STANFORD, Calif. – The Stanford football program doesn't make excuses and measures success by its own standard.
That said, coaches and players are human. Just minutes into Thursday night's game against UCLA, senior Jet Toner booted a 42-yard field goal to give the Cardinal a 3-0 lead. On the ensuing kickoff, he was leveled and lost for the evening.
Starting 2019 with good depth, Stanford has been hard-hit by injuries and faced UCLA with three true freshmen on the offensive line and a third-string quarterback making his first college start.
"We were probably the healthiest team in America for about 10 years," Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football David Shaw said after the 34-16 setback to the Bruins. "Sometimes the pendulum swings back the other way. It's just football."
Stanford (3-4, 2-3 Pac-12) saw its two-game winning streak end. After losing 11 consecutive meetings to the Cardinal, UCLA (2-5, 2-2) was hardly sympathetic.
Following a nice opening series, sophomore quarterback Jack West and the offense struggled against the energized Bruins, who sacked him seven times.
"They threw a lot of different games at us and were moving around right before the snap, trying to trick us a little bit," junior tight end Colby Parkinson said. "We just didn't execute."
Coming off a bye week and the team's best performance of the season against Washington, many expected the positive momentum to carry over, but it didn't happen. It was another reminder that Pac-12 wins don't come easy.
"It's never great when you take a step back," said fifth-year senior outside linebacker Casey Toohill, who produced eight tackles and three quarterback hurries. "We just didn't perform. I think that's a good lesson for us and something we've really got to build off because this is the Pac-12. No team is going to lay down for us because we had a good game last week."
Trial under fire: West's last start came in 2016 at Saraland High in Alabama. With K.J. Costello and Davis Mills unable to play, he welcomed the challenge.
"Every time I get a rep in practice, I'm doing it as if I'm the guy," said West, who completed 15-of-32 passes for 143 yards. "This week happened to be that week."
While West took many snaps in spring practice and fall camp, it's not the same as live action.
"There's nothing like game experience," he said. "It's something to learn from and I will. I'll get better from it."
Once UCLA negated the Cardinal running game, West knew the defense would pin its ears back.
"It's something we prepare for and I feel like we had a good plan," said West. "We weren't surprised, we just didn't execute. At the end of the day, that's what we have to do to win the ballgame."
Parkinson praised his poise and toughness.
"I'm proud of him," Parkinson said. "He stepped up into a big role and did the best job he could. He's a good player and he's going to grow a lot from this and get better this coming week."
Makin'. Plays.
— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) October 18, 2019
??: @brycen_tremayne #GoStanfordpic.twitter.com/t1vcdjV6A5
Momentum changer: True freshman safety Spencer Jorgensen provided a big lift for the Cardinal by blocking a punt late in the first quarter. Sophomore wide receiver Brycen Tremayne alertly recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.
"All credit goes to coach (Pete) Alamar and the boys up front," said Jorgensen, who served a two-year LDS mission in Thailand and had never blocked a punt at any level. "We watched a lot of film this week and we knew their looks. We were able to bust through, threw our hands up and were able to get a piece of it."
Alamar, now in his eighth season as special teams coordinator and 35th overall, works tirelessly to find ways to score and sway field position. Since 2013, his units have blocked 11 kicks (five punts, three field goals and three extra points).
Rising force: Sophomore defensive end Thomas Booker had another strong showing. He and senior inside linebacker Curtis Robinson shared team tackling honors with nine. Booker also had six quarterback pressures and 1.5 tackles for loss.
"Thomas Booker has grown up in front of our eyes," Shaw said. "He's becoming that play-making defensive end that we know he can be."
Booker and the defense kept the Cardinal in the game most of the way but allowed several big plays and had trouble containing shifty UCLA quarterback Dorian Thompson-Johnson, who missed the previous game with an injury. He threw for 192 and two touchdowns and ran for 66 yards and another score.
"Overall, it just wasn't the effort we needed," said Booker. "It's one of those things where you look at the film, get yourselves right, go back to the drawing board and keep after it. At the end of the day, there's more football to play."
Stepping up: For the first time in his college career, freshman punter Ryan Sanborn also handled kicking duties after the loss of Toner. Sanborn, who did both at Francis W. Parker School in San Diego and was ranked the nation's second-best kicker by PrepStar, averaged 40.5 yards on eight punts, converted his only extra point attempt, and kicked off three times.
"Kudos to a young freshman for stepping up and making big plays for us," Shaw said.
New look: For only the 11th time in program history, the Cardinal wore all-black uniforms and black helmets against UCLA. Stanford is now 8-3 wearing black.
Reunion Homecoming: Stanford concludes its three-game homestand on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. against Arizona (4-3, 2-2 Pac-12). In addition to being Reunion Homecoming, members of the 1999 Pac-10 Champion Stanford football team will be recognized.
Scouting the Wildcats: Arizona lost at USC on Saturday night, 41-14. Senior quarterback Khalil Tate passed for only 47 yards and was sacked six times before being replaced in the third quarter by touted 6-foot-6 true freshman Grant Gunnell from Texas. He threw two scoring passes to junior wide receiver Brian Casteel.
The athletic Tate will start against the Cardinal.
Stanford leads the all-time series against the Wildcats, 16-14, and has won five-straight, the last a 34-10 victory in Tucson in 2016.
The teams have faced three common opponents in 2019. Arizona lost to Washington, 51-27; beat UCLA, 20-17; and lost to USC. Stanford lost to USC, 45-20; beat Washington, 23-13; and lost to UCLA.
Extra points … The last time Stanford used three different starters at quarterback in the same season was in 1974 (Guy Benjamin, Mike Cordova and Jerry Waldvogel) … Shaw is 9-1 against UCLA and 22-6 against Cal, USC and UCLA … Stanford is tied for first in the Pac-12 in sacks with 14 and ranks second in kickoff returns (26.4) … Josh Mauro '13, a former standout defensive end for the Cardinal, served as honorary captain. He signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent in 2014 and currently plays for the Oakland Raiders … Jim Plunkett, who garnered the school's only Heisman Trophy in 1970, was recognized as part of the 125-year celebration of Stanford Football. Plunkett brought his trophy to the game and signed autographs … At halftime, Stanford received the 2018-19 Learfield Sports Directors' Cup as the top collegiate athletic program in the country. The Cardinal has won the award for 25 consecutive years.
Quotable
"It's tough sometimes, the swings of the season, doing one thing one week and not the next. It's our job to weather the storms and face adversity." – Thomas Booker