After a competitive first half, Stanford pasted Arizona after the break en route to a 37-10 victory at Arizona Stadium. Here are some telling stats from Saturday’s game that explain the Cardinal victory:
567: The Wildcats allowed 567 total yards to Andrew Luck and Stanford one week after giving up 594 yards to Oklahoma State. Arizona has now allowed 1,161 yards in their last two games. Luck threw for 325 yards connecting on 20 of his 31 attempts.
6-for-12: After completing his first 17 passes for 183 yards and a touchdown, Arizona quarterback Nick Foles connected on only six of his next 12 attempts as the Wildcats threw for only 41 yards in the second half.
153: Stanford running back Stepfan Taylor rushed for a career-high 153 yards. The junior power back posted four touchdowns against the Wildcats last season, and killed them again this season as the Cardinal fan for 242 total yards.
5: Foles was sacked five times for a loss of 40 yards. The offensive line struggled to protect its quarterback and Foles couldn’t get in a rhythm because of it.
2.2: Arizona rushed for only 51 yards on 23 carries, resulting in a porous 2.2 yards per carry average. While Keola Antolin came on in the second half and finished with nine carries for 62 yards, the Wildcats still struggled to maintain a solid balance offensively. The average would be much higher without the -40 yards that came from sacks, however.
2: Kicker Jaime Salazar missed two crucial field goals (36 yards and 45 yards) in the first half. If the Juco transfer connected on both attempts the Wildcats would have entered halftime tied up at 16. Head coach Mike Stoops said senior Alex Zendejas will get a crack at the starting job next week.