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2:18 PM: Picazo takes two kneels and that’s the ball game. Stanford shuts out Colorado 48-0, its first shutout win since Nov. 10, 2010. Thanks for joining us everyone. Big decision for Shaw to make this week: will Kevin Hogan replace Josh Nunes at starting quarterback against Oregon State next Saturday?
2:16 PM: 1:40 left in the game and counting…
2:14 PM: Robbie Picazo in at quarterback for Stanford now. Fourth quarterback who’s taken the field for the Cardinal.
2:12 PM: Remound Wright and Jackson Cummings getting some carries now. Stanford making use of its impressive depth at the halfback position.
2:06 PM: With 5:19 left in the fourth, look for the Cardinal to eat up the clock with its high-powered running game and put this one in the books.
2:05 PM: Outside linebacker Kevin Anderson forces the fumble as Colorado loses 24 yards on the play. Buffs can’t convert a third-and-37 and Stanford will the ball back at its own 14-yard line.
2:01 PM: Hold off on that thought for now…Colorado has just crossed midfield for the first time today. Unfamiliar territory for the Buffs.
2:00 PM: Stanford less than 8 minutes away from getting its first shutout since Nov. 20, 2010 against Oregon State.
1:55 PM: Nottingham throws the ball away to avoid the sack and that’ll bring up Williamson. Williamson’s 35-yard field goal is GOOD and Stanford leads Colorado 48-0 with 9:52 left in the game.
1:52 PM: Nottingham’s pass intended for an open Kodi Whitfield was too low. Stanford goes three-and-out, but Colorado loses the fumble during the punt return and the Cardinal gets the ball back at the Buffs 22-yard line. Fumble was forced by Ronnie Harris and recovered by Joe Hemschoot.
1:50 PM: Hogan finally comes out of the game, but instead of Josh Nunes replacing him, it’s Brett Nottingham.
1:47 PM: Buffs forced to punt it away for the tenth time and Stanford will get the ball back at its own 21-yard line with 13:17 left in the fourth quarter.
1:45 PM: Half of Colorado’s four first downs today have come from defensive penalties.
1:38 PM: With 2:08 left in the third quarter, Colorado gets its third first down of the game with a 14-yard completion from third-string quarterback Connor Wood to Nick Kasa. That’s the Buffs’ longest play of the game.
1:37 PM: Hogan delivers an accurate pass to Montgomery, but the sophomore wide receiver drops it. Some things never change, no matter who’s in at quarterback.
1:36 PM: Patrick Skov in at fullback for Stanford. Gains four yards on the carry.
1:34 PM: Defensive end Josh Mauro invites himself to the Party in the Backfield. Six sacks by six different Cardinal players today.
1:33 PM: Shaw also raved about Carter’s playmaking abilities. It’s easy to see why after the big hit he delivered on Colorado wideout Vincent Hobbs, forcing him to lose a yard on the play.
1:32 PM: Coach Shaw holds his quarterbacks to a minimum completion percentage of 60 percent. Today, Hogan has completed 80 percent of his passes.
1:28 PM: Hogan throws to Toilolo’s back shoulder and the 6-foot-8 tight end comes down with it for the 19-yard touchdown. Second passing touchdown for Hogan today. Williamson’s PAT is GOOD and the Cardinal is blowing out the Buffs 45-0 with 5:08 left in the third quarter.
1:25 PM: Shaw seems to be resting Taylor now, as Anthony Wilkerson is taking the bulk of the carries on this drive.
1:24 PM: Ty Montgomery takes Hogan’s screen pass five yards for the first down, courtesy of Drew Terrell’s well-thrown block. It’s the first reception for the game for Montgomery, who sat out the last two games with an injury.
1:21 PM: Hogan stays in the game.
1:20 PM: Another three-and-out for the Buffs. Safety Ed Reynolds flew across the field to break up Hirschman’s deep pass down the right sideline.
1:17 PM: All six of Williamson’s kickoffs today have resulted in touchbacks. In terms of leg strength, he’s as good as any kicker in the country.
1:15 PM: Williamson nails the 31-yard field goal and Stanford now leads Colorado 38-0 with 10:28 left in the third quarter.
1:13 PM: Wouldn’t be shocked if Stanford’s line false started on on purpose there. Jordan Williamson has drilled 40-yard field goal without a problem, but has had trouble with the chip shots this year.
1:04 PM: Stanford offense moved the ball efficiently on its first drive of the second half, but stalls inside the 10-yard line following a delay of game penalty on third-and-goal. Hogan didn’t see the play clock running down. The Cardinal settles for the field goal attempt.
1:03 PM: Gutsy 27-yard rush by Hogan moves the Cardinal forward to the Colorado 8-yard line.
1:02 PM: Hogan taking whatever the Buffalo defense is giving him, finding Ertz underneath and the redshirt junior tight end breaks a tackle to pick up nine yards and a first down.
12:59 PM: The third quarter is now underway. Stanford will get the ball at its own 37-yard line to start the second half.
12:54 PM: Big Saturday for college football. No. 4 Oregon looks to keep its national title aspirations alive when it plays against No. 17 USC at the Coliseum in three hours. No. 1 Alabama plays No. 5 LSU in Death Valley tonight, with kickoff at 5:00 p.m. PT. Conference championship and BCS implications galore.
12:46 PM: First first-half shutout for the Cardinal since Nov. 26, 2011 vs. Notre Dame. Stanford’s defense somehow only getting stronger and better with each game.
12:45 PM: The Cardinal leads the nation in tackles for loss and is third in sacks. Its run defense is second only behind Alabama. You know you’re doing something right when the only defense ranked ahead of you is the Crimson Tide.
12:45 PM: Some first half stats: Hogan – 11-of-15 passing for 111 yards and a touchdown. Nunes – 3-of-5 passing for 23 yards. Stepfan Taylor – 10 carries for 43 yards and two touchdowns.The Cardinal ran 40 plays and amassed 249 yards in the first half. Stanford’s stout defense has limited Colorado to 20 total yards on offense, including -3 rushing yards, but the Buffs have out-possessed Stanford by over 14 minutes.
12:37 PM: Four drives with Hogan at the helm lead to four touchdowns. All in the first half. Nunes’ starting role in jeopardy.
12:34 PM: Taylor punches it in from two yards out for his second rushing touchdown of the game. Williamson’s PAT is GOOD. Stanford leads Colorado 35-0 with eight seconds left in the first half.
12:33 PM: What a haul by Patterson to convert the third down. Hogan delivered that pass with complete confidence. Hogan runs up to the line of scrimmage and spikes the ball, bringing up second-and-goal at the Colorado 2-yard line with 12 seconds left in the second quarter.
12:32 PM: First mistake made by Hogan today. Secondary coverage was gerat, so he should’ve just thrown the ball away instead of stepping up in the pocket to get sacked. Third-and-14 at the Colorado 22 with 24 seconds left in the first half.
12:31 PM: Hogan’s pass was a little low and behind for Toilolo, but makes up for it on the next play with a 11-yard completion to Ertz.
12:26 PM: Shayne Skov gives Stanford’s fifth sack today and the Cardinal is on pace to break its school record of ten sacks set just last weekend.
12:25 PM: Hogan has already gotten 21 snaps. Will he stay in there on the next drive and/or in the second half?
12:22 PM: Hogan finds a wide open Ertz in the end zone off the bootleg. Fools everyone on the Buffs defense. Williamson’s PAT is GOOD and Stanford leads Colorado 28-0 with 3:50 left in the first half.
12:18 PM: Great throw-and-catch from Hogan to Toilolo. 32-yard completion down to the Colorado 11-yard line.
12:17 PM: At 6-foot-4, 224 pounds, Hogan’s a big quarterback to bring down. It showed on that play, as Hogan managed to get the ball off to Stepfan Taylor with a defender all over him.
12:16 PM: Hogan can’t find any open receivers, so takes the ball himself for a 20-yard scramble to convert the third down. That’s the added dimension Shaw was talking about. Stanford at the the Colorado 40-yard line now.
12:15 PM: Hogan still in at quarterback.
12:13 PM: Another three-and-out by the Buffs offense, its third on the day. James Vaughters tipped the pass on third down. Colorado has only had two first downs, with one of them coming on a defensive penalty.
12:12 PM: That was Hogan’s 12th snap for the game. You have to wonder if Shaw is going to leave him in longer than the 12-20 snaps that he was supposed to get.
12:06 PM: Remound Wright scores his first rushing touchdown of his career. Williamson’s PAT is GOOD and Stanford extends its lead over Colorado 21-0 with 8:26 left in the first half.
12:05 PM: Now it’s Taylor who gets stuffed by a great defensive effort from the Buffs. 3rd-and-goal inside the one. This is Notre Dame all over again. What will Shaw dial up here?
12:04 PM: Hogan just short of the end zone on the keeper. 2nd-and-goal at the Buffs 1-yard line.
12:01 PM: Jamal-Rashad Patterson takes the reverse handoff 42 ball all the way down to the Colorado 2-yard line. That’s the second time we’ve seen Patterson on the reverse this year and it’s not hard to see why Shaw wanted to come back to that play. Patterson’s open-field speed is unreal.
12:00 PM: Back-to-back completions by Hogan to Zach Ertz and Hewitt gives Stanford two first downs in a row. It’s not all because of Hogan, but the Cardinal offense just seems to be more alive when he’s in at quarterback.
11:58 PM: Looks like Hogan will stay in at quarterback for this drive. Apparently Colorado has a special defensive set against Hogan called the “Tebow package.”
11:54 PM: Webb throws into double coverage. Three-and-out for the Buffs, and Stanford will get the ball back at its own 30-yard line.
11:49 PM: No better way for Taylor to bounce back after being held to 58 yards on the ground by Wazzu last weekend. He exploded through that hole as soon as it was open. Great block thrown in there by Hewitt, also.
11:46 PM: Hogan’s 7-yard pass to Ryan Hewitt sets up Stepfan Taylor’s 26-yard rushing touchdown. Williamson’s PAT is GOOD and the Cardinal leads the Buffaloes 14-0 with 14:30 left in the second quarter.
11:45 PM: Hogan comes into the game for the first time, gains seven yards on the option keeper to end the first quarter. That’s Stanford’s second longest play on offense today.
11:42 PM: AJ Tarpley recovers the fumble, forced by true freshman cornerback Alex Carter. As expected, Cardinal defense playing lights out right now and completely demoralizing an inefficient Buffalo offense.
11:36 PM: Poor, poor pass from Nunes intended for Drew Terrell. Should’ve been picked off. Taylor’s subsequent halfback draw goes no where, bringing up third third-and-20. Can Kevin Hogan come into the game now?
11:35 PM: Stanford fans can breathe a sigh of relief as Nunes’ completion to Levin Toilolo saves the Cardinal from having back-to-back three-and-outs against the worst defense in the Pac-12.
11:30 PM: Another great stand by the Stanford defense, with inside linebacker Jarek Lancaster getting his second sack of the season. Looks like Nunes is coming out as the quarterback for the second drive. Show us something, offense…
11:28 PM: The defensive holding penalty called on Wayne Lyons gives the Buffaloes new life. Stanford’s offense has only ran three plays so far with 4:33 left in the first quarter.
11:24 PM: Following Webb’s interception, Hirschmann comes in under center.
11:20 PM: Great heads-up play by Reynolds, sitting back there patiently and then making Webb pay for his errant throw. That’s Reynold’s fifth interception and third pick six of the season.
11:19 PM: Ed Reynolds reads the pass perfectly and returns Webb’s pass 48 yards for a pick six. Jordan Williamson’s PAT is GOOD, and Stanford takes a 7-0 lead over Colorado with 8:18 left in the first quarter.
11:12 PM: Henry “Goose” Anderson gets the the Cardinal’s second sack of the day. Stanford had a school-record ten sacks against Washington State last weekend. Given the way the Colorado offensive line has been playing so far, the Cardinal could realistically top that performance.
11:11 PM: Stanford’s first drive ends in a three-and-out on three straight pass plays. Certainly not the way the Cardinal wanted to start out today’s game.
11:07 PM: Chase Thomas records his fourth sack on the season. Buffalo offense goes three-and-out on its first drive of the game.
11:06 PM: Looks like Colorado quarterback Jordan Webb will keep his starting job for this game. Webb was pulled out of the game and replaced by Nick Hirschman in Colorado’s embarrassing 70-14 loss to Oregon last weekend.
11:05 PM: The big story this week was head coach David Shaw announcing that redshirt freshman Kevin Hogan would be getting 12-20 snaps. Starting quarterback Josh Nunes voiced no complaints about sharing more snaps with Hogan. Let’s see how that change plays out today.
11:05 PM: Colorado won the toss and has elected to receive.
10:33 PM: Welcome to The Daily’s liveblog of today’s game between No. 14 Stanford and Colorado in Boulder. Thanks for joining us everyone. We’re less than half an hour away from kickoff.