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Gerhart goes wild in Cardinal blowout
By Jeremy Kahn November 1, 2008 |
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STANFORD-This will definitely be a day that sophomore Toby Gerhart will never soon forget. The Stanford Cardinal running back scored four touchdown, as the Cardinal simply demolished the Washington State Cougars 58-0 before an announced crowd of 26,662 at Stanford Stadium. “Very impressed,” said Jim Harbaugh. Gerhart became the fifth different player to score at least four touchdowns in the same game. “We were ready to play,” said Gerhart. Kerry Carter did it on two different occasions for the Cardinal under former head coach Tyrone Willingham in the early part of this decade. Darrin Nelson, who works in the Stanford Athletic Department was the first player to score four touchdowns in a game, as he accomplished the feat against the Washington Huskies at Husky Stadium on October 31, 1981. Tommy Vardell joined the four touchdown club on October 6, 1990, as he turned the trick in a Cardinal 36-31 victory over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Notre Dame Stadium. Glyn Milburn scored four touchdowns against the Oregon State Beavers at Stanford Stadium on October 26, 1991, as the Cardinal defeated the Beavers by the final score of 40-10. Carter became the next member of the elusive group in 2000, as he scored four touchdowns against the USC Trojans. Just one year later, Carter did it again, as he scored four touchdowns in a 49-42 victory over the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium. On the afternoon, Gerhart carried the ball 22 times for 137 yards and those four touchdowns, as the Cardinal picked up the first shutout in conference play since the Cardinal shutout the Oregon Ducks at Autzen Stadium 17-0 on November 16, 1974. The defense came up huge in the game, as the Cougars gained just 225 yards in total offense on the afternoon. “The difference in the game early was the turnovers. We were getting them and we weren’t turning it over. Washington State was moving the ball and gaining yards. Our defense came up with the turnovers at the opportune time. Otherwise, it would have been a closer half,” said Harbaugh. This was also the biggest shutout by a Cardinal team since they defeated the Idaho Vandals 63-0 in 1949. Anthony Kimble scored on a 62-yard run just one play after a Reid Forrest punt that was returned 13 yards by Doug Baldwin. With the final three games of the season on the horizon against the top three teams in the conference, the Cardinal need one more to be bowl eligible for the first time since the 2001 season. “The next quarter is big for us,” said Alex Fletcher. To make matter even worse than they already were, there was a downpour on the field nearly the entire game. “The conditions here were the worst we’ve played in this year… I feel like I weight 270 pounds. It rained consistently and it turned into a mud bowl. Every play is just muddier, but it was a lot of to play in. When it rains you need to run more because the ball is wet and the passing is a little bit more risky, and that worked to our advantage. The weather was just really nasty, but it was fun to play in,” said Gerhart. By giving 58 points to the Cardinal, the Cougars broke the PAC-10 record for most points allowed in conference play. The Cougars have now given a whopping 350 points, breaking the record of the 1981 Oregon State Beavers, who gave up 330 points in conference play. Bo McNally picked up his third interception of the season, and the second in as many games. In his career, McNally has picked seven interceptions, McNally also recovered a fumble in the second quarter. Three different Cardinal players scored the first collegiate touchdowns against the Cougars. Alex Loukas scored on a 17-yard touchdown run, Josh Catron was on the receiving end of a five-yard touchdown pass from Tavita Pritchard and Delano Howell scored on a one-yard run with 7:27 remaining in the game. |
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