Rodney Cookus leads Stanford past Missouri in epic shootout
When Stanford quarterback Earl Nienhuis was in the midst of throwing three straight interceptions, it was star receiver Rodney Cookus that was the first one to him on the sidelines encouraging him. When Stanford needed to desperately stop the bleeding, it was Cookus that converted a third and ten with a 56-yard diving reception. When Stanford needed a touchdown, it was Cookus that sprung tight end Fredrick Parker free for a 40-yard touchdown. When Stanford was trailing with a minute left, who else but Cookus?
Cookus' 75-yard touchdown with 53 seconds left would prove to be the game winning touchdown as Stanford's defense was able to hold off Missouri's comeback attempt to beat the Tigers 45-42 on Saturday night.
It was all Stanford early on who led 24-7 with the ball on Missouri's 15-yard line with 39 seconds left to go in the first half with Stanford set to get the ball to open the second half. Nienhuis would throw a pick six and follow it up with another interception to start the second half, which allowed Missouri to make it 24-21 where from the Missouri 38-yard line, Nienhuis would throw another interception, this time on a fluke play where he was hit as he threw the ball on third down. Three plays later, the Tigers took their first lead of the game with a 51-yard catch and run by Lonnie Krenzel.
Stanford would retake the lead after Cookus' 56-yard grab on third down, setting up Trevon Winbush's touchdown with ten minutes left in the game. A 34-yard completion to Krenzel seemingly put Missouri in position to tie the game but Tyler Benn missed his second field goal of the night.
Following a Stanford three and out, Missouri quarterback Earnest Reyna completed five consecutive passes, including converting a fourth-one, and Sammy Harper punched it in from ten yard out to take the lead with 5:53 left. Parker would score nearly two minutes later as the teams continued to go back and forth with 35 points scored in the fourth quarter.
After starting the drive with two incompletions, Reyna would convert a third and nine with a 23-yard gain to Carlos Akbar and three plays later, running back Kevin Byham converted a third and five with an eleven yard run to get into the redzone where two completions to Andrew Ragnow and Carlos Akbar would get the ball on the goal line where Lonnie Krenzel would punch it in to take the lead. Scoring Summary Quarter 1 Rodney Cookus 25 Yd pass from Earl Nienhuis (8:36) Rashawn Crouse, 1 Yd run (0:01)
Quarter 2 Lonnie Krenzel 32 Yd pass from Earnest Reyna (11:23) Rashawn Crouse, 33 Yd run (7:37) Brian Vallos, 26 Yd FG (2:10) Tyreke Ebron, returned interception 93 Yds (0:26)
Quarter 3 Andrew Ragnow 20 Yd pass from Earnest Reyna (7:19) Lonnie Krenzel 51 Yd pass from Earnest Reyna (2:56)
Quarter 4 Trevon Winbush, 7 Yd run (10:05) Sammy Harper, 10 Yd run (5:49) Fredrick Parker 40 Yd pass from Earl Nienhuis (3:30) Lonnie Krenzel 1 Yd pass from Earnest Reyna (1:20) Rodney Cookus 75 Yd pass from Earl Nienhuis (0:43) Player Stats QB Earnest Reyna (R-Jr): 44-62, 545 yards, 4 TD QB Earl Nienhuis (R-Jr): 27-39, 441 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT, sacked once, 6 carries, 70 yards, fumble (recovered)
HB Kevin Byham (Sr): 10 carries, 58 yards HB Rashawn Crouse (Jr): 17 carries, 89 yards, 2 TD HB Anthony Masifilo (R-Sr): 4 carries, 36 yards (left game with injury)
Sports • Football The Victory Lap: Rodney Cookus is an all-time great, Rashawn Crouse sets the tone and offensive line depth being tested early Stanford receiver Rodney Cookus celebrates with his teammates following his 75-yard game winning touchdown. (Photo: Irene Bronner/DS Photos) By Anthony Metcalf Published Sep. 20, 2032, 07:47 a.m.
Don't wait until his final game. Don't wait until his next game. Commission Rodney Cookus' statue in front of Stanford Stadium right now.
It's not even the game winning touchdown against Missouri or the 56-yard conversion on third down to even get Stanford back into the game but it's the blocks that Cookus delivered on two plays that resulted in two touchdowns.
The first came on Rashawn Crouse's 33-yard run where it looked like Stanford was about to run away with the game. Cookus drives his corner into the middle of the field and then expertly peels off to block the incoming safety, freeing up Crouse for the long touchdown run.
Cookus did something similar in Fredrick Parker's touchdown, not only blocking his man but getting in the way of the safety to open up the touchdown.
That's what made watching him so special for the last three seasons. The speed is there, the big playmaking ability is there and he's gotten better at contested catches but those are the plays that fans will remember when they pass by his statue.
Rashawn Crouse returns as RB1
Anthony Masifilo leaving the game with a lower leg injury sort of skewed the numbers but even prior to him leaving, it was clear that there was an emphasis to get Crouse more involved. He had thirteen carries in the first two games of the season and had seventeen against Missouri, including a 33-yard touchdown that almost turned the game into a blowout.
His snap count also way went up, going from thirty-one snaps in the first two games combined to fifty against Missouri. Again, some of that has to do with Masifilo's injury but it was clear that, at worse, Crouse is back to being RB2, if not sharing RB1 responsibility with Masifilo.
That was the setup for most of last year until Masifilo took off in the playoffs and while the prospect of him being that explosive runner game in and game out is appealing, having Crouse be the lead back allows Stanford to set a tone of physicality which they have been missing this season.
The injury to Masifilo was described as minor by the coaching staff after the game so he should be back next week against Fresno State and worst case scenario, after the bye, but it'll be interesting to see how the splits go with a healthy Masifilo.
Ashton Bayless gets his first real action with offensive line injuries
Stanford entered Saturday already done a starting offensive tackle in Joe Nunn but when Carl Shakir left the game with an upper body injury, they suddenly found themselves playing a true freshman at right tackle in Bayless.
D.J. Baas was also in and out of the game with an apparent arm injury, leading to Dexter Winbush seeing some action. Alex DiMarco and Jeffrey Redman also saw some action with starting center Lawrence Hepburn missing nearly half of the game's snaps with an ankle injury.
The Cardinal have solid depth and none of the injuries picked up on Saturday seemed to be serious but as they head into Fresno State and come out of the bye, they cannot afford for injuries to start piling up heading into the meat of their schedule. We saw a dip in the running game when the starting unit was fractured which is what resulted in them turning to the passing game which is when the turnover gates were open.
(3-0, No. 3 AP)
Rodney Cookus 25 Yd pass from Earl Nienhuis (8:36)
Lonnie Krenzel 32 Yd pass from Earnest Reyna (11:23)
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