Sundays With SoltauSundays With Soltau
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Football

Sundays With Soltau

 
STANFORD, Calif. – Nothing energizes a team more than a hustle play. It can be inspirational and infectious.
 
That was the case Friday night in No. 13 Stanford's 31-10 season-opening victory against San Diego State. Fifth-year senior inside linebacker Bobby Okereke and senior wide receiver Trenton Irwin contributed key second quarter plays to help erase a seven-point deficit and lift the Cardinal to a 9-7 halftime lead it never surrendered.
 
Okereke produced Stanford's first points of 2018 by storming in to sack scrambling Aztec quarterback Christian Chapman and forcing a safety. Okereke came out of nowhere, showing off his speed.  

Irwin made a heads-up play with just over a minute remaining. With the offense on the move at the San Diego State 39, junior quarterback K.J. Costello's third down pass was deflected and intercepted by defensive tackle Noble Hall. But Irwin raced back to force and recover a fumble. Two plays later, Costello fired a 38-yard scoring pass to senior wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside.
 
"I just wanted to make a play for my boys to really get it going because I knew what we had in the room," said Irwin. "We've got a lot of talent … we just needed a little push."
 
Costello was grateful.
 
"I've nicknamed him Mr. Reliable in every facet of the game," Costello said. "The guy works harder than anybody I've ever seen. He's out there an hour before everybody else, catching jugs. The guy is a workhorse and deserves a lot of credit."
 
Irwin had five receptions for 31 yards and has caught a pass in 29 consecutive games.
 
Record night: Teaming up with Costello, Arcega-Whiteside made six catches for a career-high 226 yards. Three grabs went for touchdowns and he also secured a two-point conversion.
 
It marked the second consecutive three-score game for Arcega-Whiteside. He hauled in three against TCU last December in the Alamo Bowl.
 
Arcega-Whiteside's receiving yards were the third-most in program history and the most by a Stanford wideout since 1999. He is tied for fourth nationally.

Looking to neutralize running back Bryce Love, the Aztecs often used single coverage against Arcega-Whiteside, who made them pay with his size and athleticism.
 
"The bottom line is if it's one-on-one, we're going to give him a chance to make a play," said David Shaw, the Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football.
 
Top tacklers: Fifth-year senior cornerback Alameen Murphy and senior inside linebacker Sean Barton shared game tackling honors with nine.Barton, who sustained a season-ending injury in the third game at San Diego State last year, was back in the starting lineup and active all evening.
 
Sophomore cornerback Paulson Adebo added eight stops and broke up two passes in his first college game/start.

"It felt good to be playing football again," Adebo said. "I could have played better. I dropped a touchdown pass (interception) and missed too many tackles."

Finishing strong: Shaw praised Lance Anderson, the Willie Shaw Director of Defense, for preparing his group and making critical adjustments with only a handful of returning starters. The Aztecs rushed for 125 yards in the first half but only 25 in the second and were limited to a field goal.
 
"I believe Lance Anderson is probably the most underrated defensive coordinator in America," said Shaw. "We had a rough first quarter. After that, we pretty much snuffed them out."
 
The Cardinal claimed five sacks and got a critical stop on the first play of the fourth quarter, when junior defensive tackle Michael Williams and senior defensive end Dylan Jackson stuffed running back Juwan Washington for no gain on fourth-and-one.
 
Stacking the box: Love never got untracked, finishing with 29 yards on 18 carries. San Diego State sold out to stop him.
 
"That might be the most blitzes we've seen in one game during my 12 years here," Shaw said.
 
Even with minimal running room, Love nearly broke several attempts. He also did a great job picking up blitzes and caught three passes for 18 yards.
 
"It's no secret Bryce is the best running back in the country," said Costello. "There were times I came to the line and there were 11 guys coming down hill, ready to light him up. Being able to counteract that is what you have to do to be a good offense."
 
Love won the 2018 Doak Walker Award and Lombardi Award, and finished runner-up in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
 
"Everyone will talk about Bryce's lack of yardage," Shaw said. "Bryce doesn't care. We won the game."
 
Standing tall: Sophomore Drew Dalman received his first playing time and start at center in place of injured fifth-year senior Jesse Burkett and held his own.
 
"Hats off to Drew," said Costello. "He really settled in and did a great job of getting us in the right protections. And then Nate (Herbig) leading that line. He's a vet out there and has been doing unbelievable stuff."
 
Beecher back: No one was more excited to run out of the tunnel with his teammates before the kickoff more than senior inside linebacker Ryan Beecher of Fresno, California. The night before the team left for the Alamo Bowl last December, tests revealed he had non-Hodgkins lymphoma under his right arm.
 
Beecher underwent six rounds of chemotherapy and missed two quarters of school and spring practice, uncertain if he would play again. In July, a full body scan came back negative.
 
"I'm just incredibly grateful," he said. "The timing worked out and I was able to be back for Game 1. It's hard to describe the moment but it was awesome."

An inspiration to everyone in the program, Beecher not only suited up, he played on the kickoff return and punt coverage units.
 
"Earlier in the week, I knew," said Beecher. "I was preparing all camp for that role. I was lucky to get a pretty good block on that first kickoff and it felt good to get that first play behind me."
 
Cancer awareness: Stanford players are wearing two ribbons on the back of their helmets this season: a yellow ribbon for sarcoma and a green ribbon for lymphoma.
 
"The thought is that anybody watching a Stanford football game that's going through a tough time dealing with cancer maybe gets a little jolt, to know we're thinking about them," said Shaw. "We're trying to raise awareness. Proud of our guys for agreeing to do that."
 
Early Impact: True freshman Thomas Booker made his collegiate debut at defensive end. A four-star recruit from Ellicott City, Maryland, his three tackles included a 13-yard sack in the fourth quarter.

"It was amazing," Booker said. "It's something that you dream about. I've been thinking about it since my freshman year of high school. So finally getting out there in front of the fans and getting to perform and play in that Cardinal red … the feeling is crazy."
 
Booker saw action throughout the game. He credited his teammates for the sack.
 
"Unforgettable," he said. "They (San Diego State) weren't really running the bootleg until we shut the run down, so I give them the credit for that one."
 
Next up: No.15 USC visits Stanford Stadium on Saturday for a 5:30 p.m. PT contest that will be televised nationally on FOX. The Trojans opened their season at home on Saturday by pulling away from UNLV, 43-21.

JT Daniels became only the second true freshman in USC history to start at quarterback. He completed 22-of-35 passes for 282 yards, including a 43-yard touchdown
 
The Trojans have won the last two meetings against the Cardinal and lead the all-time series, 62-32-3. However, Stanford has prevailed in seven of the last 10 regular-season clashes.
 
Extra points: Senior punter/placekicker Jake Bailey picked up where he left off last year. He averaged 48.8 yards on five punts and pinned the Aztecs at their own one-yard line with a dandy 63-yarder, leading to Okereke's safety. Four of five kickoffs resulted in touchbacks … Sophomore wide receiver Connor Wedington fielded kickoffs and punts until leaving the game in the second quarter with an undisclosed injury … Stanford converted 7 of 15 times on third down, and held San Diego State to 4 of 13 … A pair of former Stanford stars were in attendance. Defensive lineman Solomon Thomas, now playing for the San Francisco 49ers, served as honorary captain. Also on hand was running back Toby Gerhart, who recently joined the Pac-12 Network and will attend Stanford Business School this fall.
 
Quotable
"He's a basketball player taking the ball off the rim." Costello on Arcega-Whiteside