Stanford Moves Up To 16th in AP Poll, 17th in Coaches Poll

The Cardinal keep making their steady trek up the media polls. They’re now third amongst Pac-10 ranked teams, behind only Arizona (14th in the AP, 16th in the Coaches), and Oregon (5th in the AP, 6th in the Coaches).

Stanford Pummels Wake Forest, Improves To 3-0

Palo Alto, CA (Sports Network) – Andrew Luck threw for four touchdowns and rushed for a score, as the 19th-ranked Stanford Cardinal annihilated the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, 68-24.

Luck completed 17-of-23 passes for 207 yards for the Cardinal (3-0), who are off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2001. Luck also rushed for 69 yards on three carries.

Tyler Gaffney carried the ball seven times for 76 yards and two touchdowns. Chris Owusu led the receiving corps with three catches for 65 yards and a pair of scores.

Tanner Price connected on 8-of-18 passes for 76 yards and an interception for the Demon Deacons (2-1), who opened the season with wins over Presbyterian and Duke. Price also carried the ball 16 times for 65 yards and a score.

The score was 7-7 after Owusu’s eight-yard TD catch and Chris Givens’ 22-yard rushing touchdown. Owusu hauled in a 35-yard touchdown pass midway through the first quarter to make it 14-7.

Stanford took control of the contest in the second stanza. Gaffney got things going with a four-yard TD run to make it 21-7 just over a minute into the period.

Just over two minutes later, Usua Amanam caught a 12-yard TD pass. Luck’s 52- yard rushing touchdown and Gaffney’s two-yard touchdown made it 41-7.

Jimmy Newman made a 48-yard field goal before the half to make it a 41-10 contest.

Stepfan Taylor and Doug Baldwin scored touchdowns early in the third quarter for the Cardinal to make it 55-10. Price and Michael Campanaro rushed for touchdowns for Wake Forest to cut the gap to 55-24 after three quarters.

Alex Loukas and Andrew Stutz scored touchdowns in the fourth frame to account for the final margin.

The Deacons and Cardinal met for the first-ever time on the gridiron last season and Wake Forest earned a 24-17 victory in that clash which took place in Winston-Salem…Stanford is 13-2 in its last 15 home games dating back to the last game in 2007…The 68 points is tied for the fourth-most points in Stanford history and most since 68 against San Jose State in 1968. It was the first time over 60 points since 2002.

Andrew Luck Charging To A 41-10 Halftime Lead

Another fine performance by Luck (15 for 19, 194 yards, 3 touchdowns, plus a huge 52 yard rushing score) in a great win by the Cardinal … Oh what’s that you say? It’s only halftime? Well, I’m sure Jim Harbaugh will take the gas off now that the game seems assured.

Or he could just keep on scoring touchdowns, because it doesn’t look the Demon Deacons will show much resistance the rest of the way. That’s just his deal.

Andrew Luck Perfect, Ryan Whalen Suffers Elbow Injury

Just as Chris Owusu returns to the Cardinal lineup (catching two touchdowns to start the game), his fellow wideout gets injured. Ryan Whalen seemed to suffer a nasty elbow injury and had to leave the field.

Andrew Luck directed the Cardinal into the end zone on his first two drives, going 6 for 6 and giving them an early 14-7 lead.

Wake Forest True Freshman Quarterback Starting Against Stanford

Good news for the Cardinal. They get a Demon Deacon quarterback making his first real start of the season.

It’s a rare occasion when Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe plays a true freshman, let alone decides to start one, but Tanner Price will have that opportunity on Saturday at Stanford.

Part of this has to do with the fact that starter Ted Stachitas injured his left hand against Duke, but the bottom line is that Price earned it. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise, considering how his teammates raved about him this summer, but it’s one thing to account for four touchdowns at home against Duke, and another to travel across the country and do it against a ranked opponent.

While the Stanford’s offense has been rolling in terms of total yardage, its opponents were Presbyterian and Duke. It’s possible the Cardinal could light up with looks like an improved defense, but don’t think the previous results are a strong indicator that Price can light up this defense.

Chris Owusu, Shayne Skov Remain Day-To-Day

Ted Miller gets a little news from the Pac-10 Conference Call:

Harbaugh on whether LB Shayne Skov or WR Chris Owusu will play vs. Wake Forest: “We’ll see… day-to-day.” So who knows?

I’d say hold off on expecting either to play on Saturday night, but with the way the Cardinal have been playing they probably won’t need them until they kick off the difficult part of their road trip.

Stanford Gets Ready For Wake Forest

The Stanford Cardinal look to improve to 3-0 on the season when they take on Wake Forest. After running over Sacramento State and then shutting down UCLA, the Cardinal look to continue their upward trend with a convincing victory at home.

Follow this stream for all news and updates leading up to the Cardinal's late Saturday night matchup with the Demon Deacons! You can watch the game on ESPN3 until the Notre Dame-Michigan State game concludes.