By John Agovino, Associate College Football Editor
2009 SEASON IN REVIEW: After winning just nine games total in 2007 and 2008, the Cardinal opened the 2009 campaign looking to make the jump over .500 and possibly make a postseason appearance.
Stanford's journey began at Washington State, and Jim Harbaugh's squad did not
stumble on the road, as they easily dismantled the Cougars by a 26-point
margin. After suffering a loss to Wake Forest away from home, the Cardinal
bounced back with three straight wins, including a tough, 24-16 decision over
UCLA, which pushed Stanford's Pac-10 ledger to 3-0 early in the season. The
Cardinal could not continue their high level of play though and suffered back-
to-back tough losses on the road to Oregon State (38-28) and Arizona (43-38).
Once again coach Harbaugh's troops rallied back to post their second three-
game winning streak on the season. After easily defeating Arizona State, the
Cardinals posted their two most impressive victories on the year, as they
defeated the eventual Pac-10 champion Oregon Ducks, 51-42, and followed that
by clobbering the USC Trojans at the Coliseum, 55-21. Unfortunately the
Cardinals were then caught off guard by California, falling to the Golden
Bears at home, 34-28. However, the team regrouped once again and closed out
its regular season with a thrilling, 45-38 decision over Notre Dame. With
eight victories, the Cardinal made their first bowl appearance since 2001,
battling the Oklahoma Sooners in the Sun Bowl. Stanford fought hard in that
matchup, but in the end the team finished on the wrong side of a 21-17
decision.
2010 ANALYSIS:
OFFENSE: Last year the Cardinal got on the back of sensational running
back Toby Gerhart and road him to victory. With the 2009 runner up to the
Heisman Trophy now in the NFL though, look for Stanford's offense to make a
drastic change.
Expect the Cardinal to rely heavily on their passing attack and the arm of
quarterback Andrew Luck. In his freshman season Luck showed flashes of
brilliance and this year he could become one of the top signal callers in the
country.
"You look at Andrew and you wonder what makes a youngster that good," said
coach Harbaugh. "You know it has some to do with mom, dad, God, he has such
talent. He has tremendous arm strength. He is as accurate as any quarterback
I've seen. He is athletic and can run with the football. He rushed for 400
yards last year. He is a brilliant kid, not just book smart, but also with
football. We are glad he is on our team."
Luck will have plenty of weapons at his disposal, beginning with Ryan Whalen,
who hauled in 57 receptions a year ago. While Whalen is solid, the real threat
for this offense could be junior Chris Owusu, who can spread the defense with
his speed. However, for the passing attack to truly be effective coach
Harbaugh will have to find a replacement for Gerhart, which is clearly no
small task. The starting gig is no sure thing, but at the present moment look
for senior Jeremy Stewart and sophomore Stepfan Taylor to get the bulk of the
work.
Whoever is carrying the ball, they will not be expected to duplicate Gerhart's
historic season, but instead will just need to be consistent enough to keep
defenses honest. What will benefit the running backs, and also Luck is the
return of four starters on the offensive line, which was one of the best in
the nation a year ago.
DEFENSE: Stanford was inconsistent defensively throughout the 2009 season,
except against the pass where the unit was just consistently bad, finishing
110th in the nation in that area.
The hope is that new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio can improve this unit,
but first the Cardinal will have to adjust to the new 3-4 scheme. Thomas
Keiser who led the Cardinal with nine sacks last year at the defensive end
position will move to linebacker, joining Shayne Skov, who will be back at
middle linebacker after recording 62 tackles as a true freshman. Skov, who was
a highly touted prospect, along with Keiser should make the transition to a
3-4 formation a little easier for the coaches Sophomore Chase Thomas also
returns this season to play the other linebacker position, while fullback Owen
Marecic will work double duty this season and line up on the inside next to
Skov. Marecic is no stranger to playing on both sides of the football and
should have no trouble helping out Stanford in more ways than one.
"I did go both ways in high school as a fullback and a linebacker," said
Marecic. "During a practice, the offense and defense will scrimmage at the
same time against the scout teams. So there is plenty of time to get practice
on both."
With Keiser now likely to play linebacker the only returning starter up front
is Sione Fua, who will play nose tackle in 2010. The defensive backfield,
which struggled throughout the season in 2009, should be better with the
return of Delano Howell and Richard Sherman. Howell, who collected 78 tackles
a year ago, is a sensational safety, while Sherman has the ability to be a
shutdown corner.
SPECIAL TEAMS: Giving the Cardinal an advantage this season will be the return
tandem of Owusu and Sherman. These two players are possible the best return
duo in the conference, and proved it last season, as Owusu returned two
opening kickoffs for touchdowns and averaged a league best 31.5 ypr, while
Sherman returned a punt for a score. Nate Whitaker, who connected on 16-of-22
field goals last season will once again be the team's kicker.
OUTLOOK: Last year was one of the most exciting football seasons in recent
memory at Stanford and now the task at hand will be to duplicate that
excitement. There is no way to replace Gerhart, who led the nation with 1,871
rushing yards, but if Luck can continue to blossom, this offense could be
dangerous in 2010. Luck and the offense will feel the pressure to score
points, especially early in the year while the defense works through the
transition phase of the system change.
The Cardinal open the year against Sacramento State, but after that the team
has a gauntlet of tough matchups in a row against UCLA, Wake Forest, Notre
Dame, Oregon and USC. The games against the Bruins, Fighting Irish and Ducks
are all away from home and the road schedule does not get easier after those
contests, as Stanford will also have to battle Washington, Arizona State and
Cal away from home. Clearly Stanford is on the upswing, but this team is still
a year away from being a true contender for the title in the Pac-10.