Stanford Cardinal Season Preview

Jim Harbaugh, Vic Fangio and many other coaches from last year’s staff have different titles in Palo Alto for Andrew Luck’s senior season. It was a complete overhaul of coaches, as now David Shaw takes over the head coaching duties for 2011.

Shaw was the offensive coordinator the past four seasons, and the Cardinal have seen major improvement since Mr. Luck took flight under center. He was a possible No. 1 pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, and there may not be a person out there who does not have him as the top player in America this season.

Best QB in BCS Era Minus Tebow?

If there is anything Luck lacks, I have not seen it yet. Luck has amazing pocket presence, as he sees everything on the field like nobody else can. He has a rocket arm which is as accurate as anybody out there.

Luck has a laser arm and is a big dude, standing tall at 6’4”, 235 pounds, and he is just a redshirt junior. He was dinged up and missed the Sun Bowl two seasons ago; however, he was injury free last season. Stanford went 12-1, including their 40-12 obliteration over Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. 

Luck had a great game, as he finished with 287 yards and four touchdowns on 18 of 23 passes. The funny thing is that Stanford is only three years removed from a one win season in 2006. 

Two TE's That Can Do It All

Chris Owusu and Griff Whalen are the primary suspects to once again get the majority of the pass catches at least at wideout. Both tight ends who should see plenty of time will be Coby Fleener and Zach Ertz.

Fleener caught six passes for three touchdowns and 173 yards against that talented Hokies secondary. Ertz caught the other touchdown, which shows that Luck loves to thread the needle directly down the middle of the field to his big targets.

These guys were mostly single covered or wide open because of the lack of discipline by the Hokies. Like most opponents, they were getting gashed against the run and eventually started sending the kitchen sink to try and get to Luck.

The question remains on whether or not Luck will be protected as well as last season? 

Solid Big Uglies at the Farm

The offensive line was arguably the best in America last season outside of Wisconsin and Auburn, and with three starters now gone from last season, things will be much tougher. Chase Beeler was among the top centers in the nation, and the other two starters were far from garbage.

Luckily, David DeCastro returns as one of the top guards in America, and Jonathan Martin is an elite left tackle who could have been a first round had he left early this past offseason.

Martin bullies any edge pass rushers with his large 6’6”, 291-pound frame. He has exceptional technique and never seems to get beaten off the ball. Martin is a sure fire First Team All-Pac 12 and is a Preseason All-American. 

Loaded Stars in Palo Alto

The three headed backfield has a great wealth of talent, which is something Stanford is not used to seeing. Since Gerhart left, most expected the talent to drop off, but most forget about Stepfan Taylor. Taylor is a 5’11”, 210-pound back who once was a four star recruit and a next level caliber of a player that makes this backfield one of the finest in the nation.

He has solid speed and size, but runs exceptionally well because of his ability to hit the open holes. He broke off several big runs and breaks several tackles with a heavy dose of stiff arms.

Tyler Gaffney and Anthony Wilkerson are nearly the identical size and are only going to improve this season as backups. 

Taylor has a great chance to rush for over 1,000 yards and 15 plus touchdowns for another season. Fifteen TDs is hard to come by these days because of all the committee backfields that are being used. 

This Stanford squad has proved time after time last season that they could run like the wind behind a top notch line. Expect more of the same in 2011 with Luck under center.

Secondary Susceptible to Big Plays?

The defense was relentless in the front seven a season ago, and the secondary did not have to cover for more than a few seconds.

It is easy to challenge certain teams that do not recruit the best of players, but when you have coaches that coach up three stars into four and five star talent, it certainly makes life much easier. That is what Harbaugh did with his players at Stanford, and hope is that Shaw can do the same.

Delano Howell, at just 5’11”, 189 pounds, is a Preseason All-American caliber type of player who will carry this secondary. Howell is a speedster who plays a great center field, and at the same time, can play a tremendous run support to help bottle up the run game.

Michael Thomas and Johnson Bademosi are both seniors who return a lot of experience for this important unit in a conference that is known for throwing the pigskin around.

The secondary must reach expectations because the front three will not be nearly dominant as it was last season.

Front Three a Liability?

Speaking of that front three, they need some under the radar players to step their games up immediately. Ben Gardner is a young sophomore who was just a back-up last season and is the one player that must make an impact. The two backups behind him and Matt Masifilo are even younger.

Masifilo was a solid contributor last season and is expected to play like a stud this season. The Hawaiian Hammer packs quite the punch at 6’3”, 285-pounds and is a beast off the edge with that powerful size.

Co-defensive coordinator Derek Mason believes that the development of young pup Terrence Stephens (6’2”, 287 pounds) will help him turn into a special player. Jason Tarver will also take over the duties alongside Mason for Vic Fangio, who was among the top coordinators one season ago.

Overall, this group may not be as dominant as it was last season, but they are far from mediocrity.  

Top Unit in Pac-12?

Stanford is still staying in their 3-4 defense, which revolves around the front three but it is the four linebackers who roamed the sidelines as well as any unit in the nation last season.

It will be interesting how much of an impact Keiser and Marecic will leave now that both are gone. Owen Marecic was a two way player (FB/MLB) and he was a true leader that will be missed on Saturday’s. 

Chase Thomas and Shayne Skov are both studs that completely shut down the entire backfield of the Hokies in the Orange Bowl.

Skov (6’3”, 244 pounds) lacks exceptional speed, but has solid instincts and just jumps to the ball after the snap. Thomas (6’4", 240) is another gorilla of a linebacker, but is more of a pass rusher who just comes off the corner with a nasty edge to him.

Both are premier linebackers in the Pac-12, but the play of the rest of the linebackers (Murphy, Bergen and Debniak) will tell us how great this defense truly is.

Drama's Forecast

Stanford caught all by surprise last season since most did not even have them cracking the top 10, let alone the top five. They came into the season with hardly any hype, but the play of Luck and the physicality that Harbaugh brought to the defense was simply unforgettable.

This defense played fast, but more so had they had the physicality that just dominated the opposition. They will go up against quite the offenses in Arizona, Oregon, Notre Dame and Southern California.

Those four games will be nail biters in which the defense needs to be nearly as dominant as it was when Harbaugh and Fangio were calling all the shots. 

I look for Stanford to win at least eight games and feel that they will win the Pac-12 if they can knock off the Ducks at home.

A loss there would send this team down a few notches from last season. Still, they will be playing in a solid bowl game and will have a chance to send off Andrew Luck as a winner.

Returning Starters: Five offense/ Six defense

Projected Record: 10-3, 6-3

Projected Finish: Second in North, Fourth Overall

Projected Bowl: Holiday Bowl