Stanford Cardinal vs Wake Forest Demon Deacons Football Recap

Stanford 68, Wake Forest 24

Stanford is rocking and rolling under Jim Harbaugh.  The Carindal are establishing themselves as one of the Pac-10’s power players and a top-20 national program. 

Wake Forest, on the other hand, is going the wrong way, as a Stanford Stadium crowd found out in this late-night kickoff. 

Wake foolishly agreed to play a game that started at 11:15 p.m. Eastern time, and the lack of body-clock synchronicity definitely showed.

Quarterback Tanner Price and the Wake Forest offense started slowly, with a quick three-and-out in their first offensive series of the game.  Stanford thus started with a short field, beginning at its 40-yard line.  Stud quarterback Andrew Luck wasted no time in showing why he is one of the best QBs in the nation in 2010.  On the first drive, he completed all five pass attempts for 43 yards and a scoring strike to receiver Chris Owusu.

Just like that, Wake was down 7-0 on the road, and it was nearly midnight, yet the game was just beginning.  The Demon Deacons' offense responded as Price marched Wake 80 yards on only six plays (15 of the yards were “earned” by Price by getting knocked down late for a Cardinal roughing the passer penalty).  Chris Givens capped the drive with a 22-yard touchdown run.  That turned out to be the high point of the Deacs’ night.

The subsequent kickoff was returned to the Wake 38 on a 60-yard return by Usua Amanam.  After a short running play, Luck completed a 35-yard touchdown pass to Owusu to go up 14-7.  Wake managed one first down on the next possession, but the Deacs punted Stanford inside the 20.

No matter.  Stanford’s offense is a machine... at least against mediocre defenses like Wake Forest, who lost a number of high profile players to the NFL draft in the offseason.  Luck’s eighth pass of the game was his first incompletion, but despite having a couple third-and-long situations, the Cardinal drove 82 yards for a Tyler Gaffney touchdown rush early in the second quarter.  Wake had a chance to stop the drive and keep it a game, but the Deacs gave up three yards to Owne Marecic on a fourth-and-one just outside Stanford field-goal range.

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Another Wake three-and-out ensued in a 21-7 game, but this one was notable because the Deacs kept going backward.  They started off on the 20, but an intentional grounding penalty on first down made it 2nd and 19 from the 11.  After a four-yard run, Price was sacked by Chase Thomas at the 5.  A punt and a 22-yard return by Doug Baldwin gave Stanford the ball at the Wake 27.  Two Luck completions later, Stanford was up 27-7 early in the second quarter after a touchdown pass from Luck to Amanam.

Another Wake three-and-out gave Stanford the ball at its own 30.  Luck completed three consecutive passes before hauling off for an unexpected 52-yard touchdown rush, showing that the NFL prospect can also run the ball when he needs to.  The scoreboard read 34-7 Stanford with almost 10 minutes until the half.

Jim Grobe, apparently frustrated with his offense, decided to bring in backup QB Ted Stachitas.  The end result was a negative 6 yard drive and a three and out.  Stanford got the ball back at the 36 and Luck drove the Cardinal down for another score, this one on a Tyler Gaffney 2-yard run.  Stanford carried a 41-7 lead to the locker room at halftime, and that was all she wrote in the Bay Area.

Stanford dominated statistically as much as it did on the scoreboard, nearly doubling up Wake Forest in yardage, 535-283.  More impressive is that over 300 of Stanford’s yards were on the ground.  With rushing production like that, it makes it easier to do without Toby Gerhart, the almost-Heisman winner from 2009.  The Cardinal averaged eight yards a rush.  Wake Forest actually held the ball for longer than Stanford, showing again what a worthless statistic time of possession can sometimes be.

Luck was 17 of 23 for 207 yards and 4 touchdown passes.  He also added 69 yards on the ground and a rushing score.  Despite the gaudy team rushing stats, Gaffney led the Cardinal with only 76 yards on the ground, and Luck was the second-leading rusher.

Price was the workhorse for Wake, gaining 76 yards through the air on 8-of-18 passing.  He also rushed for 65 yards to lead the Demon Deacons. 

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer