Stanford Cardinal

Head Coach

Jim Harbaugh	2nd year
07-08	4-8
PAC-10	2-6
FCR	90

Previous Season Wins

California Preview by Chris Farrelly

Head Coach - Hate to break it to the Cardinal fans, but I don’t see them beating USC again. Jim Harbaugh did well in his first season leading Stanford to four wins following their one win campaign on 06’. They return lots of experience and have seventeen starters back but the depth is lacking and the competition in the PAC-10 never lets up. Harbaugh has his work cut out for him but his enthusiasm is contagious and he clearly has the program headed in the right direction.

Quarterback - Junior Tavita Pritchard returns at quarterback for Stanford, he threw for 1,114 yards last season but had only five TD’s to go with his nine interceptions. He will be in a battle to claim the starting spot this fall with Michigan transfer Jason Forcier, sophomore Alex Loukas and incoming freshman Andrew Luck. Expect the battle to extend to the start of the season as Harbaugh looks to find the right man to call the signals.

Running Backs - The Cardinal are solid at running back with senior Anthony Kimble, he’s one of Stanford’s most talented athletes and rushed for 509 yards last season despite missing time due to injury. Toby Gerhart and sophomore Tyrone McGraw and Jeremy Stewart provide quality depth and fullback Owen Merecics’ main job will be to open holes for the tailback.

Receivers - Junior Richard Sherman is the leading returning receiver for Stanford, last season he had 39 receptions for 651 yards and four scores and has the upside to improve on those numbers this season. Sophomores Doug Baldwin and Ryan Whalen will both be in the mix on the outside. Returning at tight end is junior Jim Dray, who is a force in the run game.

Offensive Line - At center senior Alex Fletcher is going to anchor the line this season with his experience and ability to open holes for the run game. They also return both starters on the outside in junior Chris Marinelli at right tackle and senior Allen Smith at left tackle. The guards will be new with senior Gustav Rydtsedt on the left and on the right will be sophomore Andrew Phillips. Look for the Cardinal to go with a more power attack this fall to better utilize the talents at their disposal.

Defensive Line - Three starters return upfront with ends Pannel Egboh, a senior and junior Erik Lorig along with junior nose tackle Ekorn Udofia. Udofia is an excellent run stopper and both ends apply great pressure upfield, this might be one the best defensive lines seen at Stanford in a long time.

Linebackers - They return all three starters led by junior Clinton Snyder who’ll man the middle, he’s an excellent pass rusher and led the team with eigth sacks last season. On the outside will be senior Pat Maynor and sophomore Chile Amajoyi both of whom played well in Snyder’s shadow last fall.

Defensive Backs - With juniors Austin Yancy at the strong safety and Bo McNally at free safety the secondary will be strong; McNally led the team with 114 tackles and added two interceptions for the Cardinal. Senior Wopamo Osaisai returns and is going to hold down one of the corner positions, look for junior Kris Evans and sophomores Mark Mueller and Corey Gatewood to vie for time at the other corner.

Special Teams - Handling all of the kicking duties this fall will be redshirt freshman David Green, he showed this spring that he’s got the talent to do it. Handling the returns for Stanford this year will be Doug Baldwin and Chris Hobbs.

Schedule - Seven road games for an established program like Stanford shouldn’t happen but when you play in the PAC-10 you never get the same schedule that a Big 10 school enjoys, that would be the anti-West Coast bias. They’ll beat San Jose St but out of conference at TCU and Notre Dame will be tough, they also must play at Arizona St, UCLA, Oregon and close this season at Cal. Stanford will take a step back in the W-L this year but they’ll upset someone, possibly Cal. Look for the Cardinal to end the year with only 2 wins.