April 9, 2011
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Quarterback Andrew Luck completed 16 of 22 passes for 165 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Cardinal to a 42-3 victory over the White in Stanford's annual spring game played on Saturday before an estimated crowd of 6,800 at San Francisco's Kezar Stadium.
Zach Ertz was the recipient of all three of Luck's touchdown passes, as the tight end hauled in a total of six catches for 64 yards on the afternoon.
Tight end/fullback Ryan Hewitt caught four passes for 61 yards, while sophomore running back Anthony Wilkerson rushed for 65 yards on six carries.
Junior running back Stepfan Taylor, Stanford's leading rusher from a year ago, had 44 yards on seven carries.
The Cardinal opened the scoring at the 6:10 mark of the first quarter, as Luck found Ertz in the back of the end zone for a three yard TD pass.
The White scored their only points of the afternoon on its first possession, as Eric Whitaker converted a 38 yard field goal to end the first quarter. The drive was highlighted by a 28 yard pass play from Robbie Picazo to tight end Davis Dudchock.
The Cardinal then scored 35 unanswered points behind the passing of Luck and Josh Nunes, who is battling Picazo for the back up quarterback position.
Taylor's two yard touchdown run increased the Cardinal's lead to 14-3 at the 8:03 mark of the second quarter. Wilkerson broke off his longest run of the day on the drive with a 31-yard burst.
Luck and Ertz connected for a second time at the 4:17 mark of the second quarter for a 12 yard touchdown pass that gave the Cardinal a 21-3 lead at intermission.
The Cardinal increased its lead to 28-3 when Luck hooked up with Ertz for a third touchdown pass, a 12 yarder, with 6:14 left in the third period.
A 20-yard touchdown run by Wilkerson boosted the Cardinal lead to 35-3, while a Nunes' 18 yard touchdown pass to Griff Whalen as time expired closed out the scoring.
Nunes finished the game completing 12 of 19 passes for 180 yards and one touchdown.
The Cardinal rolled up 469 yards in total offense. Nine different receivers caught passes for the Cardinal.
Picazo completed 6 of 12 passes for 66 yards for the White team while redshirt freshman running back Ricky Seale added 52 yards on seven carries.
"It was a good way to close spring ball," said Luck. "We lost a lot of key players and leaders off last year's team, but we've seen a lot of younger players step up to the challenge."
Notables
Head women's basketball coach Tara VanDerveer, who was recently selected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, served as honorary captain and participated in the pre-game coin toss...some members of last year's senior class, including Chase Beeler, Doug Baldwin, Richard Sherman, Austin Yancy, Nate Whitaker and James McGillicuddy, were also honored...the game was streamed live on ESPN3.com with David Flemming and former Oregon head coach Mike Bellotti calling the action.