On Saturday, Stanford football fell to Hawaii on the road by a final score of 23-20. Hawaii redshirt freshman quarterback Micah Alejado led the way for the Rainbow Warriors, going 27-39 for 210 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions while former Stanford wide receiver Jackson Harris had six receptions for 59 yards and one touchdown. Stanford sophomore running back Micah Ford was the top offensive performer for the Cardinal, rushing for 113 yards and one touchdown on 26 attempts while senior linebacker Matt Rose was the top performer on defense with 13 total tackles (12 solo), two tackles for loss, and one sack. Hawaii kicker Kansei Matsuzawa made the game-winning kick from 38 yards out, going 3-3 on the day. Hawaii improves to 1-0 on the season while Stanford falls to 0-1.
VIDEO: Stanford Postgame Press Conference-Hawaii
BOX SCORE: Stanford at Hawaii-Saturday, August 23rd
“Just to start out, obviously a tough loss,” Stanford interim head coach Frank Reich said after the game. “I give Hawaii credit. They played a tough game, made the plays they needed to make to win the game. We came in off what I felt was a very good week of practice a very good six months of preparation, of hard work. And so, this hurts. You know, I’m not gonna lie. This stings. I know it stings for all of us. Especially for the players. All of us coaches.
“But we know this. The message really to the team was we put in all that work not for one game. It’s a long season. So, we didn’t get what we wanted today, but we still have a lot of opportunity to get better and to rectify things. Even though we didn’t start off how we wanted to today.”
Stanford got the ball to start the game and was able to put up points on the opening drive as Emmett Kenney made a 23 yard field goal to give the Cardinal a 3-0 lead with 7:14 to go in the 1st quarter. That capped off a 15 play, 70 yard drive. Ford rushed for 28 yards on five carries, doing a great job of carrying the load in the backfield. Wide receiver CJ Williams got credited for a catch that looked to me like he didn’t secure, though the officials didn’t feel enough was there to overturn. Stanford caught a bit of a break and took advantage on the drive.
On the kickoff, Hawaii would signal fair catch off the bounce at the one yard line, giving them terrible field position. Stanford defensive lineman Clay Patterson proceeded to get a strip sack in the end zone as Wilfredo Aybar recovered the ball in the end zone. That made it a 10-0 lead for the Cardinal with 7:08 to go in the 1st quarter. Truly a costly mistake by the Warriors.
After both teams traded punts, Hawaii would finally get on the scoreboard. Alejado connected with wide receiver Pofele Ashlock for a three-yard touchdown, capping off a six-play, 58 yard drive. The Warriors moved the ball down the field with ease on the drive. It was now a 10-7 lead for Stanford with 2:19 to go in the 1st quarter. Stanford’s 10-7 lead would hold through the end of the 1st quarter as they had a 2nd and 1 coming up from their own 41 yard line.
With 10:55 to go in the 2nd quarter, Hawaii had the ball back on their own 20 yard line after Kenney’s field goal was blocked. The Cardinal were unable to put up points, giving Hawaii a chance to take the lead.
Stanford’s defense forced a turnover on downs as linebacker Sam Mattingly had a huge tackle to get the stop. Stanford would settle for a 46 yard field goal by Kenney on the next drive to give them a 13-7 lead as a shot at the end zone by quarterback Ben Gulbranson to Sam Roush was incomplete after quality defense by the Warriors.
On the next drive, Stanford initially thought they had set up a 4th and long after a huge tackle for loss by Patterson. Unfortunately, Patterson was then called for excessive celebration, resulting in a 15 yard flag and a fresh set of downs for the Warriors. The Warriors made Stanford pay as former Cardinal Jackson Harris had a 19 yard touchdown reception to make it a 14-13 game with under one minute to go in the half. The Warriors would maintain that one point lead going into halftime.
“Obviously a huge play,” Reich said of Patterson’s taunting celebration. “They end up scoring a touchdown there and you know, I mean, maybe they’re not going to get any points, but honestly I’m surprised by it because, I mean, it’s a good call. But, we talk a lot about that and our guys are very smart and they’re very, listen, we want to play with a lot of passion. We encourage that. You know, I want the guys celebrating and celebrating with each other, but there is a line that can’t be crossed. We talk about that and we crossed it and we paid the penalty for that and it cost us points.”
At the break, Alejado was leading Hawaii going 13-16 for 87 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. Ford was on track to have a 100 yard rushing game for Stanford with 52 rushing yards on 12 carries.
Stanford would hold Hawaii to a field goal to open the 3rd quarter as Matsuzawa drained a 40 yard field goal. That made it a 17-13 lead for the Warriors with 6:25 to go in the 3rd quarter. 17-13 would remain the score at the end of the 3rd quarter. Stanford had the ball across midfield with a fresh set of downs. They had a little bit of momentum.
Stanford would proceed to find the end zone from two yards out on the next drive as Ford had his first career touchdown. He was up to 85 rushing yards on 22 carries. Sedrick Irvin Jr. had some nice runs during that drive as well. Up 20-17 with 9:41 to go, Stanford now had even more momentum and life.
Stanford would then force a punt, getting the ball back on their own 15 yard line with 8:34 to go. On a 3rd and 2 from their own 23 yard line, Gulbranson found Chico Holt for a 36 yard completion after which Ford had a 17 yard gain to make it 1st and 10 from the Hawaii 41 yard line.
Unfortunately for Stanford, Gulbranson would get picked off on the next play, giving Hawaii a surge of momentum. Hawaii would then even up the game on the next drive as Matsuzawa made a 37 yard field goal to tie it up 20-20 with 2:01 to go.
“Yeah, Micah had a good day running the football,” Reich said of Ford. “That last drive. Yeah, we put together the touchdown drive. You know, it was a good drive running the ball. We felt like we established something there and then came back that next drive and you know, he had the third and short and we wanted to play pass for the big play and then we get a first down and we have an opportunity, we’re up by three really thinking listen, we’re not playing it safe to kick a field goal. We had another kind of play pass and what I felt was a very safe call, play pass, put a guy in the flat and their defender made an unbelievable play. So, you just gotta give him credit.”
On the following drive, rather than running the ball and putting Ford and Irvin to work, Stanford made the curious decision to try to win the game with Gulbranson’s arm, which up to this point of the game had not been good. That decision backfired as they were forced to punt on a three and out. That gave Hawaii the ball back with 1:33 to go on their own 28-yard line.
From there, Hawaii would march down the field and set up a 38 yard field goal attempt for Matsuzawa with three seconds left. Matsuzawa made the kick, giving the Warriors a 23-20 victory. The Warriors were fired up as the kick went through the uprights while Stanford was in shock.
To touch quickly on Hawaii, what a win for them. They showed a lot of fight and heart to win the game. Their quarterback Micah Alejado played with an injured foot in the second half and didn’t let that stop him from making plays. And then Matsuzawa was money. Not to mention Harris, who had to be happy to get the win over his former team.
As for Stanford, this is a painful loss. With mediocre quarterback play, they win this game. Instead, Gulbranson looked more like a freshman out there than the sixth year veteran that he is. Of course, this loss shouldn’t be pinned all on Gulbranson. Had Clay Patterson not committed that silly taunting penalty and Emmet Kenney not had a kick blocked, Stanford probably wins this game.
At this point, Stanford needs to back to the drawing board and have serious conversations about what their plans are going forward at quarterback. Even though all the reports out there were that Gulbranson looked the best in fall camp, I still can’t help but wonder if one of the young quarterbacks Elijah Brown or Dylan Rizk wouldn’t at least offer more upside as the season goes along. Time will tell what happens on that front as an early bye week approaches.
“We’ll have to look at the film,” Reich said of Gulbranson’s performance. “Playing the quarterback position, there’s a lot that goes into it, right? Some of our protection. We had some protection problems early where we’re having to throw the ball away. We’re running for our life. So, that’s not all on Ben. But, we’ll look at it. Everyone of us have to look and hey, how do we put him in better position? We want to challenge every player to play better. Quarterbacks are included with that.”
“Yeah, I just gotta do a better job understanding the situation there and protecting the ball,” Gulbranson said of his interception. “That’s on me and I wish I could have that one back.”
Up next for Stanford is a road game at BYU on Saturday, September 6th. That will kickoff at 7:15 PM PT on ESPN.
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