Cardinal Hot Streak Continues Msu Becomes Stanford’s Fifth Consecutive Victim, 38-0

There stood Tyrone Willingham, soaked from head to toe by the bucket of water poured over his head by jubilant players, with a wide smile on his normally stoic face.

The man charged with turning around the Stanford football program two years ago was relishing the final moments of an improbable 38-0 victory over Michigan State in the Sun Bowl on Tuesday.

The win was the fifth in a row for a Cardinal team that got off to a 2-5 start and appeared headed for a third disappointing season in four years. Somehow, Stanford turned it around to finish 7-5.

Stanford qualified for a second consecutive bowl, rectified last year’s loss to East Carolina in the Liberty Bowl and closed the season by perhaps ushering in a new era on The Farm.

“We couldn’t have scripted it any better,” senior linebacker Brian Batson said. “This is a huge boost for recruiting, obviously. This tells everybody what Stanford is about. It sets the tone for next year and the future.”

The architect was Willingham, who inherited a 3-7-1 team from Bill Walsh and guided the Cardinal to a 14-9-1 record the past two seasons.

The Cardinal completely shut down a Michigan State team averaging 32.5 points per game and recorded its first shutout since a 17-0 win over Oregon in 1974.

“That was so important for us,” said defensive end Kailee Wong, who was named the game’s outstanding lineman after recording 10 tackles, including two sacks. “Our coaches have done such an amazing job with our defense. I hope now people can look at Stanford as a defensive power, not just an offensive power.”

Defense was the Cardinal’s strength all season and kept the team hopeful while the young offense came together. The vaunted Michigan State running attack finished with 68 yards, and the Spartans (6-6) accumulated only 219 yards total offense.

Fittingly, it was the defense that first got the Cardinal on the scoreboard. Free safety Josh Madsen intercepted a Todd Schultz pass at the Stanford 21-yard line and made two nice moves to get to midfield before lateraling to cornerback Leroy Pruitt on the left sideline as a defender closed in on him.

Pruitt ran untouched the remaining 50 yards for a 7-0 Stanford lead with 2:06 remaining in the first quarter.

The play also jump-started Stanford’s offense, which couldn’t convert a fourth-and-1 from the Michigan State 39-yard line on its first possession and saw quarterback Chad Hutchinson intercepted at the Spartans’ 7 on its second possession.

The Cardinal scored four of the next six times it had the ball. All phases of the game plan worked. Stanford finished with season-high totals in yards rushing (257) and total offense (495).

Stanford 38, Michigan St. 0

Stanford 7 14 10 7 38

Michigan St. 0 0 0 0 - 0

Stan-Pruitt 50 interception return (Miller kick) Stan-Ritchie 8 pass from Hutchinson (Miller kick) Stan-Salina 1 run (Miller kick) Stan-FG Miller 24 Stan-Dunn 27 run (Miller kick) Stan-Smith 6 blocked punt return (Miller kick) A-42,741.

Stan MSU First downs 25 13 Rushes-yards 40-207 31-68 Passing 238 151 Comp-Att-Int 23-30-1 13-33-3 Return Yards 173 81 Punts-Avg. 2-52.5 9-41.9 Fumbles-Lost 3-1 3-2 Penalties-Yards 1-10 5-30 Time of Possession 35:42 24:18 Individual statistics RUSHINGStanford, Bookman 11-103, Mitchell 16-74, Dunn 1-27, Walters 1-8, Ritchie 2-4, Salina 2-(minus 1), Hutchinson 7-(minus 8). Michigan State, Goldbourne 12-51, Irvin 9-31, Burke 5-2, Schultz 5-(minus 16).

PASSINGStanford, Hutchinson 22-28-1-226, Husak 1-2-0-12. Michigan State, Schultz 8-21-2-68, Burke 4-7-0-71, Orstein 1-4-1-12, Irvin 0-1-0 0.

RECEIVINGStanford, Ritchie 5-37, Clark 3-30, Manning 3-42, Salina 1-7, Kirwan 3-35, Dunn 4-63, Mitchell 2-(minus 11), Evans 1-26, Walters 1-9. Michigan State, Mason 4-43, Long 2-46, Carter 2-34, Irvin 2-0, Payne 1-12, Gould 1-10, Keur 1-6.