Cardinal gave Washington, Penix all they could handle
Michael Penix Jr. is on pace to be a Heisman Trophy finalist and Washington is in the mix for a College Football Playoff berth. But with three minutes left in Saturday night's game at Stanford, Ashton Daniels had matched Penix's output and the Cardinal had the Huskies on the ropes.
Stanford ultimately couldn't complete a trick play that would have set up a go-ahead field goal. In the end, the Cardinal lost 42-33, but the performance against a top-five team showcased what Stanford is capable of and provided hope for future seasons.
“Even though we lost the game, which is unfortunate, there are a lot of positives we can grow and learn from,” fifth-year senior cornerback Zahran Manley said. “That's really what we're trying to do. Just set the foundation for this team for the years to come with the new regime that Coach Taylor is setting forth.”
Penix completed 21 of 38 passes (55%) for 369 yards and four TDs, with one interception. Daniels, who wasn't even the full-time starter until this month, completed 31 of 50 (62%) for 367 yards and no turnovers, ran 18 times for 85 yards and accounted for three TDs.
Daniels' 452 total yards of offense was the second most in a single game in Stanford history behind Davis Mills' 491 yards against Washington State in 2019.
“He's really tough,” Stanford coach Troy Taylor said. “He made some great runs, timely runs. Made great decisions in the pass game and checks that you wouldn't necessarily know about. Made a lot of great throws. His disposition is always the same. He's really competitive, but his demeanor is always the same.”
Daniels was playing behind two first-time starters on the offensive line — true freshman Luke Baklenko at left tackle and sophomore Jake Maikkula at right guard.
His top target was Tiger Bachmeier, who caught 10 passes — the most by a true freshman at Stanford since at least 1996 — and now leads all Pac-12 freshmen in receiving yards with 315.
And after sophomore Elic Ayomanor (9 catches, 146 yards) left the game with what appeared to be an upper-body injury, Daniels connected with true freshman Jackson Harris on his first career catch for 44 yards in a critical fourth-quarter drive.
“Got a lot of young guys like (Harris) that are talented and just need an opportunity, need a little bit more experience,” Taylor said.
By the end of the game, Stanford was without Ayomanor — who already has 737 receiving yards, the most in a single season by a Cardinal receiver since J.J. Arcega-Whiteside had 1,059 in 2018 — running back Casey Filkins and top tight end Benjamin Yurosek.
Filkins' absence meant that Bachmeier was charged with throwing a pass instead of Filkins on a well-designed fourth-and-2 trick play with 3:20 remaining and Stanford down 35-33. The pass was a little low and was dropped by a wide-open Jayson Raines at the Cardinal 35.
Raines had plenty of open field if he caught it, and Stanford has one of the top kickers in the country, leading to some agonizing what-ifs. But at least the Cardinal were competitive after previous games against ranked opponents resulted in losses to USC, Oregon and UCLA by 46, 35, and 34 points, respectively.
“If you're a competitor, they all kind of hurt,” Taylor said. “I'm really proud of how they played though. There is a fight to these guys and a consistency in their demeanor and how they approach the game. When I look at this game afterwards I'm really proud of that. Now, we want to win the game and make a couple more plays. We didn't do that. But I do feel like we're improving and showing incredible resiliency.”
Even the defense, which was 126th out of 130 FBS teams in points allowed and had forced just three turnovers all season, got two critical red zone turnovers in the fourth quarter to give Stanford a chance to come back.