STANFORD, Calif. – The fade pass from Ryan Burns to JJ Arcega-Whiteside for the go-ahead score with 24 seconds left in Stanford's 22-13 victory over UCLA on Saturday was at least a year in the making.
"All year on the scout team last year, it was Ryan Burns to JJ in the red zone," said David Shaw, Stanford's Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football. "They did it so many times, I can't tell you how many."
On the crucial play, Stanford trailed 13-9 when Burns called a play in the huddle for a double fade. Arcega-Whiteside took a look at his quarterback, nodded, and Burns nodded back.
"The mechanics and the way the play went … nothing was different," Arcega-Whiteside said. "We practiced it all last year, all this year, for the games. When it actually gets called, it's almost like it's natural to us. Endless repetitions."
Said Shaw, "JJ's size and athletic ability and his range – his catch radius – is very impressive. JJ's got a chance to be special. He's tough to defend down there."
Arcega-Whiteside was first discovered by running backs coach Lance Taylor, who showed Shaw some video of the Inman, South Carolina, product.
"With high school film, you never know," Shaw said.
But Taylor was persistent.
"This guy makes plays every single time," Taylor told him.
The coaching staff convinced him to come to a camp. Arcega-Whiteside didn't need much convincing. While watching the 2014 Rose Bowl as a high school sophomore, Arcega-Whiteside told his father that he wanted to play for one of those two schools.
Indeed, Stanford and Michigan State were the only schools outside of the Eastern seaboard to offer him a scholarship.
"In the back of my mind, I knew I was going to Stanford," he said. "They had a lot more to offer. I love the people. I love my teammates. I love the coaching staff. I knew this was a genuine place."
Some background on Arcega-Whiteside, his parents met while playing pro basketball in Spain. Valorie Whiteside was a star at Appalachian State before heading to Europe in the days before the WNBA. Joaquin Arcega played basketball for a variety of clubs in Spain and Portugal.
When JJ, given name Jose Joaquin Arcega-Whiteside, was learning to speak, no one could understand him. His mother spoke English, his father Spanish, and he was living in Portugal. His speech was a mixture of all three languages.
Though Arcega-Whiteside, a sophomore, had not caught a pass until Saturday, he already had made an impression on his teammates.
"He's one of the hardest workers on the team," linebacker Joey Alfieri said. "That whole drive, I was thinking of him, in the summer, coming in extra hours, running routes on his own time, before we had runs and lifts. He's a guy who puts in all this extra work. I was glad to see it all finally pay off."
Christian McCaffrey rushed for 138 yards on 26 carries against UCLA – good for a 5.3-yard average – and had 165 all-purpose yards. His four-yard pickup on a third-and-3 play in the final minute was crucial to Stanford's victory.
However, when Shaw was asked by a reporter about how McCaffrey was "bottled up" by the Bruins, the coach was understandably bewildered.
"We are unbelievably spoiled," Shaw said. "That when this kid doesn't get 300 yards in total offense, we say he got 'bottled up.' He was phenomenal. Those 2-yard runs became 7-yard runs. Those 8-yard runs became 12-yard runs. He finds those hidden yards on every single play. It's uncanny.
"The tackles he bounced off, the tackles he ran through, the guys he made miss … He didn't have the signature 80-yard run, but at the same time, this kid played one whale of a game. We have a different standard for him than everybody else."
Stanford was rushing three players against a six-man protection when Alfieri approached UCLA quarterback Josh Rosen from behind. The sack forced a fumble on the game's final play with Stanford's Solomon Thomas returning it 42 yards for a touchdown.
"I took a super wide rush because I knew he'd be in the pocket for a long time, waiting for those guys to get downfield," Alfieri said. "I got one-on-one with the tackle, which was good, and kind of juked him out. I was so far away from the quarterback, I think he quit because he didn't think I would get there."
Injuries to Stanford's starting cornerbacks against UCLA will test the secondary. Fortunately, Stanford has recruited well and has strong depth. Terrence Alexander and Alameen Murphy, who will take over, have started games in the past.
On safety Justin Reid's pass breakup on a UCLA deep ball on the game's penultimate snap: "It was a phenomenal play," Shaw said. "Potentially a game-winning play. Honestly."
Shaw's thumbnail evaluation of Washington:
"Speed everywhere.
"Running backs have speed, receivers have speed. You saw the beginnings of the offense come together last year. Now, you're seeing it coming to fruition. They can run it, they can throw it, they have a solid offensive line, and they're playing at home.
Some comments from Washington coach Chris Peterson's press conference in advance of the Stanford game.
"Stanford's an awesome program. I'll start with that, program. It isn't just an awesome team, it's an awesome program. They know how to do it right … play good football and win championships.
On McCaffrey, "Unbelievable vision, extremely explosive, and as patient as anybody I've seen. It's a unique combination – his vision is so good, and he's so patient. So many times it looks like there's not really anything there. Then, he'll find it. And he's not going down with one guy grabbing a hold of him. You've got to tackle him with multiple guys. He's unique and rare. You don't see guys like that very often."
On Stanford, "They keep grinding you. A fourth-quarter game doesn't bother those guys in the slightest. They don't flinch."
The switch of offensive tackles Casey Tucker and A.T. Hall to different sides before the UCLA game was done quickly. When it became evident that each would be more effective on their 'natural' sides, Tucker was moved to left tackle after starting every game on the right last season, and Hall was moved to the right.
"After the USC game, we saw it was it was probably going this way, so we figured why wait another couple of weeks. Let's do it right now and allow them more time to settle in.
"Both played well. I think they can play better as they get more comfortable in those positions."
Shaw said pass protection was the key. Whereas, former standouts such as Kyle Murphy or Andrus Peat could play either side, most seem to favor one side or the other.
"Casey's so much more comfortable and fluid setting up on the right than on the left," Shaw said. "Some guys are better on the left, some are better on the right. I don't know why."
A hit on receiver Francis Owusu has caused Shaw to plea for a change in how helmet-to-helmet hits are officiated. Owusu received a concussion on a play that was not penalized. Even after replay review, targeting was not called despite clear helmet-to-helmet contact.
A key element in whether the rule has been violated is the word "defenseless." Owusu apparently was not considered defenseless because he had taken several steps with the ball.
"It's not about being defenseless or not, it's about making the game as safe as we can possibly make it," Shaw said. "We should not lead with our helmet against someone else's helmet."
"As a college football coach who … has to sit in these living rooms year after year and say that we're going to do the best thing we can for their young people in the classroom and on the football field, and that we're going to try to take care of them, plays like this should be penalized so they stop happening.
"If we don't penalize them, they will continue to happen. To me, that's common sense … There is language that obviously needs to be amended, preferably sooner rather than later. I think that you will get relatively unanimous support for specific language that takes helmet-to-helmet collisions out of the game. I'm telling you what I believe as a college football coach, as a leader of young men who loves this sport and wants it to be played physically, and also wants it to be played as safe as possible.
"I understand the letter of the law – it's been quoted to me several times in the last 24 hours – but to me it's immaterial."
Owusu will not play Friday.
Alfieri, a management science and engineering major, is fulfilling his language requirement by taking a sign language class.
Could it help with communication with teammates in a loud stadium on the road?
"We do have a lot of defensive signals, but none of the signs actually correlate to the actual meaning," he said. "But, yeah, I thought there'd be some sort of connection. But there isn't."