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Previewing The Pac In 10 Days – #6 Stanford Cardinal

Posted on 27. Aug, 2010 at 5:00 am by bbryan in Beer + Stuff, Football, NCAA Football, PAC-10 Football

Over the last 10 work days leading up to the start of the season we will be previewing the Pac-10 in reverse predicted order of finish. Previous reviews can be found here: 10 9 8 7

Last year: 6-3 T2

The Good - Sophomore quarterback Andrew Luck returns after a nice freshman campain where he threw for 2,575 yards, 13TDs and only 4 picks.  Returning with him is receivers Ryan Whalen and Chris Owusu along with 4 starters on the offensive line.  Stanford should be able to light up the scoreboard as Luck is a virtual lock to throw for 3,000+ yards.  Luck also is a good enough athlete to make you pay with his legs. He was 2nd on the team in both carries and rushing yards last season.  Coach Jim Harbaugh is one of the best coaches in the league and has done a very nice job turning Stanford around.  He’s a no nonsense coach and his teams always reflect his tough attitude.

The Bad (other than their hideous mascot) – As with most of the other teams in the bottom half of this preview,  (except Washington State, they are zero dimensional) Stanford is one dimensional.  Their defense was horrid against the pass last year, ranking 110th in the nation.  Things are so bad this year that stud fullback Owen Marecic will be playing iron man football lining up as one of the starting middle linebackers.  “I did go both ways in high school” (/snickers) says Marecic.  Marecic was a force at Jesuit, but this is not high school football, it’s the Pac-10.  Marecic having to play both ways exemplifies the lack of depth of talent Stanford has on the defensive side of the ball.  Stanford also has the problem of trying to replace Heisman candidate Toby Gerhart.  While Stepfan Taylor and Jeremy Stewart both seem solid, I don’t think teams will be game planning against them.

The Skinny - Stanford may be a little underrated here at 6 because there is not much difference between the 4th, 5th and 6th place teams this year.  However, with as bad as this defense is, Luck is going to have a lot of pressure to perform every week as Stanford will need to be in the upper 30s to 40s to win games.  This is not a good formula for winning football.  Last year having Gerhart gave Stanford the game changer they needed to compete for a Pac-10 title.  Without him this year the good defensive teams will be able to slow Stanford down.  They will win some shootouts and lose some shootouts.

The Prediction: 5-4

Tags: Pac-10 Preview, Stanford Cardinal football, Stanford football