Pac-10 Week 10 Notes and Observations: Stanford Cardinal
Stanford Cardinal 6-3 Overall (5-2 Conference)
This Week’s Score: Stanford 52 – Oregon 41
Next Week’s Opponent: @USC
“This was definitely my biggest win since I’ve been here at Stanford. I think it’s definitely bigger than the USC win because it gets us to that bowl game. All our seniors, the goal coming in was to be a bowl team. This was by far the biggest win. The students storming the field, that was an awesome feeling.”- Toby Gerhart
Sure Stanford beat arguably the hottest team in college football last Saturday, but like the amazing Toby Gerhart said, the real accomplishment was notching win number six. Now, for the first time in eight years, the Cardinal are bowl eligible. Heading into this brutal four game season-ending stretch (Oregon, @USC, Cal, Notre Dame), I wasn’t convinced that Jim Harbaugh’s team could secure bowl eligibility. But after watching the way this team played against the Ducks, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Stanford win out.
Attention NFL scouts, GM’s, and coaches… if you still have reservations about RB Toby Gerhart’s pro potential, you should be fired immediately. If the season ended today, Gerhart would win my vote for Pac-10 Player of the Year. He put on a show Saturday, ripping through the normally sturdy Ducks D for 233 yards and three TDs. Gerhart is now the second leading rusher in America with 1,217 yards (5.2 YPC), and his 16 TDs are also second nationally.
As phenomenal as Gerhart has been, the reason Stanford now ranks 14th nationally in total offense is because of how balanced the attack is. Against Oregon, the Cardinal ran for 254 yards and threw for 251. QB Andrew Luck looks nothing like a freshman to me at this point, and he had another fantastic day (12/21 251 yards 2 TDs 0 Ints). WR Chris Owusu continues to be one of the most reliable deep threats in the Pac-10, as he caught four passes for 111 yards and 1 TD.
Obviously the Stanford D needs to tighten up in these next three weeks, but Saturday’s effort against an explosive Oregon offense is somewhat understandable (Cardinal D allowed 570 yards of offense).
Next up for Jim Harbaugh’s club is a huge game at USC. History was made the last time the Cardinal played at the Coliseum. A win over the Trojans this Saturday would not be nearly as surprising.
