Remember when Maurice Jones-Drew took a knee instead of scoring a touchdown against the Jets last year? Or how about when Brian Westbrook pulled the trick against the Cowboys? It was a pretty wise decision by Westbrook because he helped his team run out the clock to end the game. Well Stanford running back Anthony Wilkerson did the exact same thing on Saturday night against Arizona State, helping his team hold on for victory.
The Cardinal was up 17-13 with just under two minutes left when Wilkerson broke free around the left end. Instead of walking in for the touchdown, Wilkerson abruptly sat down at the four-yard line. Wilkerson sat down like he was playing duck duck goose, allowing Stanford to kneel out the clock for the 17-13 win. Check it out:
Though Wilkerson is only a freshman, that type of heady decision is exactly what you would expect to see out of a player from Stanford who also happens to be coached by Jim Harbaugh.
Now the other side-story has to deal with the spread (of course). Stanford was favored by 4-5 points, depending on where you were doing your sports betting. People who had the Cardinal -4.5 or -5 lost their bet because of that smart decision by Wilkerson. People who had them -4 pushed on their bet. Jimmy Traina actually captured the play on video if you’re interested. Smart play, but I’m sure there are plenty of people unhappy about it.
