This, of course, is where it all begins. There was concern in some corners due to the departures of All-America guard David DeCastro and All-Conference left tackle Jonathan Martin, and there were some growing pains early on, but it was business as usual for the offensive line by midway through the season. Here's what I wrote in last August's preview of this group:
At a certain point, college football observers will come to understand what card-carrying members of Mighty Card Nation already know. Stanford University produces Supreme Court Justices, Nobel Prize winners, and offensive linemen. When one group leaves, there will always be two or three players waiting to step in and fill the void. Because they've been admitted to the University, they will have the intellectual capacity to master the intracies of the position. Because of the coaching they receive, they will be prepared the first time they set foot on the field. Because the system often calls not only for a rotation of linemen, but also an entire herd of them in various power and hulk formations, they will be experienced.
At Stanford University, the offensive line is not rebuilt. It is reloaded. Today, tomorrow, and always.
The talent at the tight end position across America was deeper in 2012 than in most years, with UCLA's Joseph Fauria, Washington's Austin Seferian-Jenkins, and Notre Dame's Tyler Eifert dominating the preseason hype, but no tight end was better than Stanford's Zach Ertz.
As prolific as the Stanford offense has been over the past four seasons, there has been a startling lack of production from the wide receiver position. Ryan Whalen (57 receptions for 926 yards and 4 touchdowns) and Chris Owusu (37/682/5) were strong in 2009, Doug Baldwin (58/857/9) emerged in 2010, and Griff Whalen (56/749/4) led the way in 2011, but none of those players -- except perhaps Owusu -- were game changers. Not one of them kept defensive backs up at night, not one of them forced defensive coordinators to change their game plans. Predictably, there were few conference honors, with only Baldwin being named second-team all Pac-10 in 2010 and Whalen receiving honorable mention in '09 and '10.
When I wrote my running backs preview back in August, I talked about offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton's spring-time suggestion that Stepfan Taylor was good enough to run for 2,000 yards in 2012. He was good enough, sure, but there were simply too many other options in the backfield for him to get the carries necessary to reach that plateau. Too many other backs, people like Anthony Wilkerson, Kelsey Young, Ricky Seale, Remound Wright, and maybe even Barry Sanders, would see action and be effective enough to give Taylor a rest from time to time.
Last week's win clinched a bowl game, so we know the Cardinal will play at least thirteen games this season. The Pac-12 Championship game is also still a strong possibility, but with six games down I still consider this the midway point of the season. So rather than issuing grades based solely on last Saturday's performance, this week I'll be grading each unit on how they've done over the first half of the season. If you disagree with any of my grades, please let me know. Anyway, here we go...
Was the Cardinal defense dominant on Saturday evening? I'm not sure we can go that far, but anytime you hold a team to just a touchdown, you're doing something right. Let's take a quick look.
Quarterbacks: A Is that a surprise to anyone? Andrew Luck was operating at peak efficiency on Saturday night, but he also found time for some brilliance. He was 23 of 27 for 227 yards and three touchdowns, and he ran the ball three times for eleven yards. Oh, and he caught a thirteen-yard pass from Drew Terrell. He caught the ball one-handed while dragging his foot as he fell out of bounds. At this point I don't think I'd be surprised if Coach Shaw announced that he'd decided to use Luck to fill in for injured linebacker Shayne Skov the rest of the way. But perhaps more impressive than all that, Luck was actually calling plays for significant stretches of the game. You've got eight more chances to watch Andrew Luck play in a Stanford uniform; don't miss a single second.
Defensive Line: A It was more of the same from this group against Arizona. Matt Masafilo and Terrence Stephens don't always show up in the boxscore, but theirs is a thankless job. They have to erase blocks on the offensive line, cancelling out the numbers to allow the glamour boys in the linebacking corps to rack up tackles and sacks, but you can tell they've done their jobs well when the opposing team's rushing totals are low. The official stats show that Arizona ran for just 51 yards on 23 carries for a paltry 2.3 yards per rush. But even if you remove the negative sack yardage from that, the yardage only jumps up to 91, which is great. Ben Gardner had another impressive game, and he even has some numbers to back that up, with three total tackles, 2.5 for loss, and a sack.
No, everyone doesn't get an A+, but after Saturday night's dominant 37-10 win over the Arizona Wildcats, the grades are obviously pretty good. Take a look.
Quarterback: A This seemed like a "business as usual" kind of game for Andrew Luck. He wasn't spectacular, he didn't run over any linebackers, he didn't throw any forty-yard passes while falling down, but he was still the best player on the field. He finished with 325 yards on 20 of 31 passing with two touchdowns. He also had his best running game of the season, as he racked up thirty-six yards, including fifteen on a huge third-down conversion late in the second quarter. I'd take this game from Luck every Saturday and be thrilled.
Even after a fifty-four-point win in the opening week, the Cardinal had much to work on leading into their cross-country trip to play the Duke Blue Devils. How'd they do? Look no further.
Quarterbacks: A If there's one sign that Stanford fans are a bit high strung, it's this. There has been some concern about Andrew Luck. Still working with a somewhat truncated playbook, Luck opened things up a bit against Duke, and his numbers show it. He finsihed 20 of 28 for 290 yards and 4 TDs. Sure, he had the interception that was returned for a touchdown, but it was a deflection of a ball that wasn't poorly thrown, so we'll let that slide. He's still the best college quarterback you've ever seen.
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