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2008 Stanford Cardinal football
Conference Pacific-10 Conference
Record5–7 (4–5 Pac-10)
Head coach
Offensive coordinator David Shaw (2nd season)
Offensive scheme Pro-style
Co-defensive coordinatorAndy Buh (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinator Ron Lynn (1st season)
Base defense 4–3
Home stadium Stanford Stadium
Uniform
Seasons
←  2007
2009 →
2008 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 3 USC $   8 1     12 1  
No. 10 Oregon   7 2     10 3  
No. 18 Oregon State   7 2     9 4  
California   6 3     9 4  
Arizona   5 4     8 5  
Arizona State   4 5     5 7  
Stanford   4 5     5 7  
UCLA   3 6     4 8  
Washington State   1 8     2 11  
Washington   0 9     0 12  
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2008 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The team's head coach was Jim Harbaugh, who entered his second year at Stanford. The team played their home games at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California and competed in the Pacific-10 Conference. The Cardinal improved on their 4–8 record from the 2007 season by going 5–7. After winning back the Stanford Axe from rival California in 2007 for the first time in five years, Stanford lost the Axe to Cal in the 2008 Big Game.

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
August 286:00 p.m. Oregon State ESPN2W 36–2830,223
September 67:00 p.m.at No. 15 Arizona StateL 17–4159,441
September 1310:00 a.m.at TCU* The Mtn.L 14–3125,531
September 206:00 p.m. San Jose State*
W 23–1033,293
September 277:00 p.m.at WashingtonW 35–2861,968
October 411:30 a.m.at Notre Dame* NBCL 21–2880,795
October 112:00 p.m. Arizonadagger
  • Stanford Stadium
  • Stanford, CA
W 24–2330,689
October 181:00 p.m.at UCLA CSNBAL 20–2364,883
November 12:00 p.m. Washington State
  • Stanford Stadium
  • Stanford, CA
W 58–026,662
November 812:30 p.m.at Oregon FSNL 28–3558,013
November 154:00 p.m.No. 6 USC
  • Stanford Stadium
  • Stanford, CA ( rivalry)
VersusL 23–4550,425
November 2212:30 p.m.at California ABCL 16–3770,089
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Pacific time
Schedule Source: 2008 Stanford Cardinal football schedule

Coaches

Second-Year Head Coach Jim Harbaugh
Name Position Year
at Stanford
Alma mater (year)
Jim Harbaugh Head coach 2nd Michigan (1986)
Ron Lynn Co-defensive coordinator/assistant head coach 1st Mount Union (1966)
David Shaw Offensive coordinator/wide receivers 2nd Stanford (1995)
Lance Anderson Defensive tackles/recruiting coordinator 2nd Idaho State (1996)
Andy Buh Co – Defensive coordinator/Linebackers 2nd Nevada (1996)
Chris Dalman Offensive line 2nd Stanford (1992)
Tim Drevno Tight ends 2nd Cal State Fullerton (1992)
D. J. Durkin Defensive ends/special teams 2nd Bowling Green (2001)
Willie Taggart Running backs 2nd Western Kentucky (1998)
Clayton White Defensive backs 2nd North Carolina State (2001)
Shannon Turley Strength and conditioning 2nd Virginia Tech (2000)
Coleman Hutzler Defensive analyst 2nd Middlebury College (2006)

Game summaries

Oregon State

1 2 3 4 Total
Oregon State 0 17 3 8 28
Stanford 0 17 5 14 36

[1]

Arizona State

1 2 3 4 Total
Stanford 7 3 7 0 17
Arizona State 3 17 7 14 41

[2]

TCU

1 2 3 4 Total
Stanford 0 14 0 0 14
TCU 7 7 7 10 31

[3]

San Jose State

1 2 3 4 Total
San Jose State 3 7 0 0 10
Stanford 0 7 6 10 23

[4]

Washington

1 2 3 4 Total
Stanford 7 14 7 7 35
Washington 7 7 7 7 28

Notre Dame

1 2 3 4 Total
Stanford 0 7 0 14 21
Notre Dame 7 14 7 0 28

Arizona

1 2 3 4 Total
Arizona 3 14 0 6 23
Stanford 7 14 7 7 35

UCLA

1 2 3 4 Total
Stanford 7 7 0 6 20
UCLA 0 6 7 10 23

The week before, the Cardinal beat Arizona 24–23 in an exciting conference game, while the Bruins lost a close game to the Ducks. UCLA had a record of 44–31–3 on the Cardinal before game time.

With ten seconds left in this UCLA's homecoming game and the Bruins behind by four points, Bruin quarterback Kevin Craft passed to freshman Cory Harkey for a 7-yard touchdown to win the game, 23–20, over the Stanford Cardinal in the northeast corner of the Rose Bowl Saturday afternoon. Two turnovers by the Bruins led to the 14 Stanford points in the first half.

In the game, Craft had 285 passing yards and Taylor Embree caught 72 yards, while Stanford's Toby Gerhart rushed for 138 yards.

Washington State

1 2 3 4 Total
Washington State 0 0 0 0 0
Stanford 10 21 20 7 58

Oregon

1 2 3 4 Total
Stanford 3 14 3 8 28
Oregon 17 3 7 8 35

USC

1 2 3 4 Total
USC 3 14 7 21 45
Stanford 10 7 0 6 23
The game marked the first sell out of the new Stanford Stadium since its opening in 2006. [5]

California

1 2 3 4 Total
Stanford 0 3 0 13 16
California 3 7 20 7 37
Pritchard looks to pass

The Cardinal traveled up to Berkeley in an attempt to hold on to the Axe and earn a bowl berth with a sixth win. The Bears led 10–3 at the half and ran up 20 unanswered points in the third quarter. Stanford was able to score two quick back to back touchdowns in the fourth quarter but could not close a 21–point deficit. Tavita Pritchard threw for 306 yards and a score while Toby Gerhart rushed for 103 yards and a score. Although the loss relinquished the Axe to Cal and prevented Stanford from becoming bowl eligible, Harbaugh set the standards even higher for 2009 by declaring that "Bowl Championship Series eligible is what we’re aiming for." [6]

References

  1. ^ "Oregon State vs Stanford (08/28/08)". Stanford University Sports Information. Archived from the original on September 28, 2008. Retrieved September 25, 2008.
  2. ^ "Stanford vs Arizona State (Sep 06, 2008)". Stanford University Sports Information. Archived from the original on September 15, 2008. Retrieved September 25, 2008.
  3. ^ "Stanford vs TCU (09/13/08)". Stanford University Sports Information. Archived from the original on October 7, 2008. Retrieved September 25, 2008.
  4. ^ "SJSU vs Stanford (09/20/08)". Stanford University Sports Information. Archived from the original on September 21, 2008. Retrieved September 25, 2008.
  5. ^ Wilner, Jon (November 16, 2008). "USC 45, Stanford 23: The tactics, the turnovers and that strange final sequence". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved November 18, 2008.
  6. ^ "Stanford falls short of bowl berth once again". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved November 24, 2008.