No. 10 Stanford (5-1, 4-0 Pac-12) brings a five game win streak, over which the team has averaged 45 points per game, into Saturday night’s contest against the Washington Huskies (3-3, 1-2). With efficient play from fifth-year senior quarterback Kevin Hogan and dominating performances from sophomore running back Christian McCaffrey, the Cardinal offense has looked unstoppable as of late. However, the Huskies are one of the few teams in the Pac-12 that have continually proved to be a tough matchup for Stanford. Here’s a look at the last three meetings between these two teams.
2012: No. 8 Stanford falls to unranked Washington
Coming off its upset win over No. 2 USC, Stanford traveled to Washington for its first road game of the season. The Cardinal displayed signs of sluggishness offensively and only managed to score 13 points. Quarterback Josh Nunes, who eventually lost his starting job to Kevin Hogan, was 18-of-37 on the day, throwing for just 170 yards with no touchdowns and 1 interception. Stanford did not fare much better with the run game, as Stepfan Taylor was held to 75 yards on 21 carries. The lone touchdown of the game for the Cardinal came off a pick-6 from Trent Murphy, who returned an interception for 40 yards. The score put the Cardinal up 13-3 late in the third quarter, but Washington would score the final 14 points of the game to secure the 17-13 win. Future NFL running back Bishop Sankey torched the Stanford defense for 144 yards, averaging 7.2 yards per carry.
2013: No. 5 Stanford stays undefeated with win over No. 15 Washington
2013 featured another close battle between Stanford and Washington, but this time the Cardinal prevailed on their home turf. Ty Montgomery returned the opening kickoff 99-yards to give Stanford the early lead. Montgomery also caught a 39-yard touchdown pass from Kevin Hogan with 11 seconds left in the second half, putting Stanford up 17-7. The Huskies, however, overcame the explosive start and battled throughout the game. A back-and-forth third quarter resulted in both teams scoring 14 points, as Stanford answered each Washington touchdown with one of its own. With 2:38 left in the game the Huskies reduced Stanford’s lead to 3 points, but failed to cut into the deficit any further. Stanford preserved the 31-28 victory, despite only mustering 279 total yards of offense.
2014: No. 16 Stanford beats Washington with late fourth-quarter score
The most recent meeting between these two teams played out exactly as how one would expect: a physical, grueling affair featuring minimal offense. The opening drive of the game concluded with a 35-yard field goal from Jordan Williamson, which would prove to be the only score of the first quarter. It looked like Stanford would take a 13-6 lead into halftime, but Huskie linebacker Shaq Thompson returned a Remound Wright fumble 32 yards to tie the game. The score would remain knotted at 13 apiece until the closing minutes of the fourth quarter when, with 4:30 left in the game, Hogan scrambled his way into the end zone from five yards out. The touchdown secured the 20-13 win for Stanford.
Contact Michael Woo at mtwoo ‘at’ stanford.edu.