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2016 Positional Preview: Quarterbacks

In the spring of 2012, the last time David Shaw had a quarterback to replace, Brett Nottingham and Josh Nunes were the only real candidates for the job. After three years of watching the greatest quarterback in Stanford history, the fanbase was understandably nervous about what would come next.

It's important to remember that both Nottingham and Nunes had been highly touted recruits. Nunes was a senior and a four-star prospect who had signed with the Cardinal in 2009, and Nottingham, a junior, had arrived in 2010 with four stars of his own. Sure, there'd be a step down from Andrew Luck, but with two-time thousand-yard rusher Stepfan Taylor returning and a typically strong offensive line, there wasn't a great deal of concern, just curiosity.

Most fans were pulling for Nottingham, figuring that it made more sense to choose the younger quarterback, but Nunes was eventually named the starter during the week before opening day. (We know what happened next -- although Nunes had some spectacular games, his inconsistency allowed for the mid-season emergence of Kevin Hogan, who would eventually lead the Cardinal to three Rose Bowls and carve himself a place on Stanford's Mt. Rushmore of quarterbacks.)

The 2016 Schedule

The Pac-12 released the 2016 schedule last week, and Stanford's 2015 conference championship obviously didn't earn it any preferential treatment from commissioner Larry Scott and his minions.

The first reaction has to be that the home schedule in even years is terribly boring. Aside from USC on September 17th, there isn't a single home game that quickens the pulse. There's no one really to blame for this, obviously. A few years ago, during the first season of Levi's Stadium, there was a preliminary agreement between Stanford and Cal to play the 2014 Big Game at Levi's and push what would've been Cal's home game to 2015. This would've helped Stanford's home schedule issue tremendously, putting two of its marquee opponents, Notre Dame and Cal, on an opposite rotation.

But the Bears backed out, so Stanford is stuck with Oregon, Notre Dame, and Cal in the odd years, and USC in the even years. Games with those teams will always be high interest, but everything else is cyclical. Twenty years ago, who would've thought anyone on either side would be interested in Stanford vs. Oregon? It just happens that right now the rest of the schools on the even-year home slate are kind of vanilla. 

My next thought is that weeks three through seven will be more than difficult, one of the tougher stretches in the conference, I'm sure.

Anyway, here's a quick review of the schedule with some preliminary thoughts on each team.