Harbaugh brings a fresh energy and a sorely-needed positive vibe to the
Farm after working wonders in his coaching debut at the University of
San Diego. Sure, he’s bypassed a few rungs on the career ladder to get
here, but Stanford needed to roll the dice, and hopes it landed its own
version of Cal’s Jeff Tedford. More than ever before, a culture of
indifference has surrounded the institution, but Harbaugh has the right
amount of charisma to address it head-on. If nothing else, his offense
will eventually bridge the gap to the glory days, when the Cardinal was
fun to watch, even when it wasn’t winning a ton of games.
Stanford has always attracted better talent than other private schools
with strict academic standards, such as Vanderbilt and Duke, yet it’s in
jeopardy of slipping into football obscurity. Considering the talent
gap with the rest of the league, there are absolutely no expectations in
year one of the new regime, so the program will get a free pass in 2007
to adapt to a new system. If the Cardinal finish anywhere but the
conference cellar this fall, Harbaugh might generate consideration for
Pac-10 Coach of the Year.
What to watch for on offense: The Cardinal’s biggest strides this
fall must come on offense, where quarterback T.C. Ostrander and future
NFL receivers Evan Moore and Mark Bradford are all back for a fifth
year. The only direction is up after averaging a mere ten points a
game. Harbaugh wants to eventually feature the up-tempo, attacking
style of offense that typified Stanford teams of the past, but that
won’t be possible until the offensive line proves it can be more than
just a mild nuisance for opposing defenses.
What to watch for on defense: Scott Shafer, an up-and-coming
defensive innovator who most recently turned around the unit at Western
Michigan, is being counted on to do the same thing at Stanford. His
expertise working with defensive backs will be especially useful on a
Cardinal team that must replace two of last year’s top tacklers,
safeties Brandon Harrison and Trevor Hooper. As the defense matures,
it’ll do so around linebacker Clinton Snyder and nose tackle Ekom Udofia,
two kids that really stood out as freshmen a year ago.
The team will be far better if …the offensive line makes a
quantum leap from last season. The unit allowed a nation’s-highest 50
sacks a year ago, while paving the way for the Pac-10’s worst running
game. Given time, Ostrander has the ability and the receiving corps to
light a spark under the offense and pull off an upset or two in
2007.
The Schedule:
Outside of
the non-conference schedule, there’s absolutely nothing to complain
about. The Cardinal only has four road dates, all in conference play,
meaning it gets five Pac-10 home games. The USC game would be a loss no
matter where it’s played, so it might as well be on the road. Arizona,
Oregon State and Washington State are the other away games, taking up a
bulk of the season’s midsection, meaning there’s four at home to start
the season and two to end it. On the down side, seven of the eight at
home are against teams that went to bowls, including non-conference
dates against San Jose State, TCU and Notre Dame.
Best Offensive Player: Senior WR Mark Bradford. Whoever is taking snaps for the
Cardinal this fall will benefit immensely from the return of fifth-year
seniors, Bradford and Moore, after injuries cut short both of their 2006
seasons. At 6-2, Bradford is a polished route runner with reliable
hands and the fluid stride to make plays behind a secondary.
Best Defensive Player: Sophomore LB Clinton Snyder. In a lost
season for the program, the Cardinal defense did find a promising young
linebacker to build around for the next three seasons. Snyder is an
intense, high-motor defender, who pursues the ball extremely well in all
directions, despite packing 235 pounds on his 6-4 frame.
Key player to a successful season: Senior QB T.C. Ostrander. Can
he actually run the show? He’s the only real option at the moment, but
the coaching staff would love more competition and someone else to
emerge as a possible challenger. Ostrander has good size and has been
around long enough to know what he’s doing. Now he has to start
completing more than half his passes and throw more touchdown passes
than interceptions, neither or which he did last year.
The season will be a
success if
... the Cardinal wins four games. Baby steps are needed after a one-win
season. Even though the team should be better than last year (it’s
almost impossible to be worse), this is still the tenth-best team in the
league by far, at least until all the newcomers get their feet wet. Then
it’s the tenth team by a little. With nine games against 2006 bowl
teams, and the other three against Arizona, Washington State and
Washington, who’ll likely be in the mix for a bowl this year, and
without a non-conference layup, four wins would be a big step in
Harbaugh’s first year.
Key game:
Sept. 1 vs. UCLA. The
Cardinal won’t beat the Bruins in the season opener, but it’s an
important game to show right away that things have changed. Just being
more competitive in the new era would be big for the team’s psyche. Even
though UCLA is a top 15-caliber team, a big home blowout might be
disastrous for Stanford, with two weeks to stew before playing San Jose
State.
2006 Fun Stats:
- Third quarter scoring: Opponents 99; Stanford 20
- Sacks: Opponents 50 for 359 yards; Stanford 14 for 111 yards
- Average rushing yards per game: Opponents 210.5; Stanford 65.1