Four keys for Cardinal to close 2020 with a win
The strangest season in Stanford history will come to an end Saturday against a familiar opponent.
The Cardinal (3-2) will face UCLA (3-3) at the Rose Bowl, continuing a series that has been played every year since World War II but was only officially added to this year’s schedule on Sunday.
The game will cap a 19- day road trip for Stanford that included stops in Seattle, Corvallis, Ore., and Santa Barbara, due to a Santa Clara County ban on games and practices for contact sports amid a spike in coronavirus cases.
The road trip seems to have galvanized the program. Stanford won at No. 23 Washington and at Oregon State since the health order took effect, and has won three in a row dating back to a win over Cal.
“There are a lot of teams around America that would have folded by now and just said, you know, this is too much to deal with,” Cardinal coach David Shaw said. “Our guys have taken a great attitude. They really are appreciative of the efforts that have gone around them to allow them this opportunity, and they’re doing the best to take advantage of playing the game that they love.”
Stanford and UCLA have both said they will decline bowl opportunities, so this is the final game of 2020 for both teams. Here are the key areas to watch:
RUNNING ATTACr >> UCLA broke an 11-game losing streak against
Stanford last season, partly by outrushing the Cardinal 263-55 in the 34-16 win at Stanford Stadium.
The Bruins again have a strong running attack — second in the Pac-12 in rushing offense and third in rushing defense — while Stanford is in the bottom three in the conference in both categories but has improved lately.
Stanford sophomore Austin Jones has rushed for 264 yards in his last two games, and his seven TDs on the ground this season are tied for the Pac-12 lead with Oregon State’s Jermar Jefferson.
“We’ve kind of started to go back into old-school Stanford football,” fullback Houston Heimuli said. “A lot of power, a lot of gritty, just- go- downhill kind of schemes.”
Meanwhile, UCLA senior Demetric Felton ranks 13th nationally with 115.6 rushing yards per game, and the Bruins have run for at least 200 yards in eight of their last 14 games.
Stanford actually stuffed Felton last year — his seven carries lost nine yards — though Joshua Kelley had 176 yards on 18 carries. STOPPING DTR >> UCLA junior quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson is coming off his best performance of the season against USC, completing 30 of 36 passes for 364 yards and four TDs while also running 10 times for 50 yards. He’s thrown for 12 TDs in four games this year, adding 260 yards on the ground.
“He’s a difference-maker and the bottom line is, when you play a difference-maker like this, you first and foremost you have to understand leverage,” Shaw said. “I have to try to keep him in the pocket if I can. You let this guy get outside, good luck. Just not a lot of athletes in America that can get this guy down by himself in space.”
Thompson-Robinson had 13 carries for 66 yards in last year’s matchup. Stanford has struggled against dual-threat QBs this season, and Thompson-Robinson might be the toughest challenge yet.
“You know the hard part is it’s not like he’s just a runner,” Shaw said. “He can beat you with his arm, too, so we have to pressure him but press him smartly and hopefully keep him contained and minimize the damage he’s going to do. He’s going to do some things that we’re not going to be able to stop, but we can’t let him take the game over.” TURNOVERS >> UCLA has committed 11 turnovers in
its three losses and just one in its three wins. Stanford has forced six turnovers this season, including a critical fumble as Oregon State was in Stanford territory in the final minute of the 27-24 Cardinal win.
On the other side, Stanford’s offense has just two lost fumbles and no interceptions. Redshirt junior Davis Mills has thrown 204 straight passes without an interception dating back to last season — the third-longest active streak in the FBS — while the Bruins are second in the Pac-12 with six interceptions.
This might be the final game at Stanford for Mills, who has completed 65 percent of his passes for 1,080 yards in four games this year. He’s a senior but could choose to return as the NCAA won’t count the 2020 season against players’ eligibility because of the pandemic.
The loss of starting receivers Michael Wilson and Connor Wedington didn’t derail Mills last week, who was 22 of 30 for 292 yards
and ran for two scores. The offensive line has also mostly provided a clean pocket, which will be a challenge on Saturday.
UCLA leads the conference with 21 sacks — Caleb Johnson’s 0.92 sacks a game is 10th in the NCAA, and his total of 5.5 is the most by a Bruin in five seasons.
ROAD WEARY >> Will spending the entire month of December away from Stanford finally catch up to the Cardinal? Or will knowing it’s the final game allow the players to get their energy up one last time?
“I mean it hasn’t been super easy,” tight end Tucker Fisk said. “It’s not the most fun traveling around, especially during COVID without things to do and moving our stuff from hotel to hotel. But it’s just a testament to how well we’ve done as a team, how well we’ve been able to adapt and react to these adversities that have been put in front of us.”
Each player has his own challenges. Receiver Simi Fehoko and linebacker Levani Damuni have been forced to live apart from their wives after both players got married earlier this year.
But after spending the first two weeks in the Pacific Northwest, the players seemed to be rejuvenated by staying and practicing near the beach this week, as well as the opportunity to avenge last year’s loss to UCLA and end the season on a fourgame winning streak.
“They got after us pretty good last year,” Shaw said. “So our guys, while they are enjoying their time here, you know we’re also going to prepare like crazy.”