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Oct. 20, 1997
Stanford Prepares for UCLA with Bye Week
THE CARDINAL: Stanford takes this week off after suffering back-to-back Pac-10 losses to Arizona and Arizona State ... The Cardinal, once 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the Pac-10 and ranked 16th in the nation, now find themselves 4-3 overall and 2-2 in conference play and unranked ... Stanford returns to action on November 1 with a key Pac-10 home contest against UCLA (5-2, 3-1) ... The Cardinal finishes the season with four Pac-10 games - two of which are against nationally ranked teams (#13 UCLA, #10 Washington State) ... Stanford must win at least two games to qualify for post-season bowl consideration.
BYE WEEK SCHEDULE: Stanford will take Monday and Tuesday (Oct. 20-21) off before returning to practice on Wednesday, October 22 ... The Cardinal will practice on Thursday and Friday (Oct. 23-24), take Saturday off (Oct. 25) and return to its normal weekly schedule beginning Sunday (Oct. 26). Practices will be held Wednesday-Friday from 3:45-5:35 pm.
A YEAR AGO: Last year at this time, Stanford found itself 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the Pac-10 ... Stanford was coming off back-to-back losses at Oregon State (26-12) and at home against Arizona State (41-9) and had the same remaining schedule as it does this year: UCLA, USC, Washington State and Cal ... What transpired in those final four weeks surprised many and catapulted the Cardinal into the Sun Bowl ... And now, a year later, Stanford again finds itself with a two-game losing streak once again - the last of which a one-sided loss to ASU - and those same four opponents on the horizon.
THE FINAL FOUR: In the final four games of the regular season in 1996, Stanford utilized an improved defense, an opportunistic offense and several big plays to win all four ... The Cardinal outscored its opponents 120-78 - an average of 30-19 - and won the turnover battle by committing only four but forcing 12, which led to 40 points ... Defensively, Stanford limited those four opponents to an average of 86 yards on the ground, including just 27 rushing yards in the second half ... The big play was also a key factor in Stanford's resurgence ... Seven TDs were scored in those four games from 37-yards out or more, including a kickoff return, punt return, interception return, three pass plays of over 50 yards each and a reverse play.
FINISHING STRONG: In the last eight seasons (1989-96), Stanford owns a 20-6 record in the month of November, including a 6-1 record under Willingham the past two seasons ... Stanford finished the 1996 season by beating UCLA, USC, Washington State and California in the month of November ... The Cardinal has had only two seasons (1993, 1994) during this time in which it did not post a winning record in November ... In 1995, Stanford lost at USC 31-30 on Nov. 4, then finished the regular season by beating Washington State and Cal ... With its perfect 4-0 November record in 1996, Stanford has now won six straight November games over the last two seasons ... In Willingham's three years as a Cardinal assistant coach (1989-91), Stanford was 9-1 in November, including a 4-0 mark in 1991, 3-0 in 91 and a 2-1 reading in 1989 ... In his five seasons at Stanford, Willingham's teams are 15-2 in November.
ALL-TIME GREATS: Mike Mitchell and Anthony Bookman rank third and fourth, respectively, on Stanford's all-time rushing chart ... Mitchell has gained 2,305 career rushing yards while Bookman follows close behind with 2,285 ...Only Darrin Nelson (4,033 yards) and Brad Muster (2,940 yards) have gained more rushing yards in Stanford history than Mitchell and Bookman ... The Cardinal duo has established themselves as one of the finest pairs of running backs in college football in 1997 ... Both Bookman and Mitchell rushed for over 100 yards in three straight games (OSU, Oregon, Notre Dame), marking the first time in Stanford history that a pair of backs have each rushed for over 100 yards in three consecutive games ... Against Notre Dame, Bookman gained 142 yards on 14 carries, including a 58-yard touchdown run, while Mitchell carried the ball a career-high 29 times for 135 yards ... Each scored two touchdowns while leading Stanford to a 322-yard rushing day ... Combined, the duo has rushed for 1,018 yards and scored 10 touchdowns through seven games (562 yards, six TDs for Bookman; 456 yards, four TDs for Mitchell) ... They are averaging over 145 yards rushing per game.
HUTCH MOVES UP TO #8: Junior Chad Hutchinson (two years of eligibility remaining after the '97 season), in only his second year as the Cardinal's starting quarterback, moved into the top-10 on Stanford's all-time career passing chart - a list that includes many of the great names in Stanford football history ... Hutchinson has thrown for 3,769 yards in his 18-game career (Sun Bowl stats do not count), placing him eighth on the school's all-time list ... Hutchinson threw for 214 yards last week vs. ASU, moving him past Mike Cordova (1973-75), John Brodie (1954-56) and Dick Norman (1958-60) ... He is 313 yards shy of Mike Boryla (1970-73) for seventh on the all-time list (Boryla passed for 4,082 yards) ...Hutchinson is already regarded as one of the top two-sport athletes in the nation ... A former first round draft pick in baseball (26th pick overall by Braves, June, 1995), Hutchinson is in his second season as Stanford's starting quarterback ... He has been a starting pitcher for the Cardinal baseball team the past two seasons (15-6 record) and will enter the '98 season as one of the top pitching prospects in college baseball ... He is eligibile for the major league baseball draft in June, 1998 following his junior season ... As a quarterback, Hutchinson entered the '97 football season rated by Lindy's as the fifth best QB in the nation and number six in the nation by The Sporting News ... He began the '97 campaign by throwing for 302 yards in the season opener vs. San Jose State - the second 300-yard effort of his career ... He threw his third 300-yard game against Oregon (Sept. 27) when he completed 21-of-31 for 340 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions ... The four TD passes were a career-best and tied him with several others for eighth place on Stanford's single-game TD passes list ...His .603 career completion percentage (332-for-552) currently places him sixth all-time at Stanford ... In the last two years on The Farm, Hutchinson has participated in two bowl games (the 1995 Liberty Bowl as a redshirt freshman and the '96 Sun Bowl as the starting QB), two NCAA baseball regional playoffs and one College World Series, that coming last season ... He was a Freshman All-American in baseball in 1995 and last year he was the Offensive MVP of the Sun Bowl.
MILLER TIME: P/PK Kevin Miller has not only been impressive with his 43.6 punting average - second in the Pac-10 - but his 14 punts inside the opponent's 10-yard line has been a very valuable weapon for the Cardinal in 1997 ... Miller, who doubles as the placekicker as well (five-for-nine FG, 19-for-20 PAT), had one punt land inside the 10-yard line in last Saturday's game against Arizona State ... Of his 37 punts this season, 18 have gone inside the opponent's 20, 14 inside the 10 and six inside the five-yard line, including three at the one-yard line ... His long punt this season was a 67-yarder against Arizona.
LOMBARDI FINALIST: Senior DE Kailee Wong is among the final 12 for the 1997 Lombardi Award, presented to the nation's top lineman ... Wong, a First-Team All-Pac-10 selection last season, is attempting to become the first Cardinal defensive lineman since Duncan McColl in 1976 to earn All-America honors ... Through seven games, Wong has recorded 27 total tackles, 7.5 quarterback sacks and 14 tackles-for-loss ... He is tied for the Pac-10 lead in tackles-for-loss and is second in sacks ...He recorded a safety in consecutive games - vs. Oregon and Notre Dame - when he sacked the quarterback in the end zone late in the game ... In his last 18 games, he has accounted for 18.5 sacks and 35 tackles-for-loss ...He has at least one tackle-for-loss in all seven games and at least one sack in five of the seven games in '97 ... The Sporting News ranked Wong as the 6th best DE in the nation while Lindy's ranked him ninth.
BOOK REPORT: Anthony Bookman has more than doubled his production in 1997 as his six TDs and 562 yards rushing are significantly greater than the numbers he put up during the entire 1996 campaign ... As a starter in 10 of 11 regular season games last year (Sun Bowl stats do not count toward season or career stats), Bookman's numbers looked like this: 82 carries, 274 yards, 3.3 average, no TDs, long run of 27 and 25 yards rushing per game ...In seven games in 1997, Bookman has rushed for a team-leading 562 yards, scored six TDs, is averaging 6.9 yards per carry and 80.3 yards per game ...A year ago, his longest run of the season was 27 yards ... This year, he has scored on touchdown runs of 58, 60, 67 and 70 ...
TROY'S TALE: Junior flanker Troy Walters is on pace to break the Cardinal's single season reception record, currently held by Brad Muster (78 in 1985) ... Walters, who has 53 receptions for 698 yards, is also just behind record-setting pace for season receiving yards ... His numbers project to a season total of 1,097 - the record is 1,117 set in 1968 by Gene Washington ... Walters ranks second in the Pac-10 and tied for seventh nationally in receptions per game (7.57) and third in the conference and 15th in the country in receiving yards per game (99.7) ... He has eight receptions for 113 yards last Saturday vs. ASU, his third 100-yard receiving day of the season ... Earlier in the season, Walters had 13 catches vs. Oregon, which left him one shy of the school's single game record of 14, held by four players ... He is also fifth all-time at Stanford in both punt return average (11.5) and punt returns yards (507).
THE OPPONENT
About UCLA
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Enrollment: 34,000
Nickname: Sun Devils
Colors: Blue and Gold
Conference: Pacific-10
Stadium: Rose Bowl (98,636)
Chancellor: Dr. Albert Carnesale
Director of Athletics: Peter T. Dalis
Head Coach: Bob Toledo
Record at UCLA: 10-8 (Second Year)
Career Record: 22-38 (Sixth Year)
1997 Record: 5-2 (3-1 Pac-10)
1996 Record: 5-6 (4-4 Pac-10, 4th Place)
SID: Marc Dellins - (310) 206-6831
Noting the Bruins
After dropping its first two contests of the season (Washington St. and Tennessee), UCLA has won five consecutive games, including three straight Pac-10 contests ... The Bruins are led by senior running back Skip Hicks ... Hicks currently leads the Pac-10 and ranks fourth in the nation in scoring, averaging an amazing 13.71 ppg ... As a team, the Bruins rank first in the Pac-10 in scoring, boasting an average of 43.3 ppg ... Quarterback Cade McNown ranks third in the Pac-10 and fourth in the nation in passing efficiency (166.0) ... McNown has completed 116-of-188 passes for 1,880 and 14 touchdowns.
Head Coach Bob Toledo
After spending two seasons as UCLA's offensive coordinator, where he directed the Bruin offense to the upper echelon of the Pac-10, Bob Toledo was named head coach on January 4, 1996, replacing longtime Bruin mentor Terry Donahue ... Prior to arriving in Westwood, Toledo served five seasons as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Texas A&M ... In his final year in College Station, the Aggies set a school record for points in a season (404) and averaged 400.8 yards of total offense ... Prior to Texas A&M, Toledo spent six seasons at Oregon State.
Series History
UCLA leads the overall series, which began in 1925, 36-28-3 ... The two teams have split the last six meetings, three of which were decided by three points or less ... The Bruins also hold a slim advantage over the Cardinal in Stanford Stadium (17-16-2) and have won the last two games played at The Farm.
The Last Time
Stanford got a late fourth quarter 10-yard touchdown reception by Brian Manning and a successful PAT to escape the Rose Bowl with a 21-20 come-from-behind victory over UCLA last season ... Down 20-14 with just over five minutes left to play, the Cardinal marched 80 yards on its final drive, capped by the Manning touchdown catch ... Chad Hutchinson had a good afternoon, completing 22-of-32 for 268 yards and two touchdowns ... Wideout Troy Walters had a huge day, hauling in eight of those passes 144 yards and a touchdown.
STANFORD INDIVIDUAL STAT RANKINGS (NCAA top-50 only) Name Category Avg. Pac-10 NCAA Chad Hutchinson Total Offense 210.9 4th 37th Troy Walters Receptions 7.57 2nd t7th Troy Walters Receiving Yards 99.7 3rd 15th Troy Walters Punt Returns 11.95 2nd 22nd Troy Walters All-Purpose Yards 137.7 6th 26th Anthony Bookman Rushing 80.3 7th 47th Kevin Miller Punting 43.62 2nd 27th Kailee Wong Quarterback Sacks 7.5 2nd Kailee Wong Tackles-For-Loss 14 t1st STANFORD TEAM STAT RANKINGS Category Avg. Pac-10 NCAA Rushing Offense 146.0 7th 56th Passing Offense 243.7 5th 31st Total Offense 389.7 6th 41st Scoring Offense 28.4 5th 40th Rushing Defense 142.9 8th 52nd Pass Efficiency Defense 122.9 6th 62nd Total Defense 360.4 6th t 60th Scoring Defense 26.7 7th 73rd Pac-10 Standings (Pac-10/Overall) Washington State 4-0 6-0 Washington 3-0 5-1 UCLA 3-1 5-2 Arizona State 3-1 5-2 Stanford 2-2 4-3 USC 1-2 3-3 Oregon 1-3 4-3 Arizona 1-3 3-4 Oregon State 0-3 3-3 California 0-3 2-4