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Sept. 14, 1997
Stanford Travels to Oregon State
THE CARDINAL: Stanford saw its nation-leading six-game winning streak end last Saturday in Chapel Hill, NC in a 28-17 loss to seventh-ranked North Carolina ... Entering the game, Stanford was tied for the nation's longest winning streak at six ... The Cardinal opens Pac-10 play this Saturday attempting to avenge a 26-12 loss to Oregon State last season ... The Beavers, who finished 2-9 a year ago, were 0-5 when they upset the Cardinal on October 19 at Parker Stadium ... Stanford had been ranked 17th and 18th by the two national polls each week this season, but fell to No. 21 in the Associated Press poll and No. 23 in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll.
TYRONE WILLINGHAM: Now in his third season as Stanford's head football coach, Tyrone Willingham enters Saturday's game with a 15-10-1 record at the helm ... He has led the Cardinal to consecutive bowl games and is only the third coach in Stanford history to lead the Cardinal to bowl games in each of his first two years on The Farm (the other two are Tiny Thornhill in 1933 and '34 and Bill Walsh in 1977 and '78) ... Named the 1995 Pac-10 Coach of the Year, Willingham was chosen as a candidate for the Bear Bryant Award by one pre-season magazine and was named the Best Coach in the Pac-10 by another publication.
PAC-10 OPENERS: Stanford begins its quest for the Rose Bowl this Saturday in the conference opener at Oregon State ... Stanford is 1-1 in conference openers under Willingham, beating Oregon in 1995 and losing the Pac-10 opener to Washington last season ... Stanford has lost three of its last four conference openers and eight of the last 10 ... In the last 10 years (1987-96), the Cardinal is 1-5 in Pac-10 openers on the road and 1-3 in openers at Stanford Stadium ... The last time the Cardinal opened the conference season against Oregon State was 1986 - and Stanford prevailed 17-7.
STREAK NO MORE: Although Stanford's six-game winning streak was snapped last Saturday at North Carolina, the Cardinal has still won six of its last seven games since starting the 1996 campaign with a 2-5 record ... During this time, Stanford has outscored its opponents 203-118 - an average of 29-17 - while winning the turnover battle 20-11 ... The Cardinal has picked off 16 passes in the last seven games and had not allowed its opponent to rush for over 100 yards until North Carolina gained 136 (on 44 carries) in last Saturday's game in Chapel Hill.
SECOND HALF DEFENSE: The Cardinal defense has become stingier in the second half in each of its first two games ... In the second half lastSaturday at North Carolina, Stanford limited th Tar Heels to just 88 total yards on 24 plays, including 34 yards rushing on 16 carries ... Against San Jose State in the season opener, the Cardinal allowed just 125 second half yards to the Spartans ... SJS gained 42 yards on the ground on 16 carries.
TALE OF TROY: Junior flanker Troy Walters has been the Cardinal's playmaker thus far in 1997 both as a receiver and punt returner ... Walters had another fine game at North Carolina as he accounted for six receptions for 93 yards to go along with three punt returns for 71 yards ... Against the Tar Heels, he returned a punt 52 yards to the Carolina 24-yard line, setting up Stanford's first touchdown ... He also had an 18-yard punt return and a 33-yard reception ... He has been Stanford's leading receiver in each of the first two games (8-166-0 vs. San Jose State) and his 14 receptions for 259 yards currently ranks him tied for 11th in the nation and tied for fourth in the Pac-10 in receptions (7.0 rpg) and seventh nationally and third in the conference in receiving yards (129.5 ypg) ... His 17.7 yard averge on punt returns (6-106) places him seventh in the country and second in the conference ... Of his 14 catches thus far, he has registered receptions of 46, 42, 33 and 22 yards ... In six punt returns thus far in '97, he has returns of 52, 19 and 18 yards ... Walters has a 12.4 career punt return average (30-374), which currently ranks him third on Stanford's all-time list.
KAILEE'S CORNER: Senior DE Kailee Wong has earned the reputation as one of the top defensive lineman in the country ... He has been tabbed as a consensus pre-season All-Pac-10 pick and a Second-Team All-American ... He is attempting to become the first Cardinal defensive lineman since Duncan McColl in 1976 to earn All-America honors ... A year ago, Wong tied for second in the Pac-10 with 12 quarterback sacks and was third in the league with 21 tackles-for-loss ... The Sporting News ranked Wong as the sixth best DE in the nation while Lindy's ranked him ninth ... Wong was also named by some magazines as a candidate for the Outland Trophy and the Lombardi Award ... He has 2.5 sacks in two games this season, giving him 14.5 sacks and 23.5 tackles-for-loss in his last 13 games.
TWO-SPORT STAR: Junior Chad Hutchinson (three years of eligibility remaining) began his second season as Stanford's starting quarterback by registering his second career 300-yard game in the season-opener vs. San Jose State (18-for-36, 302 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT) ... He completed 16-of-34 for 191 yards and one TD against North Carolina, who some consider to be the nation's top defense ... Hutchinson, from Torrey Pines High School in San Diego, has been a starting pitcher on the Cardinal baseball team the past two years (15-6 career record) and is considered to be one of the top two-sport athletes in the nation ... He is rated as the fifth best QB in the country by Lindy's and sixth by The Sporting News ... Hutchinson has continued to improve since being named the team's starter in September of 1996 ... In his last six games, he has completed 107-of-184 (.581) for 1,317 yards and eight touchdowns ... In the seven wins in which he has led his team over the past two seasons, he has completed 135-of-211 (.640) for 1,674 yards and nine TDs ... Hutchinson, of course, was Stanford's number two pitcher in the starting rotation this past baseball season ... He beat Auburn in the College World Series opener last spring, and lost to evenual NCAA champion LSU ... He will be a junior in baseball in 1998 and will be eligible for the Major League Draft in June ...He was a first round pick in the June, 1995 Draft by the Atlanta Braves (26th pick overall) ... Following the 1997 football season, he will still have two years of eligibility remaining to play college football.
BACKFIELD BUSINESS: For the second consecutive week, senior Anthony Bookman moved up a notch on Stanford's all-time rushing list ... Bookman now ranks fifth all-time with 1,791 yards while teammate Mike Mitchell is fourth with 1,913 yards ... Only three backs in the history of Stanford football have gained over 2,000 career rushing yards and both Bookman and Mitchell should cross that barrier in 1997 ... They are both a lso among the school's top-six in all-purpose running ... Mitchell is fifth with 3,075 yards while Bookman is sixth with 2,968 yards ... Stanford's offensive backfield has gained national recognition as one of the best in college football ... In fact, both The Sporting News and Lindy's ranked the Cardinal offensive backfield number-two in the nation ...Mitchell and Bookman continue to share the running back duties in 1997 just as they did in '96 ... At fullback, Stanford's tandem of Jon Ritchie (6-2, 240) and Greg Comella (6-2, 225) provide the Cardinal with one of the top duos of fullbacks in the conference ... The RB team of Mitchell and Bookman rank as one of the best tandems in school history ... Perhaps the last great pair of halfbacks to play on the same team were Darrin Nelson and Vincent White, who were teammates in 1980 and '81 ... Nelson is the school's all-time leading rusher with 4,033 yards while White is eighth in the record books with 1,689 yards ... Stanford has had other great fullback-halfback combinations in the same backfield - such as Tommy Vardell (FB)-Glyn Milburn (RB) in 1990 and '91 and Brad Muster (FB)-Jon Volpe (RB) in 1987 - but the combination of Mitchell and Bookman sharing the halfback position is without question among the best that Stanford has ever produced.
THE NOMINEES: Four players entered the '97 season as candidates for the nation's top individual honors ... Receivers Troy Walters and Damon Dunn are both listed among the pre-season Biletnikoff Award nominees as the nation's top receiver ... ILB Chris Draft is on the Watch List for the Butkus Award while RB Mike Mitchell is a candidate for the Doak Walker Award, presented to the nation's top senior running back ... Draft, a second-team All-Pac-10 selection a year ago, was ranked as the eighth best linebacker in the nation by one pre-season publication ... Dunn, Stanford's all-time leader in kickoff return yardage (1,412) and kickoff returns for TDs (three), was a pre-season First-Team All-American as a kick returner.
SUDDEN IMPACT: After redshirting their freshman seasons in 1996, three Cardinal sophomores are already proving to be key contributors in '97 ... WR DeRonnie Pitts had four receptions for 51 yards against Carolina and is currently second on the team with five receptions for 61 yards ... NT Willie Howard has earned the starting spot in '97, although he is sharing playing time with senior Anthony Willis ... Howard has recorded four tackles and one pass deflection ... DE Riall Johnson has been impressive in a backup role ... He forced a fumble against Carolina and has recorded five tackles thus far in '97.
RETURN TO CORVALLIS: Last year's game at Corvallis saw the Cardinal give up a season-high 11 sacks and record a season-low 198 yards in total offense as Oregon State pulled off the 26-12 upset ... Stanford could muster just 27 yards rushing while allowing the Beavers 255 yards on the ground - the most allowed by the Cardinal defense the entire season ... Stanford has had trouble in Coravllis in the past, posting a 6-4 record vs. OSU in Corvallis during the last 10 meetings (since 1979) ... Tyrone Willingham has played in Corvallis twice as a member of the Cardinal coaching staff and lost on both occasions ... As an assistant coach under Denny Green, Willingham's team lost a 20-16 decision in 1989 ... Last season was Willingham's second trip to Corvallis and second defeat.
STANFORD INDIVIDUAL STAT RANKINGS (top-50) Name Category Avg. Pac-10 NCAA Chad Hutchinson Total Offense 225.5 6th 38th Troy Walters Receptions 7.0 t4th t11th Troy Walters Receiving Yards 129.5 3rd 7th Troy Walters Punt Returns 17.7 2nd 7th Troy Walters All-Purpose Yards 182.5 5th 14th Anthony Bookman Kickoff Returns 31.0 2nd t10th Kevin Miller Punting 47.0 1st 6th
NOTEBOOK
- CB Frank Primus leads the team with 12 tackles through the first two games ... Primus played mainly on special teams a year ago but is receiving extensive playing for the first time in his career.
- In two games, the Cardinal defense has recorded six quarterback sacks, 11 tackles-for-loss, three interceptions, nine pass break-ups, forced three fumbles and recovered three fumbles.
- WR Damon Dunn, Stanford's leading returning receiver (35 receptions in '96) has caught just one pass for 13 yards through the first two games of the year ... He has also returned just two kickoffs for 28 yards.
- Through the first two games of the season, the Cardinal offense has run 140 plays - 70 rushing and 70 passing.
- FB Greg Comella has made the most of his plays in '97 ... He has rushed seven times for 62 yards and one touchdown and has one reception for 17 yards.
- The Cardinal has committed an uncharacteristic 19 penalties in its first two games for 142 yards - an average of 9.5 penalties and 71 penalty yards per game ... A year ago, Stanford averaged 5.4 penalties and 49 penalty yards per game.
- Assistant coach Dave Tipton, a 1971 Stanford graduate, coached the defensive line at Oregon State in 1988.
- P Kevin Miller currently leads the Pac-10 and is sixth in the nation with a 47.0 average ... The school record for best season punting average belongs to Doug Robison, who averaged 45.7 in 1987.
- Stanford has converted just three field goals over 30 yards in 11 attempts in the last nine games (excluding the Sun Bowl) ... The Cardinal is 0-for-4 in field goal attempts outside the 40 during this time.
- Stanford's defense has shut out its first two opponents in the first and third quarters, but has given up all its points in the second and fourth periods (14 in the second, 26 in the fourth).
- In the Red Zone, Stanford has scored six times in 10 trips inside its opponent's 20-yard line (five TDs, one field goal), but has also missed two field goals and thrown two interceptions ... Opponents, meanwhile, have scored four touchdowns and been intercepted once in five trips inside Stanford's 20.
- Stanford has recorded three interceptions this season and 16 in its last seven games ... ILB Jon Haskins, CB Chris Johnson and DE Bryan Werner have recorded interceptions in '97.