STANFORD, Calif. -- Stanford considers Saturday's game with
Washington State a must-win situation.
Second-year coach Walt Harris' team is a surprising 0-3, having
been outscored 120-53 in losses to Oregon, San Jose State and Navy.
The Cardinal were embarrassed by their nearby neighbors, the
Spartans, then were routed 37-9 by the Midshipmen last Saturday in
the debut of the school's sparkling stadium, which underwent a $90
million offseason facelift.
Stanford must try to regroup Saturday against Washington State
(2-1), which has a three-game winning streak on The Farm and hasn't
lost on the road to the Cardinal since Oct. 18, 2003.
"We had very high expectations," Stanford right guard Jon
Cochran said. "We have to win. Bottom line is to get our energy
back up, we have to win this weekend. This is going to be a crucial
game for our season."
A season that began with hopes for a postseason berth.
Instead, Stanford got more bad news on the injury front this
week with the loss of receiver Evan Moore, who has a stress
fracture in his right foot and could be sidelined up to four weeks.
The Cardinal offense already was without two key players because
of injury. Last Friday, two-year starting fullback Nick Frank
announced that his football career was over after being diagnosed
with a narrowing of a vertebra in his spine. The Cardinal are also
playing without receiver Mark Bradford, who could miss the rest of
the season with torn ligaments in his right foot sustained early in
the team's 35-34 loss to San Jose State on Sept. 9.
Quarterback Trent Edwards will be throwing to a pair of freshmen
this week: Richard Sherman and Austin Yancy.
Cougars coach Bill Doba is counting on defensive lineman Ropati
Pitoitua to plug the middle and make things difficult for the
mobile Edwards, who has 24 carries for 112 yards this season but
also has been sacked five times.
The Cardinal committed three turnovers last week.
Washington State has lost the last two meetings, both in
Pullman.
"We win when we go there and hopefully that holds true," Doba
said. "And they win when they come here. Hopefully, that doesn't
hold true in the coming years."
"In watching last year's tape, after our game, they just played
a great game against us. Edwards was on. They didn't drop passes
and they played very well."
This will be the Pac-10 opener for the Cougars, who will have
played their first four games in different stadiums after coming
from behind in the final minute for the first time in two years to
beat Baylor 17-15 last weekend in the Seattle Seahawks' Qwest
Field.
For Stanford, this week marks another new beginning of sorts.
"We have a fresh start," said linebacker Michael Okwo, who
played in his first game last week after sitting out with a broken
right thumb that was injured during preseason camp. "We don't have
the swing of momentum we hoped we'd have."