Shaw fires back after accusations of faking injuries

By Rick Eymer

Palo Alto Online Sports

Stanford football coach David Shaw doesn’t take too kindly to having someone question the integrity of his program.

That was the case Tuesday when he addressed accusations by Washington coach Steve Sarkisian, who said Stanford tried to fake injuries at crucial moments in Saturday’s game.

More than anything, Shaw thinks Sarkisian did a great disservice to Huskies’ quarterback Keith Price and Cardinal wide receiver Ty Montgomery, both of whom played superbly in Stanford’s 31-28 win over Washington on Saturday.

“All this talk is ridiculous and takes away from two unbelievable performances by Montgomery and Price, who played their hearts out,” Shaw said Tuesday. “We’re talking about things that amount to nothing.”

The Washington staff specifically accused Cardinal defensive line coach Randy Hart of telling his players to lie down.

Hart spent nearly 20 years coaching at Washington, under five different head coaches. He left when Sarkisian was hired.

“We never fake injuries,” Shaw said. “We’ve never done it. We don’t believe in it. We are under strict instructions to run this program abpve reproach. We’re charged with operating the program with integrity. It is unprofessional and disrespectful to call out an opposing coach of the other team.”

Sarkisian originally made his remarks on a post-game radio show and stuck by them when he met the media. He tweeted “we saw what we saw and leave it at that.”

Later, Sarkisian told Seattle reporters he “was done with it.”

“How we play football at Stanford is averaging 5.3 penalties per game, one of the lowest in the nation,” Shaw said. “How we play has gotten us to three consecutive BCS bowl games and a 100 percent graduation rate. It’s a well-respected program and we’re not going to put that on the line just to beat Washington.”

Two of Stanford’s team captains, linebacker Shayne Skov and defensive end Ben Gardner, were indirectly implicated by the Huskies’ staff.

Skov took a hit from teammate James Vaughters to his surgically repaired knee. An MRI revealed no further damage but Shaw said it was still sore and he has been limited in practice.

Gardner had “an arm issue” and was trying to get up and drag himself across the line. Stanford was called for off-side on the play.

Usua Ananam also had to leave the game but was able to return after team trainers and doctors assured Shaw there were no concussion symptoms.

“What bothers me is how specific he was,” Shaw said. “Randy Hart has coached football longer than a lot of us has been alive. His reputation is impeccable. I don’t care what he thought he saw. If he has a problem, he should come to me.”

Just like practice: Stanford junior wide receiver Ty Montgomery said his 39-yard touchdown reception went exactly the way he and quarterback Kevin Hogan have practiced it.

“It was a great thrown,” Montgomery said. “He could not have done it any better than he did. He even got us into the right audible.”

In practice, it’s Hogan “throwing the ball up and I run under it,” Montgomery said. “It was perfect.”

Montgomery, who was named Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week, also returned a kickoff for a touchdown and had a 79-yard return to set up another score.

“For every kickoff, I can do what I do because of the blocking,” he said. “To go untouched is unheard of. My success is my teammates’ success.”

Along the sidelines: Cardinal backup quarterback Dallas Lloyd, who hails from the Provo area of Utah, is still trying to accommodate all the ticket requests he’s received.

Lloyd, who grew up watching Utah, Utah State and BYU play, is the lone player who calls Utah home.

“The goal was always to make it to Rice-Eccles Stadium because that’s where they played the state championship,” Lloyd said. “I’ve dreamed of playing in Rice-Eccles, though I never thought it would be for Stanford.”

Lloyd is being used similar to how Hogan was used last year. He has a set of plays designed for him.

“You never know when they will call your number,” Lloyd said. “I stay loose and focused and read the plays to take mental reps. It all happens so fast, You’re in there and then you’re out.”

In other news, Stanford and BYU have agreed to play a four-game football series in 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2025.

Stanford will host the first two games of the series. BYU will visit November 28, 2020 and November 26, 2022, both on Thanksgiving weekends.

Stanford will travel to LaVell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah on September 2, 2023 and again Sept. 13, 2025.

Stanford holds a 2-0 lead in the all-time series. They played each other in 2003-04.