Three Plays Stanford Wishes They Had Back In Sacramento State Loss

Stanford had multiple opportunities against Sacramento State to win the game

Troy Taylor's welcoming to Stanford was not the home debut showing he would have hoped for. 

With his former program Sacramento State on the schedule, Taylor was hoping his new squad could build some confidence in what will be a major rebuilding year for them. While they ended up losing the game in heartbreaking fashion, there were three plays that truly stand out as ones that had they gone a different way, Stanford would have had a chance to be on the right end of the 30-23 score.

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Obviously, this is a shoulda, coulda, woulda situation, but it just goes to show how much untimely mistakes or blunders can hurt a team. There are probably more than three, but these three are the ones that stood out the most.

So, here are three plays that had they gone the other way, maybe Stanford might have won that game. 

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Ashton Daniels' interception after the onside kick 

Stanford had just gone up 14-3 following a beautiful deep pass from Daniels to Elic Ayomanor, and to essentially put a dagger through the hearts of Sac State Stanford went with a surprise onside kick. After recovering the kick, Stanford was driving down the field and got into the red zone. Unfortunately, thanks to the pressure given up by the offensive line, Daniels panicked and forced a throw into the end zone that was deflected and picked off. 

This gave Sacramento State another chance at life which they took advantage of by scoring a touchdown to cut the lead to 14-10. It also was the last time that Stanford actually got close to scoring a touchdown the rest of the way on offense, as they were held to just three field goals the rest of the game. 

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Justin Lamson missing Bryce Farrell in the 3rd quarter

After Lamson came in as relief for Daniels, he showcased an ability to push the ball down the field and create some plays with his legs. However, with the game tied at 17, Lamson launched a throw-down field to a streaking and wide-open Bryce Farrell who likely would have run it in for a touchdown but overthrew him by about three yards. The very next play, the offensive line allowed some major pressure that saw Lamson spin out of a sack and force a throw to Mudia Reuben, which got picked off. The defense held the Hornets to a field goal, but if Lamson hit Farrell the Cardinal would have had more insurance and momentum.

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Collin Wright's pick-six being overturned 

To start the fourth quarter, Collin Wright picked off Kaiden Bennet and returned it for a touchdown, which set Stanford to go up 27-20. The crowd was as loud as it's been in the past couple of years, and a sense of relief swept through the stadium. That appeared to be a possible game-sealing play after Sacramento State had charged back, but unfortunately for Wright when he caught it his knee hit the ground. So, the touchdown was called back, but the offense did have a chance to score.

As they had been all second half, the offensive line struggled to protect Lamson, and the drive ended in a field goal rather than a touchdown. Sacramento State answered with a field goal on their drive to tie, but had Wright somehow managed to not hit his knee on the ground, who knows what would have happened?