2008 Stanford Cardinals
Written June 8, 2008 by Jason Lowry
The NCAA football season is right around the corner and its time to take a look at Jason Lowry’s 2008 Stanford Cardinals football predictions. Finishing last season at 4-8 and just 3-6 in the Pac 10, there is plenty of room for improvement for a team that last went to a bowl game in 2001. 2nd year coach Jim Harbaugh has 16 returning starters, and it will be his job to get these same players to come out in 2008 and win some games. This team has the talent to get the job done, as it pulled off one of the bigger upsets of the year when they knocked off conference powerhouse USC in a 24-23 stunner. Lets take a look at what this team will be bringing to the offense and defense side of things next season.
Offense:
Senior Tavita Pritchard is expected to be the starter at the beginning of the season, but that doesn’t mean he has the job locked down. Harbaugh isn’t against the idea of possibly starting junior Alex Loukas or Michigan transfer Jason Forcier. The team should be locked and loaded at running back as senior Anthony Kimble and junior Toby Gerhart should be able to combine for at least a 1,000 yards next season. Especially with the line the team has coming back. They have 3 returning starters and 4 seniors that could lead a more power running team than it has been in the past. The fact that the team doesn’t have a proven threat at wide receiver will likely hurt the chances of them throwing the ball a lot. As it looks now sophomore Doug Baldwin and junior Richard Sharman will likely be the starters, but expect to see some action from sophomore Ryan Whalen as well.
Defense:
The defense has 9 returning starters which many times could lead to a big time defense, but this is a unit that was 98th overall and it’s hard to imagine them getting that much better. It will be even harder as they lost defensive coordinator Scott Schafer to Michigan, making it hard for a team to greatly improve when they have to learn a style of play. The defensive line will likely be the best unit on this side of the ball, as they return senior starters and will likely stick in junior Brain Bulcke at the open tackle spot. The linebacking core has all three starters coming back, and expect sophomore Clinton Snyder to get after the quarterback again as he tallied 8 as a freshman. The secondary has plenty of veteran talent, but is that talent good enough to keep up with the high scoring team in the Pac 10? They were 107th against the pass a year ago; so don’t expect a big change here. The best player in this group is definitely strong safety Bo McNally, who led the team in tackles a year ago.
Prediction: 9th in the Pac 10
This team does have a lot of players coming back from a year ago, but they just don’t have the talent to be an elite team in the Pac 10. While you can likely pencil in a win or two where they upset a team they should lose to, overall this team will lose many more than it will win. We are thinking another 4-8 season sounds about right.
If you are looking to get a head start on the 2008 NCAA football season, then get it off right by signing up at Bodoglife.com. We will continue to bring you team-by-team previews, so be sure to check back often. If you are looking for a little extra help in your betting check out professional handicapper Jason Lowry’s website today!
