2009 NCAA - Stanford
Third-year head coach Jim Harbaugh has the program headed in the right direction, with four and five-win seasons in his first two at The Farm. Harbaugh is also talking about throwing in an unconventional (for post-1970s football coaches) one-platoon system with several key players. Richard Sherman (WE/CB), Owen Marecic (FB/MLB), Michael Thomas (WR/CB) and Alex Debniak (LB/RB) are among at least a few who will get to see time on both sides of the ball in hopes that Harbaugh can address depth issues at those key spots while at the same time getting as many snaps as possible for his athletes and playmakers. Developing redshirt freshman Andrew Luck was the star of spring and should be the QB come fall, unseating incumbent Tavita Pritchard, who had just 10 touchdown passes and 13 picks in 2008. Smashing RB Toby Gerhart is one of several Pac-10 studs, but Harbaugh thinks he's the hands-down best back in the league.
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Stanford
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Ultimately, no matter what Harbaugh hopes to get out of his offense, the Stanford chances of bowling hinge on whether the defense can deliver. In the last three games, all losses, the defense allowed 35 or more and resembled nothing more than traffic cones on a highway. The secondary intercepted just seven passes, and will need to get better as defensive coordinator Ron Lynn has an aggressive front seven. The veteran unit returns mostly intact (adding the possible two-way players as well) and it ranked 11th in sacks in America in 2008. |
ASK the bookie? - Harbaugh has done a solid job thus far of getting The Tree to compete on a weekly basis. The non-conference schedule is tough, with a trip to Wake Forest and Notre Dame coming to town in the season finale as the highlights. Stanford plays seven teams that were bowl winners last season, and the Cardinal better make hay in the first eight weeks, because the four November games come all against teams who won bowls last season.
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