Photo by David Bernal/ISIphotos.com
STANFORD, Calif. – When 6-foot-4, 285-pound Stanford defensive lineman Harrison Phillips was little, his mother used to read him books about Horrible Harry, a little boy with a series worth of misadventures.
Eventually, high school wrestling buddies in Omaha, Nebraska, bestowed the nickname on Phillips, who insists, "I'm not that horrible of a guy."
His actions bear that out. While he missed nearly all of last season after injuring his knee in the season opener, he used that time to double down on his double major -- science, technology, and society, and sociology … oh, with an education minor.
He increased his involvement in Playmakers, a nonprofit for at-risk elementary and middle school students that focuses on academics, core values, and health and fitness. Phillips became involved through former teammate Jordan Richards in Sacramento and used his time away from football to create a chapter in his hometown, and is now on the organization's board of directors.
"Inequality has always been a pressing issue that I feel very passionate about," Phillips said.
Phillips, who has been taking 20 units per quarter, helped general assistants break down film when he couldn't practice and earned a greater understanding of offensive formations, passing plays, and blocking schemes.
"I matured in so many ways and found perseverance through trials, and joy in those trials," Phillips said.
For the second consecutive year, he left the opener with a knee injury. This time, however, an MRI revealed that the injury was not serious and Phillips returned to the field after missing just the USC game.
He excelled upon his return, against UCLA, in a physical contest, and was frustrated with the 44-6 loss at Washington on Friday.
"It was very frustrating, and kind of a blur," Phillips said. "But now having 70-80 clips of film to go back and review, we never really lost. You either win or you learn. We might have failed, but we learned 1,000 ways to improve. That's probably the biggest thing that we could take away. You have to view it in a positive light. Because if you get wrapped up in the negatives, things can come crashing down."
With Washington State, flying high after a big victory over Oregon, coming Saturday, Stanford will need to bounce back from the Washington loss.
"That's the true predictor, the next sign: Do we show up the next week and play better?" said David Shaw, Stanford's Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football.
"I refuse to be down and have doubts about who we are and what we do. The bottom line is we've got to play better. But we're sitting at 3-1 against a tough schedule, and hopefully improving, hopefully getting some guys healthy, and hopefully starting some momentum this weekend."
Washington State (2-2, 1-0) brings a version of coach Mike Leach's Air Raid offense that is more balanced than in years past. The Cougars rushed for 280 yards and scored six times on the ground in a 51-33 victory over Oregon, and Luke Falk passed for 371. In a 31-28 loss to Boise State, Falk threw for 480 yards and four touchdowns. With an average of 360 passing yards per game, Falk is the FBS active career leader.
"Mike Leach will attack scheme and personnel," Shaw said. "He doesn't care if Richard Sherman is out there. The conflict he puts you in, with this Air Raid passing attack and now a run game … it keeps you honest. You can't play soft coverage, you have to account for the running game."
Christian McCaffrey continues to lead the nation in all-purpose yardage, with an average of 214.5 per game. Last year, he averaged 276 on his way to setting an NCAA record with 3,864 all-purpose yards in a season. McCaffrey's rushing totals are down as well. He is 13th in rushing yards per game, at 121.3. Last year, he averaged 144.2 on the way to a school-record 2,019-yard rushing season.
"The hard part for him right now is, unless the numbers are gaudy, no one is going to say he plays well," Shaw said. "The standard that he set from last year is almost unattainable. It's unreachable. Nobody else ever reached it before he did. To think he's going to come back and double those numbers, is not likely."
However, it doesn't mean McCaffrey is having a poorer year. Against Washington, he only ran 12 times, for 49 yards. But those yards were hard-earned.
"He made about 4-5 plays this game that were jaw-dropping," Shaw said. "The number of tackles this guy breaks in a game are unbelievable. The issue right now is having to break too many. He's breaking three tackles and getting a five-yard gain. We've got to do a better job of getting him to the line of scrimmage so that when he breaks a tackle, it's going for a touchdown."
Michael Rector is a potent weapon at receiver. Thus far, he has been held to nine catches for 97 yards.
"When you play receiver, you're at the mercy of the coverage, at the mercy of the protection, the mercy of the quarterback's decision making," Shaw said. "But, yes, we are continually trying to get Michael Rector involved. Yes, we're trying to get Bryce Love involved. Those are two guys we think can help influence the game."
Stanford must avoid long-yardage situations.
"No one has many touches with the ball if we don't convert on third downs," Shaw said. "If we're not good on first downs, if we don't stop people on defense, our turns at bat diminish. The key for us is to make sure we are involving all our personnel because we've got very good skill positions. We've got to be more efficient run and pass. We've got to be better on third downs."
"We just need to relax and play," Rector said. "We know what we can do as an offense. We're all trying to do too much sometimes. We just have to trust the guys on our team and relax and play football."
Phillips on how he complements linemate Solomon Thomas:
"If we're going slide protection to me on a pass play and I get the double team, that means he's getting single-blocked and he's going to hit home. In reverse, if he gets the double team, he knows I'll be able to push the pocket and try to get the quarterback to step up and make another play. It's definitely a blessing to have Solomon back there."
Roger Theder, an assistant coach on Stanford's Pac-8 champion and Rose Bowl-winning teams in 1970 and 1971, died last week at age 77.
Theder was a Stanford assistant under John Ralston from 1968-71, with assignments of running backs, receivers, and quarterbacks. Don Bunce, who went 5-for-5 passing in a last-minute comeback drive against Michigan in the 1972 Rose Bowl, was a Theder protégé.
Theder went on become Cal's head coach from 1978-81. Though his college coaching career ended in 1996 as San Jose State's offensive coordinator, Theder became a well-known tutor of young quarterbacks around Northern California, helping many to major-college scholarships, including current San Francisco 49er Colin Kaepernick.
Of the nine members of Ralston's final staff at Stanford in 1971, five went on to become head Division I coaches -- Jack Christiansen (Stanford), David Currey (Long Beach State, Cincinnati), Ralston (San Jose State), Theder (Cal), and Mike White (Cal, Illinois). Ralston (Denver Broncos) and White (Oakland Raiders) became NFL head coaches.
Bob Gambold became an NFL assistant with the Broncos and Houston Oilers, Bill Dickey coached under Ralston with the USFL's Oakland Invaders, and Max McCartney was an assistant under White at Cal and Illinois. Finally, the late Bill Moultrie, Stanford football's first black assistant, went on to a long career as head track coach at Howard University and was inducted into the United States Track and Field Coaches Hall of Fame in 2006.
This is Stanford's first home game since the fall quarter began.
"It's nice to be home," Shaw said. "Back-to-back road games, tough places to play. It's good to be home."