(0-1, 0-0 Big XII, No. 17 AP)
(1-0, No. 4 AP)CFB 2032 Regular Season, Week 1 - Stanford Stadium, Palo Alto, California
HOU | 0 | 3 | 16 | 0 | 19
STAN | 7 | 3 | 7 | 28 | 45
Stanford pulls away in the fourth quarter against Houston for blowout win in opener
So much of the lead up to Stanford's opener against Houston was about Alex Rowe's return to Palo Alto, where he led the Cardinal to an ACC Championship and a playoff appearance before being replaced by Earl Nienhuis, leading to his transfer to the Cougars.
But it was Paul Garrison who got his revenge on Saturday night, bouncing back from allowing a touchdown that gave Houston a brief two-point lead to breaking up a pass on fourth down in the fourth quarter in the midst of Stanford's 28-0 run to pull away from Houston and win 45-19.
"We've got a lot of respect for [Rowe]," Stanford coach Bubba Mack said after the game, "He's a talented quarterback, tremendous leader so I'm sure he's going to have a great season like he always does."
The defense dominated the first half, sacking Rowe four times and allowing just a field goal at the half. Houston would eventually find their groove, aided by Rowe's scrambling ability, particularly on third down, converting on third and seven with a 26-yard run that set up his rushing touchdown in the third quarter for the first touchdown of the game. He would then find Juwan Post for a 58-yard touchdown to make it 19-17 late in the third quarter with Post beating Garrison, which would prove to be their last points of the game.
The lead would be short lived with true freshman Damien Yeboah returning the ensuing kickoff 49 yards and then a 16-yard run by Anthony Masifilo on third and two got the Cardinal within striking distance where it was Nienhuis' turn to use his legs, scrambling for a fourteen yard touchdown.
Following Garrison's pass breakup on fourth down, Stanford went on an eleven play scoring drive where Nienhuis completed all four of his pass attempts to get Stanford into the redzone where the running game would do the rest, converting a fourth and two and then pushing it in from three yards out by Trevon Winbush to begin the rout.
Scoring Summary
Quarter 1
Colt Mixon 11 Yd pass from Earl Nienhuis (9:15)Quarter 2
Brian Vallos, 46 Yd FG (5:12)
Tyler Locke, 43 Yd FG (0:08)Quarter 3
Tyler Locke, 40 Yd FG (10:29) Trevon Winbush, 1 Yd run (6:16) Alex Rowe, 5 Yd run -- 2pt failed (3:08) Juwan Post 58 Yd pass from Alex Rowe (0:54)Quarter 4
Earl Nienhuis, 15 Yd run (10:43) Trevon Winbush, 3 Yd run (2:22) Trevon Winbush, 3 Yd run (1:55) Rodney Cookus 7 Yd pass from Logan Everett (0:07)Player Stats
QB Alex Rowe (R-Sr): 23-37, 328 yards, TD, sacked 6 times, 14 carries, 16 yards, TD, fumble (lost) QB Earl Nienhuis (R-Jr): 26-36, 241 yards, TD, sacked twice, 6 carries, 34 yards, TD, fumble (lost) QB Logan Everett (R-Soph): 3-5, 23 yards, TD HB Kona Talavou (R-Jr): 3 carries, -3 yards HB Anthony Masifilo (R-Sr): 11 carries, 95 yards HB Trevon Winbush (Soph): 7 carries, 29 yards, 3 TD WR Juwan Post (Sr): 5 receptions, 119 yards, TD WR George Rees (R-Sr): 4 receptions, 63 yards TE Colt Mixon (Soph): 9 receptions, 69 yards, TD WR Alfonso Bramble (Sr): 7 receptions, 56 yards WR Rodney Cookus (R-Sr): 6 receptions, 78 yards, TD WR Shaquille Knight (Sr): 3 receptions, 46 yards LB Stanley Agholor (R-Sr): 11 tackles, 2 TFL EDGE Malik Littlejohn (R-Jr): 6 tackles, 3 TFL, sack LB James Gattis (Sr): 10 tackles, 3 TFL, sack S Benjamin Streeter (R-Jr): 6 tackles, TFL, sack EDGE Percy Cadet (Jr): 5 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 sacks, FF, FR S Angel Bass (R-Jr): 3 tackles, INT
