Without QB McKee, Cardinal suffer fourth straight loss to Utah in blowout
STANFORD >> The biggest drama left in Stanford’s season now boils down to this: Can the Cardinal win another game?
The David Shaw era appeared to hit rock bottom Friday night, as Stanford (3-6, 2-5 Pac-12) allowed more points on defense (38) than it gained yards on offense (28) in the first half en route to a humiliating 52-7 loss to Utah at Stanford Stadium.
It was the worst defeat of Shaw’s 11-year tenure, topping a 44-6 loss at No. 10 Washington in 2016, and the biggest blowout suffered by Stanford since a 57-7 loss to Notre Dame in 2003. Utah (6-3, 5-1) had been 1-3 on the road and was facing the handicap of having to travel on a short week.
“Just a terrible showing top to bottom,” Shaw said afterward.
Stanford’s hopes of breaking its four-game losing streak appear to hinge on the health of QB Tanner McKee, who was leaning against a crutch on the sideline Friday night.
Backup Jack West had an interception returned for a touchdown, lost a fumble, was sacked five times, and completed 12 of 18 passes for 59 yards.
In West’s three previous starts plus Friday, the Cardinal have been outscored 145-44, making Shaw’s decision to start West over McKee in the season opener even more puzzling.
Wildcat QB Isaiah Sanders led a touchdown drive in the second half, but was otherwise ineffective as well.
Shaw said he anticipates McKee coming back this season, but it probably won’t be in time for next week’s game at Oregon State. Stanford then finishes with home games against Cal and Notre Dame, and needs to win out to achieve bowl eligibility.
Then again, it wouldn’t have mattered if Andrew Luck was still behind center on Friday, thanks to a defense that allowed Tavion Thomas to rush for a school record-tying four touchdowns with 6 minutes still left in the second quarter, and then gave up a school-record 96-yard TD run by T.J. Pledger.
Utah ran for 336 yards in the first half and finished with 441 against a defense that was already 120th out of 130 FBS teams in rushing yards allowed (206.0).
“As much as anything, we missed a ton of tackles,” Shaw said. “It’s one thing to have gaps run through, but when you miss tackles, that’s why you give up the big, big plays. Inexcusable.”
While the Cardinal allowed the winning score in the last 90 seconds of its past two games, against Washington State and Washington, this one was no contest. Utah scored touchdowns on five of its first six possessions (the one exception came on a fumbled snap) and Stanford didn’t get to 100 yards of offense until the fourth quarter.
“The biggest thing is, just come back and get to work,” linebacker Ricky Miezan said. “We’re always so focused on outcomes and rewards, but at the end of the day, only thing you really can do is work. And that’s what we’ll do when we come back Monday. We will look at the film and fix what we need to fix and keep going.”