Inside the Pac--a look at the Stanford Cardinal for 2002
Defensively speaking, Stanford is up a tree
By: Malamute, 28 June 2002

Since the Stanford Cardinal returns just three players on defense, you could say that the Tree is up a tree for next season. On the brighter side, Stanford returns seven players from an offense that finished first in total offense (Pac-10) last season--and that includes returning quarterback Chris Lewis, a redshirt junior. 

Lewis has plenty of experience, having backed up oft-injured QB Randi Fasani in 2001; Lewis finished tenth in the league in total offense, while Fasani finished fifth in that category. Lewis, threw 163 times last season, completing 90  passes (55.3%). 

This upcoming season, Lewis will be throwing to 6-foot-7 Teyo Johnson (who was Pac-10 Co-Freshman of the Year last season) and to 5-8 Luke Powell, both of whom will provide Pac-10 cornerbacks with a flashback of a "Mutt and Jeff" cartoon, as part of the Fun 'N Gun offense. Not a laughing matter, Powell averaged 72 yards and Johnson 51, in yards per game as receivers last season.

In April, six Cardinal players were selected in the seven-round NFL draft: Randy Fasani, RB Brian Allen, OG Eric Heitmann, C Zach Quaccia, FS Tank Williams and ILB Coy Wire. Their loss leaves some gaps to fill; just three players who were among the leaders in Pac-10 statistical categories last season return to the Cardinal (Table 5).

Having another gap to fill after head coach Tyrone Willingham opted for Notre Dame, the Cardinal hired Buddy Teevens, pronounced Tee-vins, as its new head coach. Teevens, 45, an Ivy league graduate, will try to unravel the meaning of the Stanford mascot, the Tree. 

That aside, he spent the last three years with Steve Spurier at Florida, where he was the assistant offensive coordinator and tight ends coach last season. Prior to that he spent two years at Illinois as Offensive Coordinator. Teevens was a head coach for 12 seasons at Maine, Dartmouth and Tulane from 1985-96. He compiled an overall record of 50-76-2.

Along with the conundrum of their mascot, the Stanford spring game is somewhat of a mystery. Matched against the defense, the Cardinal offense won 54-33--which clearly shows that it is going to score a lot of points next season; likely the defense will give up a lot of points. Points were awarded for a number of glorious deeds, too numerous to describe, and somehow it figured in the scoring. The offense scored five touchdowns on the day.

Lewis was 2-for-18 for 176 yards and two touchdowns, and Teyo Johnson had six catches and two touchdowns. None of the defenders started in more than half of the games last season, and new defensive coordinator Tom Williams was quoted as saying, "I think we saw the inconsistencies of youth."

On defense, junior NT Matt Leonard is the strength up front. Williams is impressed with linebacker, redshirt freshman Michael Craven (three tackles), a highly regarded player out of La Quinta. "It's a tall order," Williams was quoted as saying, looking to replace the entire line-backing corp and three quarters of the secondary. Of that group, only safety Colin Branch returns. He played in 11 games last season and is credited with 28 tackles and 1 interception.

Incoming freshman David Beall, 6-foot-5, 295 pounds, should add some beef to the offensive line, as will newcomer Jon Cochran, 6-foot-6, 290. They'll augment an offensive line anchored by three starters from last season, Kirk Chambers (T), Greg Schindler (G), and Kwame Harris (T). Stanford finished first in rushing offense last season (Pac-10), and some big holes should open for running backs, Kerry Carter (senior), Kenneth Tolon (sophomore), and Justin Faust (junior). 

Senior fullback Casey Moore led all runners in the spring game, gaining 24 yards on 3 carries. Carter didn't play.

Punter Eric Johnson returns; he averaged 38.1 yards per punt last season. Unless it's Johnson, it's not clear who will replace Mike Biselli, Stanford's field-goal specialist from last season. Sophomore Michael Sgroi, listed as a place kicker on the roster, may try for the threes. 

Stanford recruited another outstanding quarterback to be in Trent Edwards, out of Los Gatos. He'll join the team in August. Incoming freshman David Lofton, son of NFL great James Lofton, is listed as a dual threat quarterback, but he could help out at a number of positions. 

All things considered, we give the Tree 28 power points, which are 13 points less than Washington, our current leader.  (See Table 8 below). This ranking is based on the information shown in the tables below, along with others not shown. Tied for second are UCLA and Washington State, each with  38 power points. The complete Pac-10 power point rankings, along with the data used to derive them, will be published at a later time. 

Table 1. On the upside

Table 2. On the downside

 

Table 3. Returnees on offense
 

* Used redshirt year

Table 4. Returnees on defense

 

* Used redshirt year.

Table 5. How key returnees, 2001, did in the Pac-10 

Table 6. Tree's Offensive Statistics in Pac-10, 2001

Table 7. Tree's Defensive Statistics in Pac-10, 2001


Table 8. Stanford's Power Point Ranking (points range from minus 3 to plus 5, relative to other Pac-10 teams). The complete rankings for all Pac-10 teams will be published later on. 

* New head coaches gets 1 in this league. After that it's based on won/lost record (or tenure) relative to other coaches in the league. As dean of Pac-10 head coaches, Mike Price (WSU) automatically gets 5 points. 

** Playing at either UCLA, Oregon or Washington is considered a road killer. Rivalry games played at their joints are not. Reser Stadium (OSU) is fast approaching road killer status. 

*** Seniors get 5 points; however, he has to have a capable backup--otherwise, it's 4.

# The number of top 25 teams (according to the last USA/Coaches Poll) played during the regular season. This helps normalize the 2001 offensive/defensive rankings, e.g., the hammering Washington took at number one Miami skewed its 2001 stats downward. 

% Based on its last five-seasons at home against Pac-10 opposition.

& Compared to other Pac-10 teams

@ Relative to other returning kickers in this league based on last season's stats.

Table 9. The Cardinal's 2002 Schedule