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Jeff Allen and five |
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Cardinal Football Closes Out Home Season vs. Washington State
Game features two teams looking for first Pac-10 win of the season.
November 8, 1998
THE CARDINAL: Stanford saw its losing streak reach six after Saturday's 34-9 loss to USC ... The Cardinal (1-8, 0-6) finishes the season with a home date against Washington State on Saturday and the 101st Big Game at Cal on November 21 ... A year ago, Stanford scared the Rose Bowl-bound Cougars in Pullman, befor falling 38-28 ... The Cardinal led 28-27 early in the fourth quarter ... Stanford has won the last three meetings with WSU at Stanford Stadium (1996, '92, '90) and five of the last six overall since 1990.
FINAL HOME GAME FOR SENIORS: Only six seniors on the Cardinal roster are in their final year of eligibility and Saturday's game with WSU marks their final game at Stanford Stadium ... The departing seniors include FL Jeff Allen, OT Brian Donoghue, OG Andrew Kroeker, P/PK Kevin Miller, OLB Donnie Spragan and OT Geoff Wilson.
A YEAR AGO: Washington State entered the November 15 game with Stanford with an 8-1 overall record and a 5-1 Pac-10 record ... The Cougars were on the verge of their first Pac-10 title and Rose Bowl appearance in 66 years while the Cardinal came into the game with a four-game losing streak ... WSU led 27-14 in the third quarter, but two Stanford touchdowns put the Cardinal on top 28-27 with 14:32 to play ... Troy Walters' 77-yard punt return gave Stanford its one point lead ... But the Cougars came back to retake the lead on their ensuing drive after Michael Black, who rushed for 173 yards on the day, scored from four yards out ... The Cougars added a field goal with 4:23 to play to take a 10-point lead.
LAST WEEK: After averaging 488 yards in total offense the previous three games, Stanford was held to a season low 221 yards in total offene and 166 passing yards in a 34-9 loss to USC ... QB Todd Husak had thrown for 1,204 yards the previous three games, but the Trojans limited Husak to a season low 138 yards on 18-of-33 ... The Trojans took a 7-0 lead after taking the opening drive in for a TD ... But the Cardinal came right back to tie the score a 7-7 on a four-yard pass play from Husak to Troy Walters ... USC took over after that and shut down the Cardinal offense the rest of the way, allowing Stanford just 148 yards in total offense the remainder of the game ... Stanford committed four turnovers which led to 20 points for the Trojans ... Defensively, the 329 yards allowed by the Cardinal represented a season best.
AIR CARDINAL: Stanford's 450 passing yards vs. Oregon State on October 10 and the 422 yards on October 31 at UCLA represents two of the top four passing games in Stanford history ... The school record is 581 yards through the air in 1981 vs. Arizona State with John Elway at quarterback ... Number-two is the 450 yards vs. OSU, number-three is a 430 yard performance in 1978 vs. Washington State and the fourth highest single game passing total in school history is the 422 yards vs. UCLA two weeks ago.
THE WALTERS WATCH: Pre-season All-America FL Troy Walters, who has seen limited playing time this season due to ankle injuries, is on the verge of becoming the school record holder for most career receiving yards ... Walters, who has one more year of eligibility remaining after the '98 season, is currently fifth all-time with 2,281 career receiving yards ... He needs 202 yards to break Justin Armours record of 2,482 ... Walters sat out the second half of last weeks game with USC, adding to a list of games in which an ankle injury kept him from the field ... He has also missed all of two games (North Carolna, Oregon) and most of two others (three quarters vs. Arizona, all but two plays at Notre Dame) ... Walters, who set a Stanford record by catching 86 passes for 1,206 yards in 1997, caught 26 passes for 482 yards (18.5 ypc) in the three games prior to last weeks USC game ... Still, he ranks 29th in the NCAA and fifth in the Pac-10 in receiving yards per game at 90.1 ... He caught 10 passes for 192 yards against second-ranked UCLA on October 31,his fourth 10-plus reception game of his career and second in a row (10 catches for 131 yards vs. ASU) ... The 192 receiving yards in a game tied James Lofton as the fourth best single game performance in Stanford history ... Walters has played in just four full games this season (San Jose State, Oregon State, Arizona State, UCLA), during which he has 32 receptions for 553 yards (17.3 ypc) - a per game average of 8.0 catches for 138 yards Walters suffered an ankle sprain in the first quarter of the second game of the season vs. Arizona (September 12) and did not return to the starting lineup until game six vs. Oregon State (October 10) ... Walters, the son of Minnesota Vikings assistant coach Trent Walters, has a year of eligibility remaining in 1999 and could contend for every Cardinal receiving record by the time he leaves The Farm.
WALTERS IN THE RECORD BOOK: Troy Walters moved into a tie for fourth place on Stanford's all-time reception list with 154 and his 2,281 receiving yards is fifth all-time on The Farm ... He is tied with Justin Armour (1991-94) and Jeff James (1984-87) for the #4 spot ... He is also #8 on the schools career all-purpose yards chart with 3,201 yards, just 10 yards away from moving into the #7 spot ... He moved into the schools all-time top-10 list in receiving touchdowns with 14 after his four-yard TD reception against the Trojans ... Walters is tied with three others for ninth on the TD list ... He is eight receptions shy of tying Vincent White (1979-82) for the #3 slot on the all-time receptions chart ... Walters is one of only seven players in Stanford football history to have gained over 3,000 yards in all-purpose running ... Next up for Walters is Damon Dunn (1994-97), #7 on the all-purpose chart with 3,210 career yards ... All of his accomplishments have been achieved in less than three years ... He has started only 17 games in his Cardinal career (all 11 in 1997, six in 1998).
Career Receptions Career Receiving Yardage 1. Darrin Nelson, 1977-81 214 1. Justin Armour, 1991-94 2,482 2. Brad Muster, 1984-87 194 2. Ken Margerum, 1977-80 2,430 3. Vincent White, 1979-82 162 3. Darrin Nelson, 1977-81 2,368 4. Justin Armour, 1991-94 154 4. Ed McCaffrey, 1986-90 2,333 Jeff James, 1984-87 154 5. Troy Walters, 1996-98 2,281 Troy Walters, 1996-98 154 6. Brian Manning, 1993-96 2,280 7. Ed McCaffrey, 1986-90 146 Emile Harry, 1981-84 2,270 Glyn Milburn, 1990-92 141 8. Jeff James, 1984-87 2,265 Chris Walsh, 1988-91 141 9. Tony Hill, 1973-76 2,225 Ken Margerum, 1977-80 141 10. Mike Tolliver, 1979-83 1,825HUSAK'S NUMBERS: First-year starting quarterback Todd Husak is putting up numbers that will rank him among the all-time top-10 single season leaders in school history in passing yards, completions and attempts ... After nine games, Husak has completed 204-of-382 for 2,664 yards and 15 TDs ... He ranks 10th in the nation and second in the Pac-10 in total offense, averaging 293 yards per game ... He also leads the conference in passing yards per game at 296 ... He has a chance to become only the third QB in school history to pass for over 3,000 yards in a season ... The other two are Steve Stenstrom, who threw for a school and Pac-10 record 3,627 yards in 1993, and John Elway, who in 1982 threw for a school and Pac-10 record 3,242 yards ... Husak is on pace to pass for 3,256 yards ... Husak is also on pace to break the school record for most pass attempts in a season ... He is averaging 42.4 attempts per game - 467 over an 11-game season Stenstrom holds the school record of 455 set in 1993 ... Husak's 1.66 TD passes per game would give him 18 for the season, which would rank among the top -10 all-time on The Farm ... Also, the Cardinal QB is on pace to record 249 pass completions, which would place fourth on Stanford's single season chart ... Husak has thrown for over 300 yards four times this season and over 400 onn two occasions ... He had his first 300-yard passing game against North Carolina on Sept. 19 when he completed 23-for-38 for 313 yards ... In the first half, Husak completed 16-of-24 for 227 yards and one TD ... His next 300-yard passing game occurred vs. Oregon State (October 10) when he broke the schools single game record by throwing for 450 yards on 26-of-48 ... Three weeks ago at Arizona State, he threw for 335 yards and two TDs (24-of-48) ... Against second-ranked UCLA (October 31), he thew for 419 yards - the third highest single game total in school history ... Husak placed his name in the Cardinal record book by throwing 54 passes - the sixth highest single game total in school history - and the most under head coach Tyrone Willingham, in his debut as the starter in the season opener vs. San Joe State ... He completed 29-of-54 for 298 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions against the Spartans ... Husak was not officially named the Cardinal's starter until September 1, just four days before the season opener ... His 298 yards passing in his starting debut was better than the debuts of the top eight passers in Stanford history, including John Elway in 1980 (250 yards) and Heisman Trophy winner Jim Plunkett in 1968 (277 yards) ... Husak's father, Dr. Bill Husak, is the athletic director at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.
Husak in 1998 (9 games): PC-204 PA-382 Yds-2,664 TD-15 11-game projection: PC-249 PA-467 Yds-3,256 TD-18
In The Record Book (Husak stats are full season projections)
Season Passing Season Attempts Season TD Passes
1. S. Stenstrom, 93 3,627 1. Stenstrom, 93 455 1. Elway, 80 27
2. John Elway, 82 3,242 2. Elway, 82 405 Stenstrom, 93 27
3. Steve Dils, 78 2,943 Paye, 85 405 3. Elway, 82 23
Husak, 98 3,256 Husak, 98 467 4. Dils, 78 22
Husak, 98 18
HUSAK SETS PASSING RECORD: Quarterback Todd Husak broke a 20-year old Stanford record for most passing yards in a game when he threw for 450 against Oregon State (October 10) Husak, in his first year as the Cardinals starter, eclipsed the previous record of 430 set in 1978 by Steve Dils Husak completed 26-of-48 against OSU to go along with TD passes of 27 yards to DeRonnie Pitts and 30 yards to Dave Davis Husak also has the third highest single game total in school history- a 419 yard performance last week against UCLA
Top-10 Passing Games
1. Todd Husak, 98 vs. OSU 450 5. S. Stenstrom, 94 vs. UCLA 408
2. Steve Dils, 78 vs. WSU 430 7. John Elway, 82 vs. Ohio St. 407
3. Todd Husak, 98 vs. UCLA 419 8. S. Stenstrom, 93 vs. Oregon 407
4. John Elway, 81 vs. Purdue 418 9. S. Stenstrom, 93 vs. OSU 407
5. John Paye, 85 vs. Oregon 408 10. Jason Palumbis, 90 vs. SJSU 387
HUSAK IN THE PAC-10 RECORD BOOK: Todd Husak's 450 passing yards against Oregon State is the 10th highest single game total in Pac-10 Conference history ... Husak also entered the conference record book in the OSU game, but was quickly replaced ... He ran his string of consecutive passes without an interception to 159, breaking the Pac-10 season record of 150 set in 1996 by Pat Barnes of Cal ... Later in the game, however, Husak's record was broken by the Beavers Terrance Bryant, who ran his string to 170 before being intercepted.
HUSAK'S BIG THREE: Todd Husak threw for 1,204 yards over a three-game stretch from October 10-31 (Oregon State, Arizona State, UCLA) - the highest total in school history for a Cardinal quarterback in three successive games ... Husak, who threw for 450 yards vs. OSU, 335 vs. ASU and 419 against UCLA, surpassed John Elways 1982 back-to-back-to-back performance of 1,171 yards ... Other Cardinal signal-callers with impressive three-game numbers include John Paye in 1985 with 1,158 yards, Steve Dils in 1978 with 1,075 passing yards and Steve Stenstrom's 1993 total of 1,069.
PASSING ATTACK: Stanford's passing attack is on pace to become the most prolific in school history The Cardinal has thrown for 2,913 yards in nine games and is averaging 323.7 yards per game The school record is 3,709 set in 1993 Stanford needs 797 yards in its final two games to break the record ... As a team, the Cardinal is averaging 25 pass completions and 47 attempts per game ... Those numbers over an 11-game season would give Stanford 519 pass attempts and 274 completions The current team record for most pass attempts in a season is 474 set in 1993 ... Stanford currently ranks eighth in the NCAA and first in the Pac-10 in passing offense ... Stanford has thrown over 40 passes in eight of its nine games, including three games in which it threw over 50 passes.
Top Passing Teams in Stanford History
Year Head Coach / Quarterback Yards 1. 1993 Bill Walsh / Steve Stenstrom 3,709 2. 1994 Bill Walsh / Steve Stenstrom 3,358 3. 1982 Paul Wiggin / John Elway 3,311 4. 1981 Paul Wiggin / John Elway 3,066 ?? 1998 Tyrone Willingham / Todd Husak 3,560 (projected)PITTS' PLACE: Junior DeRonnie Pitts, in his first year as a starting wide receiver, is attempting become only the fourth player in school history to record over 1,000 receiving yards in a season ... He has caught 64 balls for 889 yards and six touchdowns in nine games ... He needs just 111 yards in the final two games of the season to reach the 1,000 plateau ... His per game averages of 7.1 receptions and 98.8 yards are not only among the best in college football, but they project to 78 receptions for 1,086 yards over an 11-game season ... He ranks ninth in the nation and second in the Pac-10 in receptions per game, and 18th nationally and second in the conference in receiving yards per game Pitts caught seven passes for a career-best 169 yards vs. Arizona State ... The 169 receiving yards is tied for 15th on Stanford's single game list ... Pitts has recorded four games of over 100 receiving yards and in his last six games, he has 45 receptions 711 and four touchdowns ... A native of Saginaw, Michigan, Pitts redshirted the 1996 season and was used in a reserve role last year, recording 13 receptions for 195 yards (15.0 ypc) and one touchdown in eight games.
DAVIS DETAILS: Sophomore WR Dave Davis, who redshirted as a freshman a year ago, has caught 48 passes for 707 yards and six touchdowns in his first nine games as a Cardinal ... No player in Stanford history has had a better start to his Cardinal career as a receiver than Davis ... Those numbers are better than the first nine games of each of the top 10 receivers in the Cardinal record book ... Davis' 5.3 receptions per game rank him 45th in the nation and sixth in the Pac-10, and his 78.6 receiving yards per game place him 48th in the NCAA and ninth in the Pac-10 ... On October 10 against Oregon State, he recorded career bests for both receptions (nine) and receiving yards (151) ... He has three 100-yard receiving games this season (127 vs. Arizona, 108 vs. North Carolina, 151 vs. Oregon State) and has a chance to become only the fourth (or fifth along with DeRonnie Pitts) player in school history to record over 1,000 receiving yards in a season ... He is on pace to catch 59 passes for 864 yards.
SMITH'S STATUS: Senior free safety Tim Smith continues to lead the Pac-10 in tackles, averaging 10.3 per game ... He has recorded at least 10 tackles in six of Stanford's nine games in 1998 ... In the last four games, Smith has 43 tackles, two interceptions, a blocked punt, two tackles-for-loss and a pass break-up ... Smith had 12 tackles and a blocked punt against Arizona State and a career-high 15 tackles (all unassisted) October 10 vs. Oregon State followed by the UCLA game in which he had 1l tackles, one interception and one pass break-up Smith, who redshirted the 1995 season as a quarterback, had 28 tackles, four interceptions and three sacks in 96 as the backup free safety ... He recorded four unassisted tackles in 97 before suffering the ACL injury on a special teams play in the second game of the year at North Carolina, forcing him to miss the remainder of the season ... A native of Coalinga, Calif., Smith has one more year of eligibility following the 98 campaign.
SPRAGAN'S SPREE: OLB Donnie Spragan recorded a career-high 11 tackles last Saturday vs. USC to go along with two sacks and two tackles-for-loss ... He also gave the Cardinal a fourth quarter safety with a quarterback sack in the end zone vs. the Trojans ... In the last three games, he has accounted for 24 tackles, five pass break-ups, two quarterback sacks, three tackles-for-loss and one interception ... He had 16 tackles through the first six games and 24 in the last three ... His three INTs rank him tied for sixth in the Pac-10 (.33 per game) ... He is attempting to become the first linebacker to lead Stanford in interceptions since Kevin Baird in 1980.
YOUTH MOVEMENT: To say that the Cardinal is a youthful team lacking in game experience is an understatement ... Consider the facts: of the 92 players on Stanford's roster, 54 had never played in a game prior to the start of the 98 season and only five are seniors in their final year of eligibility Nine players (4 offense, 5 defense) made their starting debuts against San Jose State in the season opener and 18 others played in their first collegiate game ... Making their first career starts against the Spartans were WR DeRonnie Pitts, QB Todd Husak, RB Coy Wire, FB Maxwell Stevenson, DE Sam Benner, NT Andrew Currie, DE Riall Johnson, FS Jamien McCullum and CB Ruben Carter ... Six true freshman and 18 sophomores (or redshirt freshman) have also played this season ... In Willingham's three previous seasons at Stanford, only two true freshman had played - and neither one played enough to earn a letter (Todd Husak and Juan-Carlos Lacey in '96) ... This season, no less than six true freshman have seen playing time: RB Brian Allen, WR Ryan Fernandez, OG Eric Heitmann, SS Tank Williams, ILB Cooper Blackhurst, CB Brian Taylor
TYRONE WILLINGHAM: Cardinal head coach Tyrone Willingham, the 1995 Pac-10 Coach of the Year, has compiled a 20-23-1 record in three-plus years on The Farm (1995-98) ... He has led the Cardinal to two bowl appearances and is only the third coach in school history to lead Stanford to a bowl game in his first two years on The Farm (the other two are Tiny Thornhill in 1933 and '34 and Bill Walsh in '77 and '78).
GAME FACTS
TV and Radio Information
TV No live television
Radio KTCT (1050 AM)
Ted Robinson (play-by-play),
Bob Murphy (color)
10:30 am pst pre-game
KZSU (90.1 FM) - student
Stanford (1-8, 0-6)
9/5 San Jose State L 23-35 9/12 Arizona* L, 14-31 9/19 North Carolina (Fox) W, 37-34 9/26 at Oregon* (FSBA) L, 28-63 10/3 at Notre Dame (NBC) L, 17-35 10/10 Oregon State* L, 23-30 10/22 at Arizona State* (Fox) L, 38-44 (ot) 10/31 at UCLA* (FX) L, 24-28 11/7 USC* (Fox Syn.) L, 9-34 11/14 Washington State* 12:30 pm 11/21 at California* (KGO) 12:30 pm
Washington State (3-6, 0-6)
9/5 Illinois W, 20-13 9/12 at Boise State W, 33-21 9/19 Idaho W, 24-16 9/26 at California* L, 14-24 10/3 at UCLA* L, 17-49 10/10 Oregon* L, 29-51 10/17 USC* L, 14-42 10/31 Arizona State* L, 28-38 11/7 at Arizona* L, 7-41 11/14 at Stanford* 12:30 pm 11/21 Washington* TBA
Pac-10 Standings
Pac-10 Overall
UCLA 6-0 8-0
Arizona 5-1 9-1
USC 5-2 7-3
Arizona State 4-2 5-4
Oregon 4-2 7-2
California 3-3 5-4
Washington 3-3 5-4
Oregon State 1-6 4-6
Stanford 0-6 1-8
Washington State 0-6 3-6
Media Services
Weekly Luncheon
Stanford head coach Tyrone Willingham hosts a weekly news conference each Tuesday throughout the 98 season beginning at 11:30 am in the Arrillaga Family Sports Center Selected Stanford players are also in attendance ... A teleconference from the opposing head coach is conducted.
Practices
All practices are open to the media and fans unless otherwise noted ... Media credentials for field access are required and can be obtained by contacting the Media Relations Office ... Players and coaches will be available to the media for approximately 15 minutes following each practice.
Willingham Availability
Monday-Thursday of each game week, Head Coach Tyrone Willingham will be available for interviews between 2:45-3:15 pm ... Please contact the Media Relations Office at least 24 hours in advance of your needs with your specific request ... Out-of-town phone interviews will also be conducted during this time period.
On-Line
All information and press releases on Stanford football can be found on the Cardinal website at gostanford.com ... Player bios, historical data, opponent information and all records can be found at gostanford.com ... Also, all Stanford football games are broadcast live on the internet ... The broadcasts can be accessed through the Stanford home page at gostanford.com or at broadcast.com.
Stanford Football '98
Fox Sports Bay Area will televise Stanford Football '98 each Sunday at 4:00 pm ... Each show will include comments and analysis from Cardinal head coach Tyrone Willingham as well as player features and interviews Brian Webber will host the show.
Satellite Feed
The Pacific-10 Conference weekly satellite feed will begin on Wednesday, September 9 and run through November 25 ... Satellite feeds are held each Wednesday from 11:00-11:30 am (pst) on Telstar 4, Transponder 20 (C-Band).
THE OPPONENT: About Washington State
Location: Pullman, Washington
Enrollment: 20,500
Nickname: Cougars
Colors: Crimson and Gray
President: Samuel H. Smith
Athletic Director: Rick Dickson
Head Coach: Mike Price
Record at WSU: 56-55 (10th season)
Overall Record: 102-99 (18th season)
1998 record: 3-6 (0-6 Pac-10)
1997 Final Record: 10-2 (7-1 Pac-10)
SID: Rod Commons (509) 335-2684
Noting the Cougars
Washington State lost at Arizona 41-7 on Saturday night to fall to its sixth straight defeat ... Arizona racked up 361 yards on the ground (41 attempts) to just 78 for WSU (36 attempts) ... Kevin Brown, a transfer from City College of San Francisco, rushed for 126 yards on 23 carries to lead the Cougars, and now has a team-high 759 yards (156 carries) ... Wide reciver Leaford Hackett also caught eight passes for 103 yards, including a 35-yard touchdown reception from Paul Mencke in the first quarter ... Washington State has allowed 221 points in its last five games, and has been outscored 114-38 in three Pac-10 road games this season ... The Cougars boast the top kickoff returner in the nation in senior Dee Moronkola (34.14 avg; 14 ret, 478 yds, 2 TD) ... Moronkola, a defensive back from Richmond, California and DeAnza High School, also has eight break-ups and two interceptions ... The Cougars are coming off the third Rose Bowl appearance in school history and first since 1931 ... Michigan defeated Washington State 21-16 in that game despite 331 yards passing from Ryan Leaf ... The Cougars lost 27 lettermen from that squad, including 16 starters (9 offense, 7 defense).
Head Coach Mike Price
Price returned to Washington State as head coach in 1989, after playing quarterback and defensive back for WSU from 1965-67 and serving two stints as an assistant in Pullman (1969-70 & 1974-77) ... Pririce spent eight season as head coach at Weber State (1981-88), and compiled a 46-44 before taking the WSU job on March 14, 1989 ... He has led the Cougars to three bowl appearances, including the Rose Bowl last season.
Series History
Stanford has won five of the last six meetings to take a 27-20-1 series advantage ... The Cardinal has also won nine of the last 12 meetings between the teams at Stanford Stadium dating back to 1967 ... In their last meeting on The Farm, Stanford posted a 33-17 win before 30,280 on November 16, 1996.
Stat Rankings
Stanford
Category Avg. NCAA/Pac-10 Rushing Offense 80.8 109/10 Passing Offense 323.7 8/1 Total Offense 404.44 33/4 Scoring Offense 23.7 64/8 Rushing Defense 204.9 98/10 Pass Eff. Defense 147.3 106/10 Total Defense 458.9 104/10 Scoring Defense 37.1 108/10 Turnover Margin -.44 75(t)/7
Washington State
Category Avg. NCAA/Pac-10 Rushing Offense 123.3 87/6 Passing Offense 231.6 38/7 Total Offense 354.89 58/8 Scoring Offense 20.7 78/9 Rushing Defense 193.6 91/9 Pass Eff. Defense 116.2 44/5 Total Defense 400.7 89/7 Scoring Defense 32.8 108/7 Turnover Margin -1.33 109(t)/10
Individual Stat Rankings
Stanford
Todd Husak, Total Offense/gm (293.00)
10th NCAA, 2nd Pac-10
DeRonnie Pitts, Receptions/gm (7.11)
9th NCAA, 2nd Pac-10
Dave Davis, Receptions/gm (5.33)
45th NCAA, 6th Pac-10
Troy Walters, Receptions/gm (5.14)
47th (tie) NCAA, 7th Pac-10
DeRonnie Pitts, Receiving yds/gm (98.78)
18th NCAA, 2nd Pac-10
Troy Walters, Receiving yds/gm (90.14)
29th NCAA, 5th Pac-10
Dave Davis, Receiving yds/gm (78.56)
48th NCAA, 9th Pac-10
Washington State
Nian Taylor, Receiving yds/gm (83.13)
36th NCAA, 6th Pac-10
Lamont Thompson, Interceptions/gm (0.44)
19th (tie) NCAA, 3rd (tie) Pac-10
Dee Moronkola, Kickoff returns/avg (34.14)
1st NCAA, 1st Pac-10
Noting Stanford
Stanford's schedule was ranked prior to the season as the ninth toughest in college football...The Cardinal has already played pre-season top-10 North Carolina and Arizona State, and nationally ranked Oregon, Arizona, Notre Dame and UCLA...Seven of Stanford's opponents played in post-season bowl games a year ago. Stanford, which leads the Pac-10 in passing, is averaging 30 yards more per game than UCLA, the conferences number two passing team...The Cardinal is averaging 323.7 yards per game through the air while the Bruins are next at 293.5 yards per game...Stanford last led the conference in passing in 1993 and 94. Only four times in Stanford history (1951-97) has the Cardinal rushed for less than 1,000 yards in a season - but that's exactly where the 98 Cardinal are headed...Stanford's 80.8 yards rushing per game puts the Cardinal on pace to gain 888 yards for the season...The school record (as far back as records indicate) is held by the 1993 team that gained 700 yards...Oddly enough, that 93 team also set the school record for most passing yards in a season at 3,709...Stanford gained just 825 rushing yards in 1983, 941 in 1985 and 994 in 1989. Stanford has scored at a 75% clip in the Red Zone while its opponents have scored at a 90% rate ... In 32 trips in the Red Zone, Stanford has scored 24 times (16 TDs, eight FGs) ... Opponents,however, have scored 24 TDs and four field goals in 31 trips in the Red Zone. Stanford is 13-0 in games it out-rushes its opponents under Tyrone Willingham (95-98). The Cardinal's starting five offensive lineman have combined to start 129 games over the past four years, including all nine in 1998 Leading the way is C Mike McLaughlin, who has started the past 32 games OT Geoff Wilson and OG Andrew Kroeker have started 28 each, OT Jeff Cronshagen has started 24 and OG Joe Fairchild 17. Stanford ranks first in the Pac-10 in both fewest penalties and fewest penalty yards ... The Cardinal have been penalized just 59 times for 436 yards in nine ganes. Stanford's defense boasts two of the top six tackles in the Pac-10 ... Tim Smith ranks first in the conference with 10.3 per game, while Marc Stockbauer is sixth (8.4). Saturday's contest with Washington State is Stanford's final home game of the 1998 season ... The Cardinal opens its 1999 home schedule against UCLA on September 25, and will also face San Jose State (October 2), Washington State (October 9), Oregon State (October 16), California (November 20) and Notre Dame (November 27) at Stanford Stadium.In the Record Book
Season Passing
1. Steve Stenstrom 1993 3,627 2. John Elway 1982 3,242 3. Steve Dils 1978 2,943 4. John Elway 1980 2,889 5. Steve Stenstrom 1994 2,822 6. Jim Plunkett 1970 2,715 7. John Elway 1981 2,674 8. Jim Plunkett 1969 2,673 9. Todd Husak 1998 2,664 10. John Paye 1985 2,589
Career Passing
1. Steve Stenstrom 1991-94 10,531
2. John Elway 1979-82 9,349
3. John Paye 1983-86 7,669
4. Jim Plunkett 1968-70 7,544
5. Guy Benjamin 1974-77 5,946
6. Jason Palumbis 1988-91 4,954
7. Chad Hutchinson 1996-97 4,235
8. Mike Boryla 1970-73 4,082
9. Dick Norman 1958-60 3,737
10. John Brodie 1954-56 3,594
Todd Husak 1996-98 3,448
Season Total Offense
1. Steve Stenstrom 1993 3,398 2. John Elway 1982 3,104 3. John Elway 1980 2,939 4. Jim Plunkett 1970 2,898 5. Steve Dils 1978 2,871 6. Jim Plunkett 1969 2,786 7. Steve Stenstrom 1994 2,714 8. Todd Husak 1998 2,637 9. Mark Butterfield 1995 2,581 10. John Paye 1985 2,549
Season Receptions
1. Troy Walters 1997 86
2. Brad Muster 1985 78
3. Gene Washington 1968 71
4. Vincent White 1982 68
5. Justin Armour 1994 67
Darrin Nelson 1981 67
7. Chris Walsh 1991 66
8. DeRonnie Pitts 1998 64
Glyn Milburn 1990 64
10. Ed McCaffrey 1990 61
Brad Muster 1986 61
Chris Burford 1959 61
Greg Baty 1985 61
Dave Davis 1998 48
Career All-Purpose Running
1. Darrin Nelson 1977-81 6,885 2. Glyn Milburn 1990-92 5,857 3. Vincent White 1979-82 4,662 4. Brad Muster 1984-87 4,624 5. Anthony Bookman 1994-97 3,874 6. Mike Mitchell 1993-97 3,731 7. Damon Dunn 1994-97 3,210 8. Troy Walters 1996-98 3,201 9. Jeff James 1984-87 2,659 10. Ron Inge 1973-76 2,635