Stanford offense sputters in 27-3 loss at BYU

Stanford s passing battle has continued to sputter in the first season under general manager Andrew Luck The Cardinal didn t get inside the BYU until the fourth quarter in a - loss Saturday night in Provo Utah After throwing for yards and an interception in a season-opening - loss at Hawaii redshirt senior Ben Gulbranson was of passing for yards and committed three turnovers two interceptions and a fumble against the Cougars Stanford - managed just yards of offense in all It was just the third time since the Cardinal failed to amount a touchdown Two years ago they lost - against Oregon and lost - in the opener against Northwestern Stanford interim head coach Frank Reich disclosed he never considered making a change at quarterback during the loss No we did not talk about any switch Reich explained Listen I m not going to make any quick judgment on this I ve been around too long to understand that quarterback play is the byproduct of a lot of things and we need the protection to be better We need to coach better Yeah we need to make a scant throws as well But we need to go back and look at the tape On eight first-half drives Stanford gained just yards turned the ball over twice inside its and allowed a safety on a completed pass Gulbranson overthrew receiver Myles Libman on a short passing pattern and the ensuing interception was returned to the Stanford He then was sacked when right tackle Khalil House was beaten cleanly by an edge rusher and lost a fumble at the Stanford Later in the quarter Gulbranson completed a pass to receiver Marcus Brown who was tackled in his end zone Still interim coach Frank Reich stuck with Gulbranson who transferred from Oregon State after spring practice for the entire tournament The Cardinal defense held the Cougars - to field goals after the first-half turnovers and only trailed - at halftime but BYU opened the second half with a touchdown and cruised to conquest Emmet Kenney s -yard field goal with remaining prevented the shutout True freshman Bear Bachmeier who committed to Stanford before transferring to BYU after spring practice was of for yards Older brother Tiger Bachmeier who spent his first two seasons as Stanford had a -yard punt return for the Cougars