Cardinal comeback falls short after slow start
SEATTLE >> Washington scored touchdowns on its first three drives. Stanford needed four possessions to get a first down. And JJ Arcega-Whiteside, the Cardinal’s best offensive player, left on a golf cart after appearing to injure his right ankle.
Stanford had its worst half of the season at Husky Stadium and couldn’t recover in a 27-23 loss Saturday night.
After starting at its 15-yard line with 2:04 to play, the Cardinal (54, 3-3 Pac-12) had one final play from the Washington 34, but K.J. THE SCORE
WASHINGTON 27, STANFORD 23 Up next: Oregon State at Stanford, Saturday, 6 p.m., Pac-12 Networks
Costello’s pass was intercepted in the end zone.
“We have to find a way to play great football from start to finish,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “It’s on me, it’s on the coaches, it’s on the leaders of this football team. We’re allowing ourselves to start slowly before we kick it in. Because when we play our best, we’re as good as anybody.”
Stanford had pulled off one mi-
raculous comeback on the road against a division rival this season, overcoming a 24-7 halftime deficit to beat Oregon in overtime. Down 21-0 at the half in Seattle, the Cardinal almost pulled off another stunning turnaround. Costello threw a 33-yard touchdown pass to Trenton Irwin to cut the deficit to 27-23 with 3:24 remaining. Stanford’s defense forced a punt, but the Cardinal wound up with their fourth loss in five games, eliminating any chance of a fifth North Division title in seven years.
Menlo Park native Ben Burr-Kirven, the nation’s second-leading tackler, had a game-high 12 tackles for Washington (7-3, 5-2).
Stanford’s effort was reminiscent of its previous trip to Seattle, a 44-6 loss in 2016, but the Cardinal got it going late this time.
“We didn’t call anything differently,” Shaw said of the comeback. “They played harder, they played smarter, they played better. We have
the best human beings in America in our locker room. We have to find a way to play with that edge when the clock’s at 15 minutes in the first quarter. That’s our challenge.”
K.J. Costello completed all five of his passes for 62
yards, including a 14-yard TD to Kaden Smith, as the Cardinal scored on its first drive of the third quarter. Costello wound up completing 29 of 43 passes for 347 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions.
Bryce Love, still battling
an ankle injury, then had four carries for 30 yards — including a 5-yard score — on Stanford’s next drive to cut the deficit to 24-14. Overall, Love had 18 carries for 71 yards.
Junior kicker Collin Riccitelli, playing for the first time in place of Jet Toner, Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello, right, somehow manages to get the pass off while being pressured by the Washington defense Saturday night in Seattle.
kicked a 21-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter but missed the extra point after Irwin’s touchdown, keeping it a four-point game and forcing Stanford to need a touchdown on its
final drive.
Facing the top scoring defense in the conference, Stanford went three-andout on its first two drives. On the first play of the third possession.