Let's start here: we won the Pac12 last year, finished #3. OK, Got it ?!
Since 2011, very few pundits have picked Stanford to win the Pac12 crown: We did it 3 of last 4. Not just the North — the Pac12, and then 2 for 3 in the Rose Bowl.
At Pac12 Media Days: Finally 20 of 33 Sports writers picked Stanford to win the league title for the first time since WW2. The Big One.
Here’s where the under-rating of Cardinal is off the mark among national pundits:
* Frosh or new QBs have a great track record in NCAA at highly competitive levels (OHST, CLEM, UCLA with Rosen last year, etc); Chryst or Burns will be fine. And, LOOK AT ALL THE WEAPONS TO GIVE THE BALL TO !! Luck didn’t have this skill level at every position !
* Shaw is now REALLY comfortable with his playbook – unlike 2014 or the NORW opener last year. We don’t open with a down note in 2016. - and OUR Heisman winner is returning (unlike Bama’s) ! Plus all the WRs and TEs, plus B.Love, two FBs.
* Everyone thought the 2013 Defense (Skov, Murphy, Gardner) couldn’t be topped. WRONG!
2014 was BETTER ! But the Offense didn’t gel. RELOAD.
* Sure, three big guys are gone on the O-Line — but every guy lined up now played last year. They do Tunnel Working.
* The D-Line will surprise. Thomas as the Beast Anchor; Phillips steps in, plus Nate Lohn, Watkins, Kuametule, Cotton — ADD BIG Mike Williams 4*FR out of Texas. We go 6 or 8 deep at LB; they come in like lines in hockey.
* Under Coach Akina, I posit this is the best secondary to ever play at Stanford. All 4-stars.
SCHEDULE:
Week 1) KAST: Good tuneup, but no QB for Wildcats. Snyder is a hall of fame coach, but he can’t compete anymore in Big12 recruiting.
2) BYE.
3) USC: Licking our chops to get Trojans early before their new QB settles in. They have great RBs and WRs, but their Defense was better last year. Consider: We BEAT Troy like a drum TWICE last year — neither time in our home stadium. They were #2 in 2012, when we won in PA. Lather, rinse, repeat.
4) UCLA: This game is at a "neutral site" — the Rose Bowl !!! McCaff LOVES that venue ! UCLA has more holes on O-Line than we do. We thump Rosen — again.
5) Sept 30: @WASH: This is not a TRAP game; this is the PIVOT game of the season — more important than Oregon or Cal. And a Friday. Ugh. Our Defense must score points to beat Huskies — and I think they can. Most hostile venue in the Pac12. A Gaskin vs McCaffrey showcase.
6) WAST: Nobody will be surprised by the Cougs anymore — legit team; Great passing. We will be ready; fortunately no windy rain storm in PA.
7) @NDAM: Our team, even without Hogan, is better than the team that took #2 NDAM to OT in 2012. We suffered a 4th down Hail Mary in the South Bend slop of 2014. Sure, Our Lady wants revenge from last year — and if both teams are undefeated on Oct 15, this is a Playoff Play-in game AGAIN. Boffo TV ratings. McCaffery "wakes up his own echoes".
We have won 5 of the last 7 (2009-2015), the Harbaugh-Shaw Era. Both teams have been ranked the last five games, and each will be ranked this year also, maybe top ten.
Imagine the headline: "Christian beats Notre Dame" -- a KEY tiff for recruiting in 2017. Ukropina splits the uprights on TD Jesus Mosaic, completing the exacta ! Righteous!
8) COLO: We slay Buffs once more. Homecoming. Let the regulars heal a bit from NDAM. More playing time for capable backups.
9) @ZONA: Nice road trip to Tucson in Oct., Decent Offense, but might be one of the poorest defenses in the league.
10) ORST: Add another pelt to the list. Beavs are quick, but lack size and depth. Very difficult to get 4-star recruits to Corvallis.
11) @OREG: This is the deciding game of the match for Pac12 dominance. We upset them in OT up there in 2012, and thrashed Mariota & Co in PA 2013. Then Mariota danced on our heads in 2014 (Heisman), and they edged us in in a thriller at PA last year. Their Defense is in major makeover after finishing WORST in stopping scores last season. Plus they lost Off-Co Scott Frost (now head coach at UCF);They don't have Mariota They lost their bowl game vs TCU in spectacular 2H meltdown, while we stomped the yard on #5 IOWA. Eugene in Nov is NEVER nice -- but our run game and Defense are superior.
12) @CAL: Hardly a "road" game. Sleep in. And, without #1 NFL draft pick QB Goff and the WRs, Cal just sucks (but new WRs are very good). Maybe they blow. Who's their QB?
13) Nov 26, RICE: Fine tuning and injury recovery at home against a team that missed a bowl last season.
Pac12 Champ game vs an LA school. I think vs UCLA; USC suffers toughest schedule in USA, opening with BAMA, while UCLA misses both WASH and OREG. Bruins have QB Rosen; Trojans are training a first year QB and also lost D-Line beef. Only Stanford or Oregon have ever won the Pac12.
Seriously, we will be favored in every game (close @WASH, @NDAM). Seattle is the big one. No letup. Brutal Intelligence rides again. Shaw is hitting his stride.