The Cardinal shows resilience in 2OT win over UCLA
The Cardinal hold off a determined UCLA team in double overtime
Stanford quarterback Davis Mills was flat on his back. He had thrown what he said was the first pick- 6 of his life, and was knocked down trying to stop UCLA cornerback Jay Shaw’s return as the Bruins were finishing off a run of 31 straight points.
The third second-half interception for Mills, all of which led to UCLA touchdowns, seemed to be the final blow for a team, exhausted after spending the previous 18 days away from home, that had let a 17-point halftime lead slip away.
But Mills and Stanford bounced back one final time Saturday at the Rose Bowl. The redshirt junior threw two touchdown passes in the final 2:34 of the regulation to Simi Fehoko, and then hit Fehoko again in the second overtime as Stanford (4-2) put a fitting end to an improbable season with a 48- 47 double- overtime victory over the Bruins (3- 4)
Still, it wasn’t over until Stanford stopped UCLA’s two-point conversion try for the win.
“There’s always going to be a special place in my heart for this group,” Stanford coach David Shaw said. “Unprecedented difficulties. … This team should go down in Stanford history as one of if not the most resilient teams ever, given what they’ve faced.”
The season almost didn’t happen at all. Many players left campus when the Pac12 postponed the fall season on Aug. 11, only to be called back after the conference voted six weeks later to play in 2020 after all.
Some of the challenges could have been expected when attempting to play during a pandemic, but nothing could have prepared the Cardinal for the past three weeks after Santa Clara County prohibited contact sports due to rising COVID-19 cases.
The team practiced in Seattle before upsetting Washington, in Corvallis before beating Oregon State, and finally at Santa Barbara City College before staging an incredible comeback against UCLA.
Starting with a onepoint win at Cal, Stanford will end its season with four road wins by a combined 10 points.
“I told the guys at the end of regulation that you can’t be surprised by this,” Shaw said. “This was just our path this year. It was going to be hard. We’re going to have to fight and scratch and claw our way to a victory.”
Here’s how the Cardinal won on Saturday:
Mills rebounds
Mills had thrown 222 passes without an interception dating back to last season before the second half, when he threw three in 17 minutes. The first one was a miscommunication with his receiver, but on the pick- 6 Mills was fooled by a coverage UCLA doesn’t usually show.
“It was a bad play by a great player,” Shaw said. “I’ve never seen Davis down, ever. I’ve never seen him sulk.”
In what might be his final game at Stanford, Mills threw three TDs after that and finished 32 of 47 for 428 yards.
“We’ve overcome all the adversity we’ve faced and found a way to win when it counted,” Mills said. “It was a great season and fun way to cap it off.”
Simi steps up
Fehoko set a school record with 16 catches (the
previous mark of 14 was set four times, most recently by Jim Price at Notre Dame in 1989). His 230 yards were the third-most in program history ( Troy Walters had 278 against UCLA in 1999). He tied the game on a 21yard TD with 18 seconds left in regulation, and he beat Shaw for a 14-yard TD in the second overtime.
A teammate could be heard saying “It’s too easy for you bro,” when congratulating Fehoko in the end zone after his third score.
Fehoko had always been a deep threat during his career, but he needed to take a leading role after starting receivers Michael Wilson and Connor Wedington were injured against Washington two weeks ago. The junior had his first 100-yard game as a Cardinal last week against Oregon State but outdid himself on Saturday.
“Once we lost Connor and Michael, Simi really, really turned it on,” Shaw said. “He’s been making plays the entire year but these last few games he’s been a special player. And he’s going to be a coveted NFL prospect because this guy can change games, and tonight he just let it go.”
Gamble fails
UCLA running back Demetric Felton, who averaged 115.6 yards a game, didn’t play, and QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson left late in the second quarter with an injury.
Still, one play into the fourth quarter, Stanford’s 20-3 lead had turned into a 24-20 deficit.
The Bruins put up 44 points after halftime, led by Brittain Brown (219 yards on 29 carries) and Chase Griffin (9 of 11 for 127 yards and four TDs).
After Griffin threw a 21yard TD pass on fourthand-18 in double OT, UCLA coach Chip Kelly decided to go for two and end the game. But linebacker Stephen Herron came around the corner unblocked and got to Brown in the backfield, stopping him before he reached the goal line and ending the game.
End of the road
Who wouldn’t want to see if – and how – Stanford could extend its four-game win streak with another crazy finish. But Shaw said there was no regretting the decision earlier this week to decline a bowl invitation.
“We’re exhausted. Everybody’s exhausted. I’d say 90 percent of college football is exhausted,” Shaw said. “I have no issue with county guidelines. They’re trying to save people’s lives. God bless them. But we’re trying to fight through so much.
“Part of me says, ‘Gosh it would be great if we had one more game.’ But at the same time, these guys have been through enough.”
UCLA came to the same decision – and it wasn’t facing the added challenge of not being allowed to practice at home. In fact, the Rose Bowl itself won’t be played this year, meaning Stanford will be the last team to win a game on the storied field in the 2020 season.
No positive tests
Like every team, Stanford was affected by the novel coronavirus. Mills had to miss the season opener when he got a false-positive test, and a home game against Washington State was canceled when too many Cougars were out because of testing and tracing protocols.
But perhaps the most impressive number of the season was zero – Shaw said that no Stanford player or coach tested positive for the virus. Considering how impacted other programs were, it may have been the team’s most impressive feat.
“I’m not just proud of how well they played and how hard they fought and how long they’ve fought,” Shaw said. “I’m proud of these guys to say that every single thing that’s come our way this year, they‘ ve handled it with class and did things the right way. I don’t know how many teams in America went through the whole season, including training camp, without a single positive COVID test.”