10 Reasons Why Stanford Can Win the Pac-12

After pulverizing No. 24 Washington on Saturday by 65-21, Stanford is now 7-0 with the nation’s longest win streak, at 15 games. Andrew Luck, Stanford’s Heisman trophy candidate at QB and everyone’s favorite to be the top pick in the 2012 NFL draft, barely broke a sweat as he tossed two TD passes and watched his teammates roll up a school record 446 rushing yards against the defenseless Dawgs. 

First-year head coach David Shaw has picked up where Jim Harbaugh left off, leading the Cardinal to seven-straight wins in which they have averaged over 48 points per game (second best in FBS) while holding opponents to under 13 points per game (fourth in FBS), despite having lost star linebacker Shayne Skov to a season-ending knee injury last month.

Now comes the hard part, as Stanford’s remaining five opponents include Oregon, USC, Notre Dame,  fierce rival Cal and a potential trap game at Corvallis against Oregon State. 

If the Cardinal, currently No. 6 in the BCS rankings, emerge unscathed from this gauntlet, they will host the Pac-12 Southern division champ in the inaugural Pac-12 title game on Dec. 2.

Turn the page to see why Stanford can run the table, win the Pac-12 and advance to the Rose Bowl, or even the NCG.

The Amazing Andrew Luck

Stanford QB Andrew Luck is just the latest in a legendary line of Stanford QBs—John Brodie, Jim Plunkett, John Elway and many more.

Luck’s performances live up to all the superlatives. He’s the best college quarterback since (take your pick: Peyton Manning/John Elway/Roger Staubach.)

Luck is 6'4", 235. His eye-popping statistics are near perfection: a career completion percentage of over 66 percent, nine YPA, 65 touchdown passes and only 15 INTs. Oh, and he’s rushed for nearly 900 yards in his college career at over six YPC, with six touchdowns. 

Luck’s numbers are incredibly impressive. But that’s only part of his story. More on Luck later.

Head Coach David Shaw

Stanford’s coaching lineage is impressive and includes legendary names such as Pop Warner, John Ralston and Bill Walsh. Stanford’s first-year head coach David Shaw has led the Cardinal to its first 7-0 start since 1951.

Shaw has a great Stanford pedigree. He played WR for Stanford under Dennis Green and Bill Walsh, and has NFL coaching experience with the Eagles, Raiders and Ravens. 

His father Willie Shaw had a 33-year coaching career, including Stanford and seven NFL teams. 

Before being promoted to head coach, David was the offensive coordinator for Stanford under Jim Harbaugh and led the high-flying Cardinal offenses of 2009, featuring Heisman Trophy runner-up Toby Gerhart, and 2010, featuring Heisman Trophy runner-up Andrew Luck. 

Best of all, Shaw seems to be highly respected by his players, and his sideline demeanor evokes the game-day calmness of Bill Walsh. Through the first seven games of the 2011 season, Shaw has also demonstrated the offensive acumen of Walsh and Jim Harbaugh, along with the ability to make halftime adjustments that have resulted in Stanford dominating all of its opponents in the second half.

Offensive Line: Power and More Power

The New York Times recently profiled Stanford’s offensive line, which may be the nation’s best, as demonstrated by the 446 yards of rushing against UW.  Despite having three new starters in 2011, the O-line can run block as well as any team in FBS and can also pass protect for QB Andrew Luck, who has been sacked only twice all season.

So far in 2011, no opponent has been able to stop Stanford’s signature running play called Power. In the 2009 victory at USC, Stanford ran Toby Gerhart early and late on the Power play, and the Trojans looked helpless, surrendering over 300 rushing yards. 

Some of the linemen have changed, but the textbook execution remains. And on some plays, Stanford loads up with as many as seven linemen. 

When Stanford runs Power, Andrew Luck takes the snap and wheels toward his RB. At the same time, right guard David DeCastro pulls to the left, and left tackle Jonathan Martin pushes anyone in sight toward the sideline. Result: a hole large enough to drive a truck through. 

As anyone on Washington’s defense can confirm.

Tight Ends: Tree's Company

Former coach Jim Harbaugh saw that big, athletic TEs could enhance the power running game and also be nearly impossible for LBs and safeties to cover. Harbaugh recruited the current three top TEs on Stanford’s roster—Coby Fleener, Zach Ertz and Levine Toilolo—a trio that Fleener has nicknamed "Tree's Company."

All three are tall, physical future NFL prospects—“matchup nightmares”.

Fleener is a 6'6" senior and is fast and easily gets behind linebackers. He caught three long TDs from Luck in the 40-12 demolition of VaTech in the 2011 Orange Bowl on receptions of 41, 58 and 38 yards. In 2011, he has caught seven touchdown passes and is averaging almost 23 YPC. 

Redshirt sophomore Zach Ertz, 6'6", 252, averages “only” 13 YPC, but in his career, has caught a touchdown every five receptions. 

Redshirt sophomore Levine Toililo is a giant target at 6'8", 262. He’s averaging nearly 22 YPC and has only begun to scratch the surface of his route running and receiving ability. 

Coach Shaw sometimes has all three on the field at the same time. That’s almost unfair to opponents.

Power Running Game

Stanford has produced some great RBs—Ernie Nevers, Darrin Nelson, Brad Muster, Tommy Vardell and most recently, Toby Gerhart, who rewrote the Stanford record books in 2009 and was the Heisman Trophy runner-up that year.

Gerhart is now a Minnesota Viking, and his shoes have been more than ably filled by four Stanford RBs who all share an ability to follow their O-line’s blocking and accelerate into the secondary. 

Junior Stepfan Taylor is the starter at RB. He rushed for 15 TDs and had seven 100-yard games in 2010. So far in 2011, he’s averaged over six YPC and has six TDs and four 100-yard games. 

He hits the hole decisively and has home run speed—just ask Washington, which witnessed his 70-yard touchdown burst last Saturday. 

Tyler Gaffney, a junior who is also an outfielder with a career .327 batting average for the Stanford baseball team, is especially effective running on direct snaps from the Wildcat formation. He gashed UW for 117 yards on just nine carries. 

Jeremy Stewart stunned VaTech in the 2011 Orange Bowl with a 60-yard touchdown sprint. He’s a fifth-year senior who has five rushing TDs this season.

Sophomore Anthony Wilkerson may be Stanford’s most powerful and physical RB. He entered the Washington game in the second half and proceeded to pound the Husky defense for 93 yards and two touchdowns on only 14 carries. 

The best part? All four RBs take care of the football and rarely fumble. 

Stanford also utilizes FBs more than most college programs. The 2010 starter, Owen Marecic, famously called “the perfect football player” by Jim Harbaugh, is now with the Cleveland Browns, but his two replacements, Ryan Hewitt and Geoff Meinken, have played well. Both are ferocious blockers, and Hewitt has scored three receiving touchdowns.

Meinken is 6'4", 255. His punishing style of play is reminiscent of former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Mike Alstott. You do not want to be in his way.

Andrew Luck: The Next Peyton Manning?

Andrew Luck’s gaudy statistics tell only part of the story. More than just numbers, he’s perhaps the most cerebral college QB since Peyton Manning.

Valedictorian of his high school in Houston, he’s majoring in architectural design. He’s shown terrific audible ability, and at times, has called his own plays for Stanford this season, particularly in no-huddle situations. 

He’s clearly outsmarting the opponents’ defensive coordinators so far this season, as Stanford has scored 41 offensive touchdowns in its first seven games.

Wide Receivers: Fire and Ice

Stanford’s many great WRs over the years include Hall of Famer James Lofton, Ken Margerum and Ed McCaffrey. Two of Andrew Luck’s favorite WR targets from 2010 are now in the NFL: Doug Baldwin, the Seahawks’ star rookie, and Ryan Whalen, who is on the Bengals’ roster.

In 2011, Luck has turned to two seniors, Chris Owusu and Griff Whalen, who took very different paths to their starting WR positions. 

The speedy Owusu was highly recruited out of Oaks Christian School in Southern California, where he was also a 10.6 sprinter in the 100 meter dash. He’s had a stellar career at Stanford, with nearly 100 receptions, 10 career TDs and another three kickoff return touchdowns. He is a threat to take it to the house on every touch. 

Griff Whalen (no relation to Ryan Whalen) walked on to the team. He’s now Stanford’s version of Wes Welker, working the middle of the field, sometimes going deep, but seemingly always open and averaging over 14 YPC. Plus, he’s Andrew Luck’s roommate.

Stanford Defense: 4th in FBS in Points Allowed

While Andrew Luck and the Stanford offense have captured the national limelight, the Cardinal D has also performed superbly so far in 2011. After posting three shutouts in 2010, this year, Stanford ranks fourth in FBS in fewest points allowed per game, as the Cardinal have won each of their seven games by at least 26 points. 

What’s more, the defense has hardly missed a beat despite graduating several starters from the Orange Bowl team and losing its leader, linebacker Shayne Skov, to a knee injury in September.

Skov burst onto the national scene in 2010, with 50 solo tackles and 6.5 sacks. He then wreaked havoc on VaTech in the 2011 Orange Bowl with 12 tackles, including three sacks. 

In Skov’s absence, the front seven, led by All-Conference returnees LB Chase Thomas and NT Matthew Masifilo, and the secondary, featuring All-Conference returnees Michael Thomas and Delano Howell, have all stepped up.

The Cardinal have registered 57 tackles for loss and 25 sacks. Thomas’s 62-yard pick-six against Washington’s heralded QB Keith Price was a turning point in the first half last weekend.

The Schedule: Home Sweet Home

Only two of Stanford’s remaining games are on the road—at USC this Saturday, where the Cardinal have shocked the Trojans in their two most recent visits (winning 24-23 as a 43-point underdog in 2007, followed in 2009 by the 55-21 shellacking in the “what’s your deal?” game), and at Oregon State. 

Otherwise, Stanford gets to host Oregon, Notre Dame and Cal at sold-out Stanford stadium, where the crowd noise, while not quite yet at Autzen levels, can still hit ear-splitting decibel levels, for two reasons. 

One, the stadium is a noise sink. The playing surface and lower seating level are below ground level. 

Two, much of the seating, staircases and flooring was built using thousands of yards of aluminum. The entire second deck is floored with aluminum. Do you know how loud aluminum is when nearly 30,000 upper deck fans are furiously stamping their feet on it?

More Luck: The Best QB in College Football

There doesn’t seem to be a throw that Andrew Luck can’t make. Whether he’s planted in the pocket or scrambling left or right or even straight ahead, Luck has an uncanny ability to scan the entire field, find an open receiver and deliver the ball on target, on time. 

Some of his most amazing throws have come when he’s on the dead run, sprinting away from pressure, sometimes running straight ahead, toward the line of scrimmage. He can combine accuracy, touch and speed while on the run like no other college QB, and indeed, few NFL QBs have such talent. 

And on those occasions when he decides to run for it, look out. At 6'4", 235, he’s bigger than most DBs and many LBs, and can deliver a knockout blow to would-be tacklers. 

Stanford will need all of Luck’s talents, and those of his teammates to continue its 15-game win streak. The Cardinal and its star QB hope to run the table to the BCS postseason, beginning with the showdown at USC this Saturday.