Fiesta Bowl 2012: New Year's Update

Happy 2012. It’s the day before the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona, where No. 3 Oklahoma State faces No. 4 Stanford on Monday evening in what could be the best bowl game of the season.

The Fiesta Bowl features a pair of 11-1 teams with eye-popping stats, such as the Cowboys' 42 takeaways on defense and Stanford's 63 scores in 64 red-zone trips.

The game will showcase a galaxy of stars on offense and defense, two of whom—Stanford QB Andrew Luck and OSU WR Justin Blackmon—are so off-the-charts that they have been profiled by ESPN’s Sport Science series for their unique physical gifts. 

Read on for some updates from both teams.

Coaches and Players

Stanford’s David Shaw will be in his first bowl game as a head coach. Like the Cowboys’ coach Mike Gundy, who set many quarterbacking records for OSU in the 1980s, Shaw now coaches for his alma mater where he played as a WR.

Shaw’s staff and the entire Stanford community continue to mourn the loss of assistant coach and former NFL star Chester McGlockton, who died suddenly last month. 

The Cardinal, which was missing eight starters during November—three on offense, four on defense and the starting placekicker—should be closer to full strength for the first time since mid-October. Andrew Luck will have all three of his tight ends available.

The only Cardinal starters still out are WR Chris Owusu (concussion) and LB Shayne Skov (ACL). 

For the Cowboys, RB Jeremy Smith, who had been nursing a left ankle injury sustained in the Bedlam game, has practiced fully and looks ready to go. Part-time starting DT Christian Littlehead, who was charged last month with an alleged misdemeanor, will not suit up.

Future Plans

Andrew Luck will play his last game for Stanford in the Fiesta Bowl.

Stanford’s All-American junior offensive linemen David DeCastro and Jonathan Martin have not formally stated whether they will leave school early for the NFL. Various observers think it's highly possible.

Stanford junior LB Chase Thomas is another candidate for the NFL who has yet to announce his plans.

OSU’s all-world wideout, two-time Biletnikoff Award winner Justin Blackmon, has indicated that he will enter the NFL draft. He’ll join Andrew Luck as a sure first-round pick.

Aces in the Hole

In mid-December, Stanford coach David Shaw named golfer Tiger Woods as Stanford’s honorary Fiesta Bowl captain. Woods played golf at Stanford in 1995-96, winning the Pac-10 and NCAA individual titles in 1996.

Last week, Coach Shaw noted that Woods kept supporting the football program during its hard times, "and we're not turning our back on him."

Of course, Oklahoma State is one of the legendary programs in college golf, with 10 NCAA titles, 50 top-5 NCAA finishes and many PGA stars such as Scott Verplank, Bob Tway, Hunter Mahan and Rickie Fowler.

And finally, don’t forget about a 2011 walk-on for the Cowboys golf team, by the name of Brandon Weeden.

Kickers

Stanford’s starting PK, Jordan Williamson, was injured in pregame warm-ups at USC on October 29. He’s finally 100 percent again, which is good news for the Cardinal.

The Cowboys’ Quinn Sharp, who also handles punting duties, may be the nation’s best kicker. He boomed an incredible 56 touchbacks during 2011 and was nearly perfect on field-goal attempts (20 of 23). 

Interestingly, Stanford’s opponents were strangely inaccurate in 2011, missing 11 of 18 field-goal attempts. Don’t count on Sharp to continue that trend.

Uni's

Perhaps the biggest mystery heading into game day concerns both teams’ uniforms. 

Oklahoma State will be the home team. Expect to see some combination of black and gray and orange. But what combo—all black, all orange, black and orange, orange and gray? 

Stanford is the visitor. Will that mean all white, or something else? The Cardinal got as edgy an outfit as they’ve ever worn—all red with black helmets—for their regular season finale against Notre Dame in November.

We'll find out on Monday evening when the teams emerge for the kickoff. Should be a great game.