But before we look ahead, we must do one final thing that all sports writers love to do: make comparisons. With the season officially over, where does 2012-2013 team rank among the best Stanford teams of all time?
Football Head Coach David Shaw was named the 2012 Pac-12 Coach of the Year on Monday when the conference awards were announced—24 players earned individual honors as well. In just his second year as Stanford’s head coach, Shaw has now won the award for two straight years. Only three other coaches in conference history have earned the honor in back-to-back seasons.
The last game the Stanford men’s basketball team played that counted was during NIT Finals in New York’s Madison Square Garden. Seven months after winning that tournament, the Cardinal will open its 2012-13 campaign with another matchup in an NBA venue when it meets San Francisco tonight at Oracle Arena in Oakland.
A win is a win, but it certainly was not the way head coach David Shaw drew it up. A 24-point favorite going in to the game, Stanford (6-2, 4-1 Pac-12) escaped with an unconvincing 24-17 victory over a scrappy Washington State (2-6, 0-5) team that refused to quit.
But thanks to redshirt junior quarterback Josh Nunes, senior running back Stepfan Taylor and a resilient Stanford defense, the Cardinal roared back with two scores in the fourth quarter and a final touchdown to cap it off in overtime, beating the Wildcats 54-48 on Saturday afternoon.
The Pac-12 is quickly becoming known as the conference of offenses. From Stanford’s methodically efficient march to Oregon’s dangerously explosive attack—both averaged over 40 points per game last season—it’s hardly deniable that the conference has emerged as an offensive juggernaut. But that doesn’t mean the Pac-12’s abilities on the other side of the ball should be sold short. While the SEC may still reign as the king of impenetrable defenses, the West Coast has produced its own share of stellar defensive units.
The No. 21 Stanford football team released its depth chart to open the season on Saturday night with few surprises, other than the confirmation that several freshmen will see playing time on the offensive line.
In its final performance before the 2012 season, the Stanford football team takes to the field at San Francisco’s historic Kezar Stadium on Saturday in its annual Cardinal-White Spring Game. While the season is still six months away, the Stanford coaches are hoping that Saturday’s intrasquad contest will help settle several critical position battles before fall training camp, and provide some continuity for the Cardinal heading into the 2012 season. Naturally, all eyes are on the quarterback competition, where redshirt junior Josh Nunes and sophomore Brett Nottingham have emerged as the leaders to take over Andrew Luck’s job.