TOBY GERHART, one of Stanford's all-time greats and the player most responsible for launching the program's resurgence more than a decade ago, will be inducted into the Stanford Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday.
Shortly after David Shaw was named offensive coordinator on new head coach Jim Harbaugh's Stanford staff in 2007, he watched tape of the Cardinal's 2006 season. Gerhart was a freshman backup for all but one game during that 1-11 year, but made a big impression.
"There was no question he was the best player on the team," Shaw said. "So, I called him and introduced myself. As good as he was, he was uncertain about what we were bringing."
Shaw recalls the conversation going like this:
"He said, 'Coach, I have one question for you.'
"I said, 'What's that Toby?'
"He said, 'Do you like big backs?'
"I said, 'Can you catch?'
"He said, 'yeah.'
"Then I said, 'I like big backs.'"
Gerhart opened the 2007 season with a 140-yard performance against San Jose State, but was injured in the game and missed the rest of the season. Even in the short time – training camp and the opener – Shaw saw enough of Gerhart's to know he was special.
"From the first practice, the size and the speed and the quickness and agility … they're rare. Just very very rare," Shaw said.
After a 1,136-yard season in 2008, Gerhart was unstoppable in 2009, rushing for 1,871 yards and 28 touchdowns, leading the nation in both categories. Though he was second in the Heisman Trophy voting to Alabama's Mark Ingram in the closest margin in history, Gerhart won the Doak Walker Award as the nation's best running back and was a consensus first-team All-American.
He was a second-round pick by the Minnesota Vikings and played six seasons in the NFL before returning to Stanford and earning his master's in 2020 from the Graduate School of Business.
"I don't want lament the things he didn't win, but being an All-American and high-round draft choice and the top running back in America, breaking a couple of records along the way, and really lifting the program on those big monster shoulders, was a great thing to be a part of," Shaw said.
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Jack West walks off the field during a game against UCLA this season. Photo by John Lozano/ISI Photos.
TANNER McKEE could be as late as a gametime decision to start at quarterback when the Cardinal plays host to Utah on Friday night because of injury.
Jack West would start and Isaiah Sanders, the Air Force graduate transfer who typically comes in for running plays, is expected to play a significant role as well. West, a senior, has started three games in his Stanford career, including this season's opener against Kansas State.
"We've got a plan on the things that both do well and we'll prepare that way," said David Shaw, Stanford's Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football.
"Jack is mature, smart, and tough. He gets it," Shaw said. "He's handled the quarterback competition through training camp, and handled Tanner being named the starter. He doesn't get as many reps during the course of the week, but he takes advantage of the reps he does get.
"I don't worry at all about Jack. He's been ready to step in the entire year. I know he's ready to go."
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Isaiah Sanders. Photo by Karen Hickey/ISIphotos.com.
THE FIRST TUESDAY in November is now an NCAA-mandated day off from practice and games for every collegiate sport to encourage student-athlete voting. Because of the short week, Stanford and Utah received waivers from the NCAA to continue football activities on Tuesday. Still, more than 50 Stanford players went to schools to read and talk about voting and civic-mindedness.
One of those was Sanders, who joined offensive tackle Walter Rouse in one classroom. Sanders wore Air Force fatigues -- he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant -- and brought his Stanford jersey, No. 0.
The appearance was fitting for Sanders, among 12 semifinalists for the Wuerffel Trophy for community service. Sanders is a master's candidate in management science and engineering and launched "Adopt-A-Cardinal," which pairs a Stanford football player or position group with a classroom. Sanders is paired with Ms. Holder's fourth-grade at East Palo Alto Charter School.
"I can't put Isaiah in a category, other than whatever he's running for after he's done here, I'm voting for him," Shaw said. "Everybody he engages with is blown away and impressed just by him being who he is. Every time he makes a play, both sides of the ball cheer for him.
"Here's a guy, when we had all our running backs out, jumped in and practiced the entire week at running back and had it all down. When we had receivers get hurt, he jumped out and played receiver and made some unbelievable catches in practice. He's had a special teams role, he's been on the return teams. Whatever we need him to do, he just goes out there and does it."
Sanders could play an increased role Friday.
"We call all of our plays off a wristband," Shaw said. "He hasn't had a wristband because he memorized all of his plays. He goes in the game and knows by the situation and the personnel grouping what the play is, and he just calls it.
"Everything he does is impressive. He's a leader on this football team and wherever he goes, he's going to be a leader. I'm a superfan."
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THE UTAH CONTEST marks Stanford's second Friday night contest of the season, following an Oct. 8 loss at Arizona State. Being home on a short week helps, Shaw said.
"I wouldn't call it an advantage," Shaw said. "I would call it less of a disadvantage. Both teams are disadvantaged. Over the last few years, I've grown to hate these Friday games – absolutely hate them. I don't think they're fair to the coaches, I don't think they're especially fair to the student-athletes. You don't have enough time for your body to recover.
"A while ago, we all used to dislike those Thursday night games because guys would miss class Thursday and Friday. Now, I would love to push back and get those Thursday night games back. At the very least, you don't play the previous Saturday and you don't play the following Saturday. Those are much better for recovery and our student-athletes' health."
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Michael Wilson. Photo by John Todd/ISIphotos.com.
SENIOR WIDE RECEIVER Michael Wilson, a team captain, is expected to make his season debut Friday after being out with an injury.
Wilson had 19 catches for 261 yards in a six-game 2020 season, including eight catches for 88 in the Big Game. As a sophomore, Wilson led the Cardinal in receptions with 56, with 672 yards and five touchdowns.
Tight end Bradley Archer also is expected to return and cornerbacks Ethan Bonner and Salim Turner-Muhammad are possibilities to see action after injuries as well.
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FOR THE PAST two games – losses at Washington State and at home to Washington – Stanford was unable to hold leads late in the game. That's been an emphasis in practice this week.
"It's really just the mentality, the mentality of finishing games," Shaw said. "There's no magic trick, no magic play call. No benching one guy and starting another guy. It's a collective effort in all three phases to realize when you're close, to get over the hump. We used to be one of the best teams in America in doing that, winning those close games at the end.
"We have to accept the fact that we haven't done it and need to relearn how to do it. That's a charge on the staff, it's a charge to the team. I'm not worried about the statistics – can you run the ball better, can you stop the run better? Those are both legitimate questions, but the bottom line is, two weeks in a row, we had a chance to win the game and we didn't.
"That's the focus, making sure we're finding a way over the last half of the fourth quarter, to play our best football to close the game out."