The WSU football team cut down 15th-ranked Stanford Cardinal Saturday night 42-16.

The Cougars (3-2, 2-0) notched their first win over Stanford (3-2, 2-2) since 2007, and their first win over an AP top-15 opponent since 2003.

WSU dominated on both sides of the ball, piling up more than 450 total yards of offense and held Stanford’s preseason Heisman Trophy favorite junior running back Christian McCaffrey to just 83 all-purpose yards and 35 yards rushing.

“We had good pad level and we played hard all day,” WSU football Head Coach Mike Leach said after the game.

The Cougars’ defensive effort was led by redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Hercules Mata’afa. With four sacks, five tackles for a loss and three forced turnovers in the game, Mata’afa and the defense continued the dominance they showcased in their previous 51-33 win over the University of Oregon.

“We like beating people like that,” Mata’afa said. “We don’t want to play four quarter games, we want to establish our offense and our defense and do what we do, score points and stop other offenses.”

The game was not a four-quarter contest, as the Cardinal struggled to get anything going on offense in the face of constant pressure from the defensive front. On nearly every play, a Cougar defensive player had a hand in the quarterback’s face, or was three yards deep in the backfield.

Stanford struggled on offense in the first half, scoring only three points on seven possessions through the first 30 minutes and entered the break trailing 14-3.

Stanford was slightly more successful on offense in the second half, as they scored 13 points in the final 30 minutes. Six of those 13 points came off a garbage time touchdown on the final play of regulation when the Cougars were up 42-10.

The strong play from the WSU defense led to a tough day for Stanford and smooth sailing for the Cougar offense.

The WSU offense was led by redshirt junior quarterback Luke Falk, who completed 73 percent of his passes for 357 yards and four touchdowns. His most frequent target in the game was senior wide receiver River Cracraft, who caught seven passes for 130 yards and a touchdown.

Sophomore wide receiver Tavares Martin Jr. was also a factor in the passing game, hauling in two touchdowns in the first half.

The rushing game was a part of the Cougar’s offensive success as well, netting 101 yards on the ground. The effort marked the third straight game that the WSU offense gained 100-plus rushing yards.

“Our offense feeds off the defense more this year than most,” redshirt senior wide receiver Gabe Marks said.

This mindset was apparent throughout the game, but came through in a few key situations.

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On WSU’s first offensive drive of the game, the Stanford defense intercepted an errant pass from Falk. The Stanford offense came on with good field position and looked poised to take an early 7-0 lead.

The Cougar defense, however, held strong, forcing Stanford to attempt a 50-yard field goal that ricocheted off the right goalpost.

“It gives us a lot of confidence to know that the defense is going to be playing hard,” Falk said of the defense’s ability to pick up the offense.

The Cougar defense also helped turn the tide of the game in WSU’s favor on Stanford’s first drive of the second half. After the offense marched down the field and scored their third touchdown of the game to put WSU up 21-3, the defense had a chance to put Stanford behind the eight ball with a stop.

Stanford drove the ball down the field from its own 23 yard line all the way to the Cougar 27. After a five yard delay of game penalty, the Cardinal had first and 15 from the WSU 32 yard line. On the ensuing play, Stanford senior quarterback Ryan Burns was picked off by WSU redshirt junior linebacker Isaac Dotson to give the ball back to the Cougars.

Dotson’s interception did not lead to any WSU points and the Cardinals soon returned Falk’s second interception of the game for a touchdown to put the score at 21-10, but the big defensive stop set the tone for the remainder of the second half.

Stanford’s floundering offense did not break single digits in scoring, accounting for nine points in the game. Stanford was led by 222 yards and a touchdown pass from Burns.

McCaffrey, who struggled all game, was nowhere to be found for most of the second half due to a reported hip injury.

In the face of constant pressure from a stout WSU defensive front and without their star tailback, the Stanford offense became one-dimensional and did not find many open passing lanes.

WSU now comes into its homecoming game against UCLA (3-3, 1-2) riding a two-game conference winning streak and tied for first in the Pac-12 North Division with the fifth-ranked University of Washington (6-0, 3-0).

Saturday’s game will air on either ESPN or ESPN2.