College Football 2011: Top 10 Reasons the Stanford Cardinal Can Win the Pac-12
The official start of Spring may be a month away, but that hasn't stopped the Stanford Cardinal football team from getting back on the field.
Andrew Luck and company were back in shoulder pads, shorts, and helmets for the start of spring practice in Palo Alto on Monday, less than two months removed from an impressive 40-12 rout of ACC champion Virginia Tech in the 2011 Orange Bowl.
Of course, a lot has changed since then; what with Luck spurning the NFL and head coach Jim Harbaugh assuming the position for the San Francisco 49ers...
And taking half of the Stanford staff with him.
The 2011 edition of the Cardinal football team will appear to be very different from the 2010 group that went 12-1 and hung nearly neck-and-neck with Oregon—though that doesn't necessarily mean that the folks on the Farm won't have plenty to cheer about once September rolls around.
With that in mind, here's a look at the top 10 reasons 2010 may not turn out to be a fluke after all.
10. Momentum From Last Season
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Future success for a team is difficult to predict, even when evidence of past success is abundantly available.
That's the case with Stanford, though it certainly doesn't hurt the team's case for 2011 that it fared so well last season. The Cardinal went 12-1 in 2010, with the lone loss coming to BCS runner-up and Pac-10 champion Oregon in a game that was close—for about a half.
That resume, topped off with the aforementioned trouncing of Virginia Tech, was good enough to place Jim Harbaugh's club fourth in the polls at season's end.
As is the case with any bowl-winning team, Stanford has plenty of confidence and momentum stored up from their sweet success in the Orange Bowl—as well as the entire season leading up to it—to give the team a solid boost through camps and into the upcoming season.
9. A Top 25 Recruiting Class
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Of course, momentum is only worth something if there are quality players around to carry it along.
By holding together Jim Harbaugh's 19-man recruiting class, which ranked 21st in the country according to Scout Inc., new head coach David Shaw ensured, at the very least, that he and his staff would have a good crop of players to work with going forward.
And though marquee high school talents like Wayne Lyons, Ty Montgomery, and Kelsey Young may not all contribute heavily to the Cardinal's results in the win column this season, they, along with their recruiting classmates, may help out here and there for now, while providing positional depth for the future.
8. Chris Owusu
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As far as players who are already established contributors, Chris Owusu will play a big part in any run that Stanford makes through the Pac-12.
Owusu had himself a solid season as a junior, catching 25 balls for 396 yards and three touchdowns while also serving as the team's primary kick returner.
Now that Doug Baldwin, Ryan Whalen, and Konrad Reuland are gone, the Cardinal will likely lean rather heavily on the 6'2", 200-pounder from Oaks Christian High School to carry the load in the passing game and on special teams.
And, if his previous seasons are any indication, Owusu should be up more than up to the task.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
7. Matthew Masifilo
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On defense, the Cardinals will look to lineman Matthew Masifilo to lead a unit that will be without seven starters from last season's squad.
The 6'3", 285-pounder from Ewa Beach, Hawaii is the lone returning down lineman for Stanford; thus leaving him with the difficult task of leading the charge against opposing quarterbacks and running backs.
That is in no way an indictment of Masifilo's ability to answer the bell, as he has proven himself to be more than capable of being a force, as evidenced by his unofficial 2010 totals of 33 tackles, four sacks and a forced fumble.
6. The New Divisional Format
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While Stanford will have plenty of work to do on the field, its chances of winning the Pac-12 will be aided by the conference's new two-division format.
The Cardinals will be joined in the Pac-12 North by Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington, and Washington State–not exactly a murderer's row of conference foes, to say the least.
Should the folks on the Farm slip up here or there, they should still have an excellent shot to at least make the Pac-12 championship game, as the conference title will no longer be based solely on the standings as it has been throughout its history.
5. Stepfan Taylor
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Helping the Cardinal navigate its way through the Pac-12 North will be running back Stepfan Taylor, who last season emerged as a capable ball-carrier in filling the void left behind by Heisman Trophy runner-up Toby Gerhart.
The 5'11", 209-pounder from Mansfield, Texas stepped up for Stanford in a big way in 2010, dashing for 1,137 yards and 15 touchdowns while also chipping in 28 catches for 266 yards and a score.
Now entering his junior year, Taylor will likely play an even bigger part in the success or failure of the football team in Palo Alto.
4. Coaching Continuity With David Shaw
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Luckily for Stepfan Taylor, the man in charge at Stanford will have a pretty good idea of how to use him on the field.
As devastating as Harbaugh's departure may be in its own right, the program should be fine—for the time being at least—with David Shaw taking over.
Rather than look outside the confines of Palo Alto for a replacement, athletic director Bob Bowlsby did the smart thing and promoted from within.
Though Shaw has never been a head coach, he is eminently qualified for the job, having played at Stanford as a wide receiver under Dennis Green and Bill Walsh and served as an assistant coach in the NFL.
Not to mention the fact that Shaw has been the Cardinals' offensive coordinator since Harbaugh first arrived back in 2007, which means the transition into the post-Harbaugh era should be a somewhat smooth one.
3. Who Else Is Going to Win The Pac-12?
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What could make for an even smoother transition for David Shaw and the Cardinal is a lack of elite competition in the Pac-12.
And, no, I haven't forgotten about Oregon. It's not so much that the Ducks won't be good—they should be a very good team—as it is that they will have a particularly difficult time recapturing the magic from 2010.
Why, you ask?
As nice as it is for head coach Chip Kelly that running back LaMichael James and Darron Thomas will be back, he'll have to figure out a way to protect them and keep the spread-option viable with the departure of three starting offensive linemen and the team's top two wide receivers.
And, not that Oregon's defense was particularly good, but that unit will be without the services of linebacker Casey Matthews and defensive linemen Brandon Bair and Kenny Rowe.
Hence, while Stanford may not be a first-thought shoe-in to win the Pac-12, the Cardinal can at least take comfort in the fact that Oregon isn't either.
2. A Favorable Schedule
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The real key to any good run, whether it be to a conference crown or a national championship, is a favorable schedule, which is precisely what Stanford has on the way to a potential Pac-12 title and beyond.
The Cardinal will play seven of its 12 games at Stanford Stadium, including its dates with Oregon and Notre Dame.
The team's three conference road games—at Arizona, at USC, and at Oregon State—won't likely be cake walks, per se, but it certainly beats having to travel to Eugene or Salt Lake City.
1. Andrew Luck
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Regardless of the schedule, the Cardinals will have Andrew Luck under center to guide the team toward a Pac-12 championship, and that's what matters most.
The pre-season favorite to win the 2011 Heisman Trophy passed up millions of top-pick dollars to return to school to pursue his degree in architecture along with some football glory on the side.
The 6'4", 235-pound redshirt junior-to-be from Houston has showed marked improvement last year from his solid freshman campaign, throwing for 3,338 yards and 32 touchdowns against only eight interceptions.
Assuming the trend of Luck's game is still an upward one, watch for the Stanford signal-caller to set the nation ablaze as the next face of college football.
Because, frankly, the Cardinal will need every bit of brilliance it can get out of Luck if the team is going to march its way back to the top of the crop in the fall.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
