What Went Wrong For Stanford In Their Loss To UCLA

Stanford was unable to string together back-to-back strong showings

If you were to just look at the final score of Stanford's 42-7 loss against No. 25 UCLA, you would automatically assume the game was out of hand quickly.

Again, while the score may indicate that, Stanford had a few chances to cut the Bruins' lead, but a few things went the other way and they were never able to recover. Something that has been a theme for this Stanford team this season, which is a testament to their youth and also the fact that they don't have the personnel they need. 

Here are a few things that I think went wrong for Stanford in the loss.

Ethan Garbers' Career Day

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Ethan Garbers was named the starter to begin the year for the Bruins, but it didn't take long for them to move on to five-star Dante Moore. The Bruins turned back to him after Moore's turnover issues. He has just one other start against a Power 5 opponent which came in 2021 against Utah, and did well for himself. However, against Stanford, he completed 71.4% of his passes throwing for 240 yards, and also used his legs effectively running for 50. Being that the Bruins are so good at running the ball, they needed to slow down Garbers or whoever else came in at quarterback, and instead he had a career showing. He also earned himself the starting job back, and highlighted how difficult a veteran quarterback can make life for a defense that is as green as they come. 

Untimely Penalties

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It's not to say that if Stanford wasn't so penalized they win the game, but the score would have been much closer if there weren't so many, and who knows what could have happened then? The Cardinal had 10 penalties for 112 yards, and aside from the fact that nearly having more penalty yards than you had yards of offense is never good, it was the timing of them. Stanford had a 2nd-and-2 turned into 2nd-and-12 on their first drive, which they eventually couldn't convert, a pass interference call on what would have been a long third down for UCLA, a big play by Bryce Farrell that saw the ball at the UCLA 18 get called back for pass interference and make it 3rd-and-17 and prevent them from scoring, and a Sam Roush catch that he also took to the 18 that was called back and cost them points. A holding call in the third turned a Tiger Bachmeier first down into 2nd-and-17, which they then couldn't get yards to convert. If they have any chance at keeping up with teams, they cannot hurt themselves as badly as they did Saturday. 

Offensive Line PLay

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Stanford's offensive line this season may be their own biggest enemy on offense. We have seen Ashton Daniels play well when protected, and we know their running backs can scoot and make plays if given the chance. The problem is that the offensive line is nowhere near where it needs to be, and is limiting what Troy Taylor can call. According to PFF, the average grade for their starting five is 58.8, with just two of the five at 65 or above, and one player at 70 or above. When Taylor's offense is clicking it is because he can run the ball at will, and use the run game to complement the passing game. However, this unit makes the run game almost unusable, which we saw against UCLA as they registered just seven rushing attempts from running backs. Daniels also made it known he would prefer to not have to run, and with a line that gives up four sacks that's not an option.