Davis
Feb 23, 2008
Stanford: 19
Opponent: 33
Stanford fell to the University of California, Davis Aggies 33-19 in the final home game for the Cardinal. The Aggies opened the scoring when their #6 broke through the Stanford line for a converted try. Stanford quickly closed the gap to 7-5 when left-wing Jonathan Hofius (2008)—brought on for an injured Johnny McCormick (2009)—put in an extraordinary individual effort when he touched down his own chip kick (Brad Bachelder (2008) no good on the conversion). The Cardinal took a lead soon after at 12-7 when the forwards drove across (Bachelder good on conversion). UC-Davis regained the lead before halftime. Their #8 took the ball off the back of an Aggie lineout near the Stanford defensive 22m line and exploited a missed tackle (conversion good) for a 14-12 lead.
Engaged in a close battle through the first half, the Cardinal came out extremely flat to begin the second half and gave up two quick tries to give UC-Davis a large lead. The Aggies first score came when Stanford lost a lineout in their own territory and drove their fly half in for a converted try and a 21-12 lead. With UC-Davis quickly back in Stanford territory, the Cardinal stiffened their defensive line, but the Aggies’ #6 touched down a well-placed grubber and UC-Davis led 26-12. After a long period of back-and-forth play, the Aggies put the game out of reach when missed tackles by Stanford allowed the Davis tighthead prop to score a converted try giving Davis a 33-12 lead.
Despite the large deficit, Stanford continued to play hard and held possession and territory for much of the end of the game. Brennan Corbett scored on a pick-and-go and Bachelder converted the try to bring the score to 33-19. Smelling two possible bonus points from a fourth try and a loss by seven or less, Stanford continued to press their attack and was very unfortunate not to push a try across to leave the final score at 33-19.
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