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Oct. 12, 1997
Stanford Returns Home to Host Arizona State
THE CARDINAL: Stanford saw its six-game Pac-10 winning streak come to an end on Saturday when the Cardinal was upset by Arizona 28-22 ... Stanford, at 2-1 in the conference, finds itself tied for fourth place in the Pac-10 with its next opponent - Arizona State ... Only six times in the history of the Pac-10 has the conference champion finished with two conference losses, making Saturday's matchup a virtual must-win situation ... Stanford, which was ranked as high at 16th a week ago, dropped to 23rd in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll and 25th in AP ... The Sun Devils, which beat USC last Saturday 35-7, are ranked 26th in both polls.
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| Head Coch Tyrone Willingham <!hr> |
TYRONE WILLINGHAM: Now in his third season as Stanford's head football coach, Tyrone Willingham enters Saturday's game with an 18-11-1 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.
TRENDY: Stanford has won nine of its last 11 games overall and six of its last seven Pac-10 games dating back to last season when it finished the year by winning its final five games, including four straight in the conference ... Stanford, which is 3-0 at home this season, has won its last five home games and seven of the last eight ... The Cardinal has also won three straight conference games at home and six of the last seven ... Stanford had the longest winning streak in the nation (six) before losing at North Carolina on Sept. 13 ... The Cardinal also had the longest Pac-10 winning streak (six) before losing last Saturday at Arizona ... In Stanford's last 11 games, the Cardinal has defeated UCLA, USC, Washington State, California, Michigan State in the Sun Bowl, San Jose State, Oregon State, Oregon and Notre Dame, with the only losses coming at North Carolina and at Arizona.
OVER-30 CROWD: Only three teams in Stanford football history have averaged over 30 points per game, but the '97 Cardinal is on pace to join that elite group ... Stanford's over-30 crowd includes the 1969 team, led by QB Jim Plunkett, which averaged 34.9 points per game to set the school record ... In 1949, Stanford scored a school-record 366 points and averaged 33.3 per game ... Tyrone Willingham's first team in 1995 scored 30.1 points per game ... Stanford's 30.8 points per game average currently sits third on the school's all-time list for most points per game in a season ... At its current pace, Stanford would score 339 points, third most single season output in school history.
Most Points Per Game, Season Year Gms Points Avg. 1969 10 349 34.9 1949 11 366 33.3 1997 6 185 30.8 1995 11 331 30.1 1994 11 327 29.7 1982 11 328 29.8 1975 11 322 29.3 1970 11 316 28.7
FOR STARTERS: Stanford's 4-1 start this season is among the best in school history ... In fact, only two teams since WWII had a better record after the first five games of the season ... The Cardinal began the 1950 campaign by winning its first five games ... The other team to begin the year with a record better than 4-1 was the 1995 squad - Tyrone Willingham's first at Stanford - which went 4-0-1 after five games.
ALL-TIME GREATS: Mike Mitchell and Anthony Bookman rank third and fourth, respectively, on Stanford's all-time rushing chart ... Mitchell has gained 2,262 career rushing yards while Bookman follows close behind with 2,224 ...Only Darrin Nelson (4,033 yards) and Brad Muster (2,940 yards) have gained more rushing yards in Stanford history than Mitchell and Bookman ... The Cardinal duo has established themselves as one of the finest pairs of running backs in college football in 1997 ... Prior to last week's game at Arzona, both had rushed for over 100 yards for three straight weeks, marking the first time in Stanford history that a pair of backs have each rushed for over 100 yards in three consecutive games ... Against Notre Dame, Bookman gained 142 yards on 14 carries, including a 58-yard touchdown run, while Mitchell carried the ball a career-high 29 times for 135 yards ... Each scored two touchdowns while leading Stanford to a 322-yard rushing day ... Combined, the duo has rushed for 914 yards and scored eight touchdowns through six games (501 yards, five TDs for Bookman; 413 yards, 3 TDs for Mitchell) ... They are averaging over 152 yards rushing per game.
Career Yards Rushing 1. Darrin Nelson, 1977-81 4,033 2. Brad Muster, 1984-87 2,940 3. Mike Mitchell, 1993-97 2,262 4. Anthony Bookman, 1994-97 2,224 5. Glyn Milburn, 1990-92 2,178 6. Tommy Vardell, 1988-91 1,789 7. Ray Handley, 1963-65 1,768 8. Vincent White, 1979-82 1,689 9. Jon Volpe, 1987-90 1,674 10. Bill Tarr, 1953-55 1,593 Career All-Purpose Running 1. Darrin Nelson, 1977-81 6,885 2. Glyn Milburn, 1990-92 5,857 3. Vincent White, 1979-82 4,665 4. Brad Muster, 1984-87 4,624 5. Anthony Bookman, 1994-97 4,077 6. Mike Mitchell, 1993-97 3,482 7. Jeff James, 1984-87 2,659 8. Ron Inge, 1973-76 2,635 9. Mike Dotterer, 1979-82 2,541 10. Ken Margerum, 1977-80 2,495
HUTCH CLOSING IN ON TOP-10: Junior Chad Hutchinson (two years of eligibility remaining after the '97 season), in only his second year as the Cardinal's starting quarterback, is one yard shy of breaking into Stanford's all-time career passing chart - a list that includes many of the great names in Stanford football history ... Hutchinson has thrown for 3,555 yards in his 17-game career (Sun Bowl stats do not count), leaving him just one yard shy of Mike Cordova's spot at No. 10 ... At his current pace of 236.8 yards/game, Hutchinson would finish this season with 2,604 yards and his career total would put him at 4,738 and No. 7 all-time ... Still ahead of Hutchinson on the all-time list is John Brodie at No. 9 (3,594 carer passing yards), Dick Norman at No. 8 (3,737 yards) and Mike Boryla at No. 7 (4,082 yards) ... Hutchinson is already regarded as one of the top two-sport athletes in the nation ... A former first round draft pick in baseball (26th pick overall by Braves, June, 1995), Hutchinson is in his second season as Stanford's starting quarterback ... He has been a starting pitcher for the Cardinal baseball team the past two seasons (15-6 record) and will enter the '98 season as one of the top pitching prospects in college baseball ... He is eligibile for the major league baseball draft in June, 1998 following his junior season ... As a quarterback, Hutchinson entered the '97 football season rated by Lindy's as the fifth best QB in the nation and number six in the nation by The Sporting News ... He began the '97 campaign by throwing for 302 yards in the season opener vs. San Jose State - the second 300-yard effort of his career ... He threw his third 300-yard game against Oregon (Sept. 27) when he completed 21-of-31 for 340 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions ... The four TD passes were a career-best and tied him with several others for eighth place on Stanford's single-game TD passes list ... In his last four games, Hutchinson has completed 88-of-134 (.657) for 928 yards, five TDs and one interception ... He has not thrown an interception in the last three games (108 pass attempts) - the first time in his career that he has not thrown an INT in three straight games ... In the last two years on The Farm, Hutchinson has participated in two bowl games (the 1995 Liberty Bowl as a redshirt freshman and the '96 Sun Bowl as the starting QB), two NCAA baseball regional playoffs and one College World Series, that coming last season ... He was a Freshman All-American in baseball in 1995 and last year he was the Offensive MVP of the Sun Bowl.
Career Passing Leaders
1. Steve Stenstrom, 1991-94 10,531
2. John Elway, 1979-82 9,349
3. John Paye, 1983-86 7,669
4. Jim Plunkett, 1968-70 7,544
5. Guy Benjamin, 1974-77 5,946
6. Jason Palumbis, 1988-91 4,954
7. Mike Boryla, 1970-73 4,082
8. Dick Norman, 1958-60 3,737
9. John Brodie, 1954-56 3,594
10. Mike Cordova, 1973-76 3,556
Chad Hutchinson, 1996- 3,555
MILLER TIME: P/PK Kevin Miller has not only been impressive with his 44.23 punting average - tops in the Pac-10 - but his 13 punts inside the opponent's 10-yard line has been a very valuable weapon for the Cardinal in 1997 ... Miller, who doubles as the placekicker as well (five-for-nine FG, 17-for-18 PAT), had three more punts land inside the 10-yard line in last Saturday's game at Arizona ... Of his 30 punts this season, 15 have gone inside the opponent's 20, 13 inside the 10 and six inside the five-yard line, including three at the one-yard line.
Inside the 10.... Opp Yard Line (s) SJ 6, 7 NC 1, 4 OSU 10, 8, 3 Ore 1 ND 4, 6 Ariz 8, 1, 9
LOMBARDI FINALIST: Senior DE Kailee Wong is among the final 12 for the 1997 Lombardi Award, presented to the nation's top lineman ... Wong, a First-Team All-Pac-10 selection last season, is attempting to become the first Cardinal defensive lineman since Duncan McColl in 1976 to earn All-America honors ... Through six games, Wong has recorded 26 total tackles, 6.5 quarterback sacks and 13 tackles-for-loss ... He is among the Pac-10 leaders in both sacks and tackles-for-loss ...He recorded a safety in consecutive games - vs. Oregon and Notre Dame - when he sacked the quarterback in the end zone late in the game ... In his last 17 games, he has accounted for 17.5 sacks and 34 tackles-for-loss ... The Sporting News ranked Wong as the 6th best DE in the nation while Lindy's ranked him ninth.
Game-by-game with Wong Opp Tackles Sacks TFL Saf SJS 1-0-1 1-7 1-7 0 NC 5-3-8 2.5-19 3-23 0 OSU 3-2-5 0-0 1-5 0 Ore 3-0-3 1-1 2-2 1 ND 4-0-4 2-11 4-17 1 Ariz 5-0-5 0-0 2-8 0 Tot 21-5-26 6.5-38 13-62 2
BOOK REPORT: In six games this season, Anthony Bookman has already surpassed his rushing total for the entire 1996 season ... As a starter in 10 of 11 regular season games last year (Sun Bowl stats do not count toward season or career stats), Bookman's numbers looked like this: 82 carries, 274 yards, 3.3 average, no TDs, long run of 27 and 25 yards rushing per game ...In six games in 1997, Bookman has rushed for a team-leading 501 yards, scored five TDs, is averaging 6.6 yards per carry and 83.5 yards per game ...Hed has already registered touchdown runs of 60 , 67 and 58 thus far in '97.
Bookman - 1996 vs. 1997 Year Gms Att Yds Avg TD LG Yds/gm 1996 11 82 274 3.3 0 27 24.9 1997 6 76 501 6.6 5 67 83.5
TROY'S TALE: Junior flanker Troy Walters ranks sixth in the nation and second in the Pac-10 in receptions per game (7.5) and his 97.5 receiving yards per game places him 18th nationally and third in the conference ... He is on pace to break Stanford's single-season record for receptions and is in the hunt for the school record for receiving yardage in a season ... Walters' numbers project to 83 receptions for 1,073 yards over an 11-game season, which would eclipse the current record for receptions (Brad Muster, 78 receptions in 1985), but fall short in yardage (Gene Washington, 1,117 receiving yards in 1968)
Stanford Individual Stat Rankings (NCAA top-50 only)
Name Category Avg. Pac-10 NCAA Chad Hutchinson Total Offense 216.5 5th 38th Chad Hutchinson Passing Efficiency 128.0 7th 49th Troy Walters Receptions 7.50 2nd 6th Troy Walters Receiving Yards 97.50 3rd t18th Troy Walters Punt Returns 11.25 t3rd t24th Troy Walters All-Purpose Yards 132.00 7th 30th Anthony Bookman Rushing 83.50 7th 47th Kevin Miller Punting 44.23 1st 19thStanford-Arizona State Stat Comparison (NCAA rank)
Stanford Arizona State
4-2 Record 4-2
30.8 (31st) Points/game 22.7 (t64th)
26.0 (t67th) Pts. Allowed/game 13.0 (11th)
908 Yards Rushing 1030
151.3 (53rd) Yards Rushing/game 171.7 (37th)
123.5 (45th) Yards Allowed Rushing/game 108.0 (t29th)
13 Rushing TDs 7
122 Pass Completions 94
204 Pass Attempts 175
5 Passes Had Intercepted 6
9 Touchdown Passes 8
1421 Yards Passing 1219
236.8 (36th) Yards Passing/game 203.2 (58th)
131.5 (71st) Pass Defense Rating 93.4 (10th)
388.17 (46th) Total Offense/game 374.83 (56th)
344.8 (51st) Total Offense Allowed/game 288.3 (19th)
20.0/124 QB Sacks By 15.0/129
Notebook
- Stanford was held to a season-low 11 net yards rushing last Saturday vs. Arizona ... It was the lowest rushing total in Tyrone Willingham's tenure as Stanford's head coach and the lowest on The Farm since Sept. 24, 1994,when Arizona held the Cardinal to six net yards rushing.
- The Cardinal's uncharacterstic five turnovers (all fumbles) were also the most in Tyrone Willingham's tenure and the most at Stanford since a seven turnover effort on Oct. 16, 1993 at Arizona (four interceptions, three fumbles).
- Kevin Miller recorded a 67-yard punt last Saturday at Arizona, the sixth longest punt in school history.
- Soph. WR DeRonnie Pitts registered his first career touchdown last Saturday at Arizona when he connected with Chad Hutchinson on a 17-yard play in the third quarter.
- ILB Chris Draft returned to the starting lineup last week after missing three games with a hamstring injury ... He led the team in tackles against Arizona with nine, including two tackkles-for-loss.
- Chad Hutchinson currrently ranks fifth all-time in career completion percentage (.605) ... He is 312-for-516 in his career.
- DE Kailee Wong has been selected to play in the East-West Shrine game while WR Damon Dunn has accepted an invitation to play in the Hula Bowl.
- Stanford has scored 21 times in 25 trips in the Red Zone, including the last 15 ... In the last four games, the Cardinal has scored 11 touchdowns and kicked four field goals in 15 trips in the Red Zone.
- Linebackers coach Kent Baer was the defensive coordinator at Arizona State under Bruce Snyder for three seasons (1992-94) ... In fact, Baer was a member of Snyder's staffs for 14 years; six at Utah State (1977-82), five at Cal (1987-91) and three at ASU.
- The Cardinal has already surpassed last year's total for rushing touchdowns ... A year ago, Stanford rushed for 10 touchdowns, led by Mike Mitchell's four ... Through six games in 1997, the Cardinal has already rushed for 13 TDs, led by Anthony Bookman's five ... Mitchell and Greg Comella have each added three rushing TDs ... The school record for rushing touchdowns in a season is 29, set by the 1991 team that had Tyrone Willingham as its running backs coach.
- Last season, the Cardinal running game averaged 103.3 yards per game and 2.8 yards per rush ... This year, those numbers up significantly to 151.3 rushing yards per game and 3.7 yards per rush.
Noting the Sun Devils: Arizona State, the 1996 Pac-10 champion, enters the game on the heels of a 35-7 rout of USC in Tempe, a game in which the Sun Devils rolled up 528 yards of total offense ... The Sun Devils lone Pac-10 loss this season came at Washington (26-14) ... Sophomore tailback J.R. Redmond leads ASU's ground game, amassing 548 yards and four touchdowns on 86 carries (6.4 yds/c) ... As a team, the Sun Devils are averaging 171.7 rushing yards per game, the third best mark in the conference ... ASU ranks second in the Pac-10 in total defense, allowing just 288.3 yds/g.
Head Coach Bruce Snyder: Bruce Snyder, the 1996 consensus National Coach-of-the-Year, is now in his 34th season in the coaching ranks ... He led the Sun Devils to an 11-1 mark last year and their first bowl game since 1987 ... Snyder has coached for two seperate Pac-10 schools (Cal, ASU) and played for another (Oregon) ... Prior to taking the helm at ASU, Snyder spent five years as head coach at Cal ... He directed the Bears to the 1990 Copper Bowl and the 1991 Citrus Bowl ... Snyder is just 3-5-1 against Stanford, with all three wins coming while at ASU.
Series History: Stanford captured the first two meetings in a series which began in 1978, but it has been all Arizona State since ... The Sun Devils proceeded to win nine of the next 11 contests and enter this week's tilt with a 9-4 series lead, including 4-2 at Stanford Stadium ...
The Last Time: The fourth-ranked Sun Devils, gunning for a Rose Bowl berth and a potential shot at a national championship, defeated Stanford 41-9 last season at Stanford Stadium ... ASU jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter, withheld a Cardinal rally to get back in the game in the second behind backup quarterback Todd Husak, and never looked back ... Husak, who replaced an injured Chad Hutchinson (sprained thumb), performed well ... Despite being picked off twice, he completed 17-of-34 passes for 173 yards and a touchdown ... ASU took four Cardinal turnovers and turned them into 28 points.