SAN ANTONIO - Despite chilly conditions, the Stanford football team has thoroughly enjoyed its first visit to the Valero Alamo Bowl and has been overwhelmed by the hospitality.
"It's been off the charts," David Shaw, the Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football, told the media during his final press conference Wednesday morning. "It's about time to play a football game."
Early-week events for Stanford and TCU have included a talent show and trips throughout downtown San Antonio. At the former, 6-7 sophomore defensive end Thomas Schaffer from Vienna, Austria, solved two Rubik's Cubes in just over two minutes.
"That's something I've never seen in the 25-year history of this bowl game," said Valero Alamo president and CEO Derrick Fox.
Freshman fullback Houston Heimuli from Utah crushed it on the ukulele.
"It was pretty cool to see all the different talents the guys had, even for TCU," senior cornerback Alameen Murphy said. "A lot of guys have talents and aspirations outside of football, and it's always great to see that."
On Tuesday night, Stanford and TCU attended the Rudy's BBQ Pep Rally at the Arneson River Theatre located on the world-famous River Walk. Players and bands from both teams arrived in boats and were joined by spirit squads, cheerleaders and the Stanford Dollies. Shaw and several players riled up the capacity crowd.
On Wednesday, both teams attended the PrimeSport Kickoff Luncheon, along with both bands, spirit squads and cheerleaders. Given that TCU is located about four hours north, Cardinal fans were out-numbered but held their own.
"For me, the whole week has been incredible," said fifth-year senior offensive lineman David Bright. "I've never been to a city like this where there was a river and a bunch of restaurants and shops along it. I like to think we found a little hidden-gem ice cream place. The pep rally was awesome."
Ranked 13th by the College Football Playoff, Stanford (9-4) conducted its final practice Wednesday afternoon at the 65,000-seat Alamodome in preparation for Thursday night's 6 p.m. PT kickoff against the 15th-ranked Horned Frogs (10-3). The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.
The Cardinal enters having won three of its past four contests.
Shaw said record-setting junior running back Bryce Love has seen limited practice time to rest an ankle sprain, working with the training staff to regain flexibility and explosion. While not fully recovered, he will play.
"He's not going to be 100 percent until next year," Shaw said. "Hopefully next year he's with us. He's a tough kid and will play as hard as he can."
Freshman offensive tackle Walker Little has been practicing after missing the past several games with an injury. The Texas native was named Pac-12 Conference Co-Freshman of the Year.
Senior outside linebacker Joey Alfieri will not play against TCU due to injury.
With 1,973 rushing yards, Love needs 27 to join Christian McCaffrey as the only Cardinal running backs to surpass 2,000 yards in a season.
A human biology major who has his sights set on attending medical school and becoming a pediatrician, Love also wants to play in the NFL.
The TCU defense has surrendered 99 rushing yards per game and collected 41 sacks this season. Both figures rank fourth nationally.
"They have a great feel for the game," sophomore quarterback K.J. Costello said. "From what we hear, they like to recruit quarterback minds from the safety position. Especially high school quarterbacks. They're very smart and like to change their looks, so there's going to be a lot of punches and counter-punches."
Defensive end Mat Boesen paces the Horned Frogs with 11.5 sacks.
"They're an aggressive group up front," said Bright. "They play with really high motors. We're just going to have to match that."
Bright will be suiting up in his fifth consecutive bowl game. He expected postseason appearances to be the norm, not the exception.
"I'm very fortunate to cap it off with one last one," Bright said.
Stanford will be playing in a school-record ninth consecutive bowl and will try to become the 10th team in school history to win 10 games in a season.
"I don't know if it means more, but double-digit wins always looks better," Shaw said. "For me, it's still about how well you play."
It's an important number to his players.
"You always want to go out with a win," said Bright. "If you get to that 10th win, that's special."
Murphy agreed.
"Especially after starting off 1-2," he said. "A 10-win season is something a lot of people didn't see but something we always knew we could do."
Especially playing nine Pac-12 opponents.
"In our conference, every week is a battle," said Costello. "No games are guaranteed. To come from 1-2 and win 10 games would be a helluva finish."
Extra Points … Game time temperature in the Alamodome will be 72 degrees … TCU is the home team … Shaw is 4-2 in bowl games and has led the Cardinal to three straight bowl wins … Shaw (73-20) and Gary Patterson of TCU (159-57) are the winningest head coaches in their respective school histories … This marks the fourth consecutive Alamo Bowl pitting two top-15 teams.
Quotable … "It's kind of a home game for TCU, which is fine for us. We're going to have our support from all our families. Whatever Stanford fans travel down, we'll embrace that, go out there and play our style of game." - David Bright
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