Stanford in the NFL: Luck shines again with fellow alum Fleener

Coby Fleener '12 scores one of his many touchdowns here on the Farm. (SIMON WARBY/The Stanford Daily)
Coby Fleener '12 scores one of his many touchdowns here on the Farm. (SIMON WARBY/The Stanford Daily)
By David Cohn
Sept. 29, 2014, 10:15 p.m.

On Sunday afternoon, Andrew Luck ‘12 continued his tremendous start to his 2014 campaign, throwing for 393 yards and four touchdowns in the Colts’ 41-17 rout of the Tennessee Titans in Indianapolis. Luck, who is currently maintaining career high numbers in terms of completion percentage (68.3%) and quarterback rating (103.0), has helped the Colts get back on track after an 0-2 beginning to their season; Indianapolis is now 2-2, one game behind the AFC South-leading Houston.

Coby Fleener '12 scores one of his many touchdowns. (SIMON WARBY/The Stanford Daily)
Coby Fleener ’12 had a two-yard touchdown pass to give the Colts a 34-10 lead over the outmatched Titans. (SIMON WARBY/The Stanford Daily) 

Against the Titans, Luck completed 29-of-41 passes, finding nine different receivers in picking apart the Titans secondary. Luck threw touchdown passes to Reggie Wayne, Dwyane Allen, Ahmad Bradshaw and fellow Stanford alum Coby Fleener ‘12. Fleener, whose two-yard TD reception gave Indy a 34-10 lead, added another 24-yard catch in a relatively quiet afternoon. On the season, Fleener has only eight catches for 83 yards playing behind Allen.

Against the Titans, Luck completed 29-of-41 passes, finding nine different receivers in picking apart the Titans secondary. Luck threw touchdown passes to Reggie Wayne, Dwyane Allen, Ahmad Bradshaw and fellow Stanford alum Coby Fleener ‘12. Fleener, whose two-yard TD reception gave Indy a 34-10 lead, added another 24-yard catch in a relatively quiet afternoon. On the season, Fleener has only eight catches for 83 yards playing behind Allen.  

***  

In a matchup of Stanford football alums, Zach Ertz ‘13 and the Philadelphia Eagles took on the San Francisco 49ers, who feature Jonathan Martin ‘12 and Chase Thomas ‘13. For the second consecutive week, Ertz was held in check, notching only four receptions for 43 yards. After Ertz started the first two weeks of the season on fire, with a combined total of 163 yards and a TD reception, Ertz has only managed a combined 57 yards in Weeks 3 and 4.

On the other side of the ball, Martin and the Niners offensive line struggled mightily against an opportunistic Eagles defense, as Philly sacked Colin Kaepernick four times; the Eagles also managed to hit Kaepernick seven times, with Martin and the O-line failing to contain linebackers Trent Cole (two QB hits and 0.5 sacks) and Connor Barwin (two QB hits and one sack). However, Martin, Thomas and the Niners came out on top by a 26-21 margin.

 ***

Levine Toilolo ‘12 had an interesting afternoon and evening in Minnesota for the Atlanta Falcons, as the tight end was forced to play right tackle on the Falcons offensive line due to a number of injuries in that unit. Though Toilolo is certainly used to blocking after playing in Stanford’s power run-oriented offense, matching up against defensive linemen, such as Sharrif Floyd (6’ 5”, 305 lbs.), Shamar Stephen (6’ 5”, 310 lbs.) and Lindval Joseph (6’ 4”, 323 lbs.) is a tall order; Toilolo, while huge for his position (6’ 8”, 265 lbs.), still gave up at least 40 lbs. to opposing defensive lineman. Toilolo added one catch for 12 yards during a positionally strange game for the second-year tight end.

***

Although Richard Sherman, Doug Baldwin and the Seattle Seahawks had a bye this week, that does not mean that Sherman and Baldwin did not have a busy weekend. Sherman ‘09 MA ‘10 and Baldwin ‘10 were on hand for Stanford’s 20-13 victory over the Washington Huskies in Seattle. Sherman, a two-time First Team All-Pro selection, and Baldwin served as honorary captains for the Cardinal; the two also watched the game from Stanford’s sideline. Finally, Sherman and Baldwin offered their words of encouragement during a pre-game meeting at the team hotel.

Contact David Cohn at dmcohn ‘at’ stanford.edu. 

David Cohn '15 is currently a Sports Desk Editor. He began his tenure at the Daily by serving as a senior staff writer for Stanford football and softball, and then rose to the position of assistant editor of staff development. He served as the Summer Managing Editor of Sports in 2014. David is a Biology major from Poway, California. In addition to his duties at the Daily, he serves as the lead play-by-play football and softball announcer for KZSU Live Stanford Radio 90.1 FM.

Print Article
The Stanford Daily

Login or create an account