Micah Ford had a career night on Saturday against Elon, rushing 19 times for 179 yards, also tying a Stanford record with four touchdowns. This was the exact type of performance that the Cardinal needed from him after three straight games of not getting much going on the ground.

It may not be a coincidence that Stanford also utilized Ford in the passing game the most that it has all season, with the junior back notching five catches for 52 yards. His previous high in catches in a game this season has been four against Duke, which just so happens to be his last decent rushing game, putting up 11 carries for 76 yards. 

In the three games since, Ford had combined for 48 rushes and 148 yards, good for just 3.08 yards per carry. 

At halftime on Saturday, head coach Tavita Pritchard challenged his team. 

"I don't think we played with the energy and focus that we needed to in the first half, and I think we did a better job in the second half," Pritchard said. 

After Stanford put up 14 points in the third quarter on a 27-yard Davis Warren pass to Sedrick Irvin and a five-yard run from Micah Ford, putting the Cardinal up 28-0, Ford struck again on his first touch of the fourth quarter — an 81-yard run to the end zone that put Stanford up 34-0 after Emmet Kenney missed the extra point.

Elon would score its first and only touchdown with 10:40 remaining in the game on an 18-yard rush from Kamerin McDowell-Moore. Despite the lopsided 34-7 final, McDowell-Moore still managed to rush for 164 yards on 21 carries. The freshman crossed the 1,000-yard mark on the season with that performance.

While Stanford ended up getting the lopsided win that many were expecting from them, the team's play calling on its first drive seemed emblematic of the larger issue that many fans are having with the program right now. 

After being outscored 115-10 the past two weeks, the Cardinal entered a home game against an opponent that they should have no problem with, but instead of playing with an aggressive mindset from the beginning, they opened with a one-yard pass to Nico Brown. 

Micah Ford followed that up with a one-yard rush that put Stanford at 3rd and 8 — hardly the position the program was hoping to be in just two plays into its possession. 

Davis Warren was sacked on that third down, but Elon had committed a holding penalty, so Stanford received an automatic first down. They moved the ball a bit from there, converting on 4th and 3 on the Elon 26, but the drive stalled out at the 16.

Kenney was called upon to attempt a 35-yard kick, which he missed. Again, everything worked out fine and Stanford is 3-4, but this is an opponent that the Cardinal should be imposing their will upon from the beginning. That just isn't what happened.

Stanford will now have a short week ahead with its next game at home against NC State on Friday, October 23.