THE TWO-DEEP roster released this week revealed starters at every position for Stanford's opener Saturday against Kansas State except one: quarterback.
David Shaw, Stanford's Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football, said he will announce a starter later this week. But both players vying for QB1 -- Tanner McKee and Jack West -- will play at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, regardless of who breaks the huddle on the first play.
Though Shaw doesn't put a lot of stock on starting – Stanford rotates some position groups and uses a variety of situational lineups – the depth chart was a barometer of progress, health, and training-camp performances.
Among the new starters:
Sophomore Myles Hinton, a five-star recruit and the team's Most Outstanding Freshman, at right tackle. "He's got a chance to be special," Shaw said. "But he's still learning and growing."
Drake Nugent won graduated Drew Dalman's spot at center, completing a front five that also features returning starters in juniors Walter Rouse (left tackle), Barrett Miller (left guard), and Branson Bragg (right guard). The Cardinal line has stability and experience and, with different personnel packages, eight different linemen could play over the course of a game.
Stanford lists two tight end starters for the opener. One is sophomore Benjamin Yurosek. The other is fifth-year Tucker Fisk, also Thomas Booker's backup at defensive end. Fisk begins his first season as a two-way player.
Sophomore Joshua Karty succeeds Jet Toner at placekicker. Karty, who also will handle kickoffs, was in competition with freshman Emmet Kenney during camp.
Senior Brycen Tremayne, the one-time walk-on, and junior Elijah Higgins start at receiver. They combined for three starts and 29 catches for 441 yards last season, proving their dependability. Michael Wilson, a senior team captain and returning starter, is still recovering from an injury that will cause him to miss time. With others, like Bryce Farrell and John Humphreys, Shaw said Stanford could use as many as six receivers in a game.
Thin last year, the linebacker position now is robust. The additions of healthy seniors Ricky Miezan and Jacob Mangum-Farrar are perhaps the most heartening aspect of the 2021 season so far. Both have shown much promise only to be silenced by injuries. Now, they start side by side on the inside. Another valuable player who was an injury casualty last year is Tristan Sinclair, who backs up Mangum-Farrar.
At the "old-man" position on the outside, Jordan Fox, a sixth-year player and 2018 starter before injuries, returns to the lineup and is backed up by fifth-year Gabe Reid. Fox originally was part of the 2015 freshman class (think Bryce Love) and Reid was in the 2016 class before embarking on a two-year mission.
Stephen Herron, a junior and difference-maker while starting the final two games last season, has the other outside spot, with a now-healthy Tangaloa Kaufusi as his backup.
Fifth-year defensive end Ryan Johnson is listed as a starter, alongside incumbents Booker and Dalyn Wade-Perry.
There is experience throughout the secondary even with cornerback Salim Turner-Muhammad and safety/nickel Jonathan McGill possibly out for most of the season with injuries. Strong safety Kendall Williamson and cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly, fixtures at their spots, are prime among them.
Fifth-year Noah Williams replaces graduated Malik Antoine at free safety and senior Ethan Bonner, who started one game in 2020 before suffering an injury, is back in the lineup at cornerback.
Drake Nugent. Photo by John P. Lozano/ISIphotos.com.
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KANSAS STATE, under third-year head coach Chris Klieman, is unpredictable in its approach, which means that Stanford must prepare for a variety of looks and formations.
"This coaching staff is extremely good," Shaw said. "They're able to show looks one game and come back the next game and show you something different. We don't know what their gameplan is going to be and we won't know until we get into the game. Having as broad a gameplan as possible while keeping it simple for our guys is our best course of action."
The Wildcats were 4-6 last year, including 4-5 in the Big 12. Stanford was 4-2, all in the Pac-12.
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INTERSECTIONAL MATCHUPS ARE the prime means to evaluate a conference, for the poll voters and the College Football Playoff committee.
Shaw, however, disregards that kind of thinking.
"I guess they're important because everybody keeps telling us they're important," he said. "I don't necessarily think that way.
"We're not out to impress anybody except ourselves. When you think too much that way, now you're trying to win for other reasons other than just trying to win the game. We're not trying to impress the playoff committee, we're not trying to impress the East Coast media. We're not playing that game."
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ON EXPECTATIONS, "We have our own internal expectations for what our team should do," Booker said. "We think we can run the table. That's our expectation. Because that bar is set so high, we want to play up to it."
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HOUSTON HEIMULI was voted by teammates to be among four team captains – the others are Booker, Fox, and Wilson – which is especially notable because few programs use a fullback. Yet, Heimuli still is impactful from that position.
His influence was minimal two years ago when Stanford was forced to shift from a power game to the air because of injuries and inexperience on the offensive line.
"I felt terrible for him when there was not a lot for him to do," Shaw said. "But now, he has a big stake in all we do. He's a steady rock for us and brings positive energy every single day. He loves the game, he loves his teammates. You don't see a lot of fullbacks as the favorite player on the team, but that's the way our team looks at him."
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WHAT IS SHAW especially excited about? Shaw first mentioned players coming back from injuries, including Fox, Mangam-Farrar, and Miezan.
"People don't really know who these guys are," Shaw said.
Another area of anticipation is at running back, fueled by outstanding off-season preparation and camp performances from starter Austin Jones, as well as Nathaniel Peat, E.J. Smith, and Casey Filkins among others.
"Last year, we were just turning into the team we wanted to be," Shaw said. "We weren't perfect yet, but we were playing hard. A lot of things were coming together. Now, I'm excited to have an entire arc with this group, a full 12-game slate and see how good we can be."
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Jordan Watkins (left) and Joey Alfieri force a safety in the 2016 victory over Kansas State. Photo by Jim Shorin/StanfordPhoto.com.
STANFORD IS 6-10 against current Big 12 schools, including a 26-13 Christian McCaffery-led victory over Kansas State in the 2016 opener at Stanford Stadium.
Against schools that were in the Big 12 (or predecessors Big Six, Big Seven, and Big Eight) at the time of the games, Stanford is 8-10.
Here is the breakdown: Colorado 2-3, Oklahoma 1-4, Texas 1-1, Kansas 1-0, Kansas State 1-0, Missouri 1-0, Nebraska 1-0, Oklahoma State 0-1, TCU 0-1.
Among the biggest of those: Stanford's 21-13 victory over Nebraska in the Rose Bowl to cement a perfect 1940 season; a thrilling 41-38 overtime loss to Oklahoma State in the 2012 Fiesta Bowl in Andrew Luck's final game for Stanford; and John Elway leading the unranked Cardinal to a 31-14 upset over Barry Switzer's Oklahoma in 1980, snapping the Sooners' 20-game home winning streak.
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STANFORD PLAYED FOUR consecutive road games – all victories -- to close the 2020 pandemic-altered season. This year, the Cardinal opens with three games away from home. Never before has Stanford played seven consecutive games away from campus.
"We've grown a lot, just mentally and physically over the time," Jones said. "It happened last year when we were on the road. It forced us to come together and be closer as a team. That leads to how we play on the field this season."
Booker feels the team is better prepared because of last year's extended road trip.
"It's little bit different because we're able to practice at Stanford in between," he said. "But the idea of going three straight weeks away from our home stadium is going to carry over for sure. We're definitely carrying that mentality with us."
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THE COMBINATION OF an experienced offensive line and running back allows Stanford to begin with an advanced ground game.
"The chemistry is there," Jones said. "We have a lot of trust going into every single game.
"I'm most excited about going out there and just showing the country what kind of team we are, that Stanford comes out and plays tough and plays strong. We'd gotten away from that and people thought we weren't the old Stanford anymore. We're going to prove that we're back to the old Stanford way."