The No. 6 ranked Stanford Cardinal have climbed on top of the Arizona Wildcats 10-0 in the first quarter thanks to a combination of luck and powerful rushing. The Cardinal grabbed a Jordan Williamson field goal at the 6:11 mark and converted a 4th and 1 into a 24 yard rushing touchdown at the 1:59 mark.
Arizona's offense hasn't been able to do much of anything thus far, accumulating eight total yards of offense in the first quarter. That has given Stanford time to work their way into a groove, which they may quickly be approaching. The Cardinal were forced to punt on their opening drive but quickly got the ball back after forcing the Wildcats into a three and out.
Stanford followed that three and out starting at their own 41 and quickly got down to first and goal on a pair of easy Andrew Luck passes. On third and goal, Luck got a bit of luck as he was almost picked off. Arizona appeared to pick off a pass at the goal line but instant replay resulted in a ruling of incomplete pass and Stanford was able to get three points out of the drive.
Arizona quickly went three and out on their second drive and Stanford took over on their own 28. Luck got things going quickly as he connected with Chris Owusu on a 39 yard completion. The Cardinal moved down to the Arizona 24 but appeared stalled at 4th and 1. Coach David Shaw decided to go for it and used a perfect outside pitch to Anthony Wilkerson to convert on 4th and 1 in a big way. Wilkerson had nothing but daylight outside and rolled into the end zone to give Stanford a 10-0 lead.
Arizona has quickly bounced back though around the end of the first quarter. The Wildcats started at their own 21 and used a pair of big passes to move all the way down to the Stanford 14 by the end of the quarter. The Cardinal defense stiffened up though and Arizona settled for a field goal to cut the lead to 10-3.