under center, Army was able to pick up its first big play of the day, with Terry Baggett (nine carries, 96 yards) rushing for a 46-yard gain. Five plays later Army cut Stanford’s lead to four points with a 15-yard touchdown run from fullback Larry Dixon.
Despite coming out of the half receiving the ball and down three points, miscues were too much for Army to overcome.
On Army’s first drive of the third quarter Santiago drove the Black Knights into Cardinal territory before fumbling on a crucial third down, giving Stanford the ball and leading to a 23-yard touchdown pass from Hogan to Gaffney to extend Stanford’s lead to two touchdowns and put the game out of reach.
“When we look at the film it will break our heart because we will see some low-hanging fruit,” Ellerson said. “We played hard enough, not well enough. There’s no margin for error.”