Stanford likes way it's taking `baby steps' in right direction
Stanford gave up a go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter for the second straight week last Saturday against Arizona. Still, senior outside linebacker Lance Keneley is focused on the positives.
The Cardinal (1-3, 0-2 Pac-12) held the Wildcats to their season-lows of 21 points and 349 total yards in the 21-20 loss, which Keneley said is something to build upon as Stanford gets ready to host No. 9 Oregon on Saturday (3:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
“We definitely took (Arizona) down a peg, so I think we're trending in the right direction in terms of execution and being able to take on these high-powered offenses,” Keneley said.
Oregon (4-0, 1-0 Pac-12) is ranked second in the country in both points (54.0) and yards (570.8). But Keneley is adopting the mantra “nameless and faceless” instead of worrying about the quality of the opponent.
“There's going to be a lot of people who are going to be saying a lot of things that don't really matter that much to you,” Keneley said. “And you have to be hyperfocused on your individual job. And if you take it one rep at a time, and if you continue to be successful in these one-rep kinds of games, you'll come out successful. And that's exactly what we did two years ago.”
Stanford upset No. 3 Oregon 31-24 in overtime the last time the Ducks came to Stanford Stadium in 2021. Both coaching staffs and the vast majority of the players will be different, though some circumstances are similar — a top-10 Oregon team will be coming in as a heavy favorite. The Cardinal are 27-point underdogs.
Stanford already faced the nation's topscoring offense in Week 2 and lost 56-10 at USC. Then came a 30-23 loss to Sacramento State in which the Cardinal allowed the goahead score in the final two minutes, followed by the one-point Arizona loss.
Logan Berzins said he was inspired by something his fellow senior offensive lineman Connor McLaughlin said.
“He's like, `first, you lose by a lot, then you lose by a little, then you win by a little and then you're winning by a lot,'” Berzins said. “And so that kind of stuck with me after that (Arizona) game. It's baby steps. You gotta go one step at a time. And we understand that every day if you keep putting in the money and you keep working hard, eventually the results will pan out. We should have won that game. But eventually, we're getting closer and I'm excited to see where it ends up.”
Stanford is young on both sides of the ball. Against Arizona, freshman running back Sedrick Irvin made his first start and led the Cardinal with 66 rushing yards and his first TD, while freshman wideout Tiger Bachmeier led the team in receiving yards with 93. Sophomore quarterbacks Ashton Daniels and Justin Lamson, who continued to split time, had six career pass attempts entering the season.
Stanford coach Troy Taylor said there wasn't a hangover after a second straight deflating loss.
“I like the progress that we've made,” Taylor said. “Obviously, we need to make more progress. Nobody's satisfied with coming close. It's not what we do. But we are close. We're playing some great teams. This is another great team, and we'll have to play even better to have a shot.”