October 26, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

Another special victory

by Rick Eymer

Timi Wusu broke through the Arizona State offensive line and recorded the final of seven Stanford sacks during a 45-35 victory over the Sun Devils in a Pac-10 contest on Saturday.

A small step for Stanford, which had the game well in hand at the time, but a big leap for the Palo Alto High grad who has been dealing with nagging injuries all season.

"I still have little things bothering me but I work through it," Wusu said. "Thank the Lord on game days I feel good enough to go out and hit people."

Wusu saw his first extended action of the year, playing most of the fourth quarter as fellow senior outside linebacker Jon Alston was rested. It was his first sack of the season, and just the second of his career.

"It has been awhile but its always good to be out there," he said.

While his playing time has been limited on defense, it's Wusu's other job that is drawing a lot of attention these days. Wusu is a special teams captain, and the special teams played an important role in Stanford's victory over Arizona State.

"It's funny how special teams play always affects a game," said Stanford senior nose tackle Babatunde Oshinowo, named the Pac-10 Defensive Player of the Week. "If a team blocks a punt, they'll probably win that game. Those are things that help everybody. It's great to put all phases of the game together."

Udeme Udofia and Michael Craven each blocked a punt, and Arizona State punter Chris MacDonald was harried into an illegal kick.

"It makes a difference when your kicking game is a plus," Stanford coach Walt Harris said. "The credit goes to the senior leadership on this team. They've made it happen."

As Pac-10 teams separate themselves in the standings, the Cardinal (3-1, 4-2) finds itself cozy with the haves of the conference as it prepares to take on undefeated and eighth-ranked UCLA on Saturday at Stanford Stadium at 3:30 p.m. with visions of a turnaround season dancing wildly in the players' minds.

"You can believe in the system, but as a player you're thinking 'yeah, that's the way it's supposed to be,' " Stanford quarterback Trent Edwards said. "This is the way it's supposed to feel."

Edwards walked off the field with his head held high and a raised fist pounding the air. For the normally reserved redshirt junior, it was an unlikely display of emotion.

Edwards earned every second of it though as he played his finest football game yet at Stanford. Forget his stats, which were impressive enough with a career-high 303 passing yards and a career-matching three touchdowns, two reaching Mark Bradford (who had a huge game himself with a career best 185 receiving yards and nine catches). It was the way Edwards led his team, overcoming early adversity to march Stanford up and down the field with amazing precision and confidence.

"It was just such a big game, with all the pressure on the offense to score points and keep the defense off the field," Edwards said in explaining his exuberance. "It was a big relief to win a game like that at home. It was real pleasing."

Edwards took a blow to the head after Arizona State tied the game at 7-all late in the first quarter. He staggered a bit, found his feet and started blowing the Sun Devils away with an impressive array of passes that found their "Mark" more often that not.

Stanford scored after that roughing-the-passer penalty, and didn't stop scoring until midway through the third quarter, running up a 45-7 lead before easing up on the throttle.

The Cardinal won three straight conference games for the first time this century, and three straight overall for the first time since ending the 2001 regular season with four victories.

Even in the euphoria of the victory, Stanford players still had time to turn their attention to what lies ahead. After a loud burst of celebration came ringing from the Stanford locker room, the players began to chant "Bru - ins, Bru - ins," before breaking up for the afternoon.

"Once you celebrate it's time to focus on the future," Wusu said. "UCLA is a good team but we showed everybody we're a good team now. Don't go to sleep against Stanford."

Stanford won at home for the first time in three tries this season, and it came during homecoming weekend festivities, with alumni nearly outnumbering students.

What the 31,711 fans in attendance saw was Edwards directing the offense as well as past Stanford quarterbacks such as John Brodie, Jim Plunkett, Todd Husak (a graduate assistant at Stanford this year) and Chris Lewis, who were among those in the stadium on Saturday.

"He's had a lot of tough injuries and missed a lot of games in the past," Stanford coach Walt Harris said. "I've been fortunate this year to get his best stuff, his best mental approach. He's gone through the endurance it takes to get pounded the way he has in the past. Now we're reaping the dividends."

Edwards showed his poise and confidence during an 86-yard, 10-play drive early in the second quarter. The first two plays of that drive resulted in an incomplete pass and a quarterback sack. Edwards then dissected the Arizona State defense with precise passes, finding Gerren Crochet for 24 yards and 17 yards for first downs before finding Bradford with a 32-yard pass that put Stanford up 21-7.

In fact, after throwing that incomplete pass with 10:33 left in the second quarter, Edwards went until the final minute of the third quarter before throwing another incomplete pass.

It was during that span that Stanford took its 38-point lead. Edwards, helped by two blocked punts and an illegal punt call on the Sun Devils, led the Cardinal to three touchdowns (including his second scoring toss to Bradford, a 31-yard play) and a field goal before another pass fell incomplete.

"When you give him some time he can do something good," Harris said.

Anthony Kimble scored twice, on a 15-yard pass in which he caught his own tip, and a two-yard run. Nick Frank also rushed for a score, Michael Sgroi kicked a 20-yard field goal on the last play of the first half, and Michael Silva raced 26 yards with an interception for the final score.

Oshinowo led the team with three sacks, while Silva, Craven, and Julian Jenkins also each had one.

"We've been getting close in a lot of games," Oshinowo said. "We've had a lot of hurries but we kept working and we finally got through. It was fun to work hard and have it all pay off."

NOTES: Stanford did not commit a turnover for the third straight game . . . The six sacks were the most by the Cardinal since they recorded six at Arizona State last year . . . The 31 first-half points were the most since scoring 38 against Washington State in 1999 . . . Brandon Harrison recorded a career-high 11 tackles while Silva had a career best nine tackles.

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