STANFORD, Calif. - Defensive lineman Brennan Scarlett spent four years at Cal before transferring as a graduate student last spring. Needless to say, Saturday night’s Big Game at Stanford Stadium will have special meaning.
“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t,” Scarlett said. “It’s definitely going to be an interesting game. I know all of them. Some of those guys I played with for four years. Good guys over there, but I’ll prepare like I have all season.”
Scarlett had 2.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss and forced a fumble in the 30-28 loss to Oregon on Saturday and has played a much bigger role than anticipated since tackle Harrison Phillips was lost for the season in the opener.
“We’re thin on the defensive line right now,” said David Shaw, Stanford’s Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football. “We’d be extremely thin without Brennan.
“He’s brought energy and passion -- it’s during practice, it’s during games. He makes those extra-effort plays, running plays down from the backside, brings fire and energy, lifts up the defensive line, lifts up the team. It would be tough to say where we’d be without Brennan on this team right now.”
Scarlett was a defensive end at Cal, but had to switch to more of a tackle role with Phillips’ injury. This will be the first time playing in a Big Game, having been injured for previous ones while at Cal.
“It’s been tough,” Shaw said of Scarlett’s transition to Stanford. “When he came here, he was still injured, and had a lot to learn playbook-wise, and once he got healthy and got on the field, had a lot to learn technique-wise. It’s a different world playing inside when you played end. But he’s had a great attitude about it. He’s willing to learn, wants to learn and wants to do it right.
“He’s been a godsend for us.”
Inside linebacker Blake Martinez said there was an initial feeling of surprise when Scarlett, whose brother Cameron is a freshman running back at Stanford, considered coming to Stanford.
“At first, it was ‘Cal guy?’,” Martinez said. “But after having dinner with him, and spending a couple of hours sitting with him and talking, it was really cool to see his type of personality. He’s a cool guy.”
Scarlett is working towards his master’s in management science and engineering. He has 26 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 5.5 tackles for loss, and he quickly made a big impression on his teammates.
“He’s an extremely hard worker,” Martinez said. “He was one of those guys who was always down there doing extra things to show to us that he was here to work and be the best that he can be.”
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Martinez said he hasn’t approached Scarlett for any insights on Cal.
“I haven’t asked him,” Martinez said. “I guess you don’t want to put someone in that situation.
“It’s not really that important. You’re going to do the same thing you do each week. Everyone’s going to have different looks they’re going to show differently. It’s a new year, a new team.”
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In the locker room after the loss to Oregon, senior offensive left guard Joshua Garnett addressed the team. His message: Pick your head up. We’ve got a lot to play for.
“Here’s a senior who wants to beat Cal, and wants to keep the Axe and wants to go to the Pac-12 Championship Game,” Shaw said. “It wasn’t panicked. It wasn’t anger. It was exhorting his team to say, ‘It’s time to look ahead guys, let’s go.’ His words were very well received.”
Though the message already was understood, senior receiver Michael Rector said it was vital for it to be reinforced.
“It was important for someone to come out and say that, so we weren’t all sulking in the moment,” Rector said. “It was definitely a disappointing loss for us, but it’s important to move on because the past is out of our control. What we can control now is beating Cal and getting to that Pac-12 Championship and hopefully bringing a third one back for all the seniors.
“We all knew before that game what the season could have been, and still can be. Who knows? People were bummed about that, but they also know that at the beginning of every year our goal is to win the Pac-12 championship, and that’s still in our grasp. It was important to flush that game and focus on the here and now and that’s beating Cal, and keeping the Axe.”
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Sophomore running back Christian McCaffrey has been named a Doak Walker Award semifinalist.
The Doak Walker Award was created in 1989 to recognize the nation’s premier running back for his accomplishments on the field, achievement in the classroom and citizenship in the community. It is the only major collegiate football award that requires all candidates to be in good academic standing and on schedule to graduate within one year of his class.
McCaffrey is among 10 semifinalists. The three finalists will be announced Nov. 24, and will be flown to Atlanta by ESPN for the Home Depot College Football Awards, which airs live Dec. 10.
Past recipients include Stanford’s Toby Gerhart in 2009.
McCaffrey broke two school records against Oregon, for his 2,418 season all-purpose yards and for his eighth consecutive 100-yard rushing performance. His 241.8 all-purpose yards per game leads the nation. His 1,354 rushing yards are the fourth-highest season total in school history. Stepfan Taylor’s 1,530 from 2012 is No. 3.
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Stanford junior Austin Hooper has been named among eight semifinalists for the Mackey Award, given to the nation’s most outstanding tight end.
The finalists will be announced Nov. 24 and the winner will be selected Dec. 9, and presented with the award a day later at College Football Awards Show.
Hooper, a psychology major, has 26 receptions for 379 yards and five touchdowns.
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Two Stanford players, Garnett and Martinez, are among the first 19 players to accept invitations to play in the 67th Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile on Jan. 30.
Garnett, a human biology major, is on the Outland Trophy watch list and was a preseason first-team All-America by USA Today.
Martinez, a management science and engineering major, is the first Stanford player with back-to-back 100-tackle seasons since Jono Tunney in 1988-89. Martinez’ 100 tackles are more than double the next-highest total of anyone else on the team.
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Starting cornerback Ronnie Harris, one of the team’s inspirational leaders, will miss the Big Game because of an ankle injury suffered in the first half against Oregon. Shaw said Harris could return for the Notre Dame game Nov. 28. In his stead, sophomore Alameen Murphy will get the start.
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Between Stanford’s Kevin Hogan and Cal’s Jared Goff, the Big Game “is going to have the two best quarterbacks in the conference, and this is a conference with a lot of good quarterbacks,” Shaw said. “If you’ve got one game to win, I’d probably pick between these two. And that’s saying something.”
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On the importance of the Big Game:
“People talk about Oregon and USC for us being big games, but with Cal, no matter what the records are, it’s going to be a dogfight from beginning to the end,” Martinez said. “You have to know that if you get an opportunity to step on that field in a Big Game. And for the alumni, we’re going in there letting them know that it’s just as important to us as it is to them. Our class is undefeated against Cal and we want to keep that Axe at Stanford.”