Aug 15th, 2010
Nothing can stir the discussion pot better than a Stanford vs. Cal debate, regardless of the topic. Since our website is not equipped to document the relative merits of Nobel Prize winners from the two esteemed Bay Area colleges, we will resort to a subject that has a greater impact on the condition of our planet — football.
Try to imagine Jeff Tedford coming up with this Tweet
When ESPN.com’s anonymous poll of players revealed that the players thought Jim Harbaugh was the best coach in the Pac-10, it raised an issue that must be gnawing at Cal fans: Has Stanford passed Cal as the Bay Area’s preeminent college football program?
The 2009 season was the first time since Jeff Tedford arrived as coach that Cal finished behind the Cardinal in the Pac-10 standings. And this season, Stanford is expected to contend for the conference title while the Bears are not expected to finish in the top half of the standings.
Is this a trend or a blip? Will the Bears flourish with pressure of a preseason national ranking removed? Will Stanford fizzle under the burden of high expectations?
Before Tedford arrived in Berkeley, Stanford had taken control of the rivalry, as Tyrone Willingham had lifted the Cardinal’s status. Stanford finished ahead of Cal in six of Willingham’s seven seasons, and the Cardinal even went to the Rose Bowl in 1999, and, as all Cal fans know, the Bears have not been to the Rose Bowl since the 1958 season. And Willingham was 7-0 against Cal.
Then Tedford came and changed the landscape. Tedford is 7-1 against Stanford, and even beat the Cardinal last year, preventing Stanford from earning sole possession of second place and getting a Holiday Bowl berth.
But Harbaugh is the hot coach now. He had the running back who was the Heisman Trophy runnerup last season, and he has the quarterback who is expected to be a first-round draft choice. What adds to the coaching comparison is that Tedford and Harbaugh have contrasting personalities. Harbaugh is the flighty, brash, loud, animated sideline character who have given Stanford’s football program its physical personality. Tedford is the low-key, analytical type who has to remind himself than he can’t X and O his way out of every troublesome situation, although he’s like to try. You’d probably prefer to pull up a bar stool next to Harbaugh, but you might want your daughter to marry Tedford’s son.
It’s all part of a nice little rivalry in which every competition between the two schools is prefaced with the word Big — the Big Game, the Big Splash, the Big Spike, the Big Freeze, the Big This, the Big That. Let’s let the Big Hannibal Lecter describe the feelings representatives of one school have for the other:
Let’s compare the teams’ situation for 2010:
Quarterback: Advantage Stanford
The Cardinal’s Andrew Luck has first-round pro potential, and he was a pleasant surprise as a redshirt freshman, but let’s see how he does without the running threat provided by Toby Gerhart. Kevin Riley teases with some good perfomances, but his inconsistency has hurt the Bears. If he puts it together as a senior – a big if – the Bears could have something.
Running back: Advantage Cal.
Shane Vereen should be nearly as productive as as Jahvid Best was last year, and if either Isi Sofele or Dasarte Yarnway develops into a strong backup, Cal will be OK. The Cardinal drops several notches with the loss of Gerhart, and it has not established a No. 1 running back yet. It’s likely to be Stepfan Taylor with Jeremy Stewart getting a lot of work.
Wide receiver: Advantage Stanford
Ryan Whalen and Chris Owusu have established them selves as solid Pac-10 players, and either could be all-conference. Marvin Jones has a chance to be good for Cal, but it is up to freshman Keenan Allen to make this a strong unit for the Bears.
Tight end: Advantage Cal.
This is a tough call because Cal has the better starter in Anthony Miller, but the combination of Coby Fleener, Konrad Reuland, Zach Ertz and Levine Toilolo gives the Cardinal impressive depth at the position.
Offensive line: Advantage Stanford
Cal’s line will be experienced and should be improved, but the Cardinal returns four starters from the unit that led Gerhart to all his yardage and yielded the second-fewest sacks in the country.
Defensive line: Even
Granted, rating any position group as “even” is a copout, sort of like the boxing judge who scores a round even. But here’s our rationale: Cal has the potential star of the group in defensive end Cameron Jordan, but all three Stanford starters up front have experience. OK, it’s still a copout.
Linebackers: Advantage Stanford
Although Cal’s Mike Mohamed may be the best all-around linebacker in the conference, the three other spots are question marks for Cal. Shane Skov looks like budding star inside linebacker at Stanford, and switching defensive ends Thomas Keiser and Chase Thomas to outside linebacker in the Cardinal’s new 3-4 alignment should give the Cardinal a strong pass rush.
Secondary: Advantage Stanford.
This was the biggest weakness for both teams last season and will be an issue again this year. Stanford gets a slight edge because the defensive backs seemed much improved during the spring, and they all have experience. However, Cal could move past the Cardinal in this category if redshirt freshman Steve Williams continues to show the talent he has during preseason practice.
Special teams: Advantage Stanford
Cal has the better punter in Bryan Anger, but that’s it. Owusu is one of the best kick returners in the country, and Nate Whitaker has it over Giorgio Tavecchio as a kicker. Plus, Stanford’s kickoff coverage was much better than Cal’s last season, which is why Cal replaced its special-teams coach. Isi Sofele and Jeremy Ross give the Bears good punt returners, so Cal may have a slight edge there.
Coaching: Advantage Cal
This goes against the prevailing opinion, but Harbaugh has to demonstrate that last season was not a fluke before he can surpass Tedford, who has taken the Bears to bowl games seven straight years. If this comparison had been made two years ago, there would be no debate that Tedford was the better coach, and a coaching acumen does not change that much in two years’ time. Does it?
Recruiting: Advantage Stanford
This is always a tough category to rate, and we can say just about anything and make a compelling argument. The most persuasive data is that scout.com has ranked Stanford’s recruiting class ahead of Cal’s in both 2009 and 2010, and the Cardinal seems to have a pretty good cast of charcters lined up for 2011, although it’ still early. Harbaugh counts quarterback Andrew Luck, wide receiver Chris Owusu, linebacker Shane Skov, a couple of young tight ends that look like they may be stars and a highly rated group of freshmen as his recruiting accomplishments. Tedford is still looking for the quarterback to bring back memories of Aaron Rodgers, but over the same time frame Tedford brought in Shane Vereen and tight end Anthony Miller. And if freshman Keenan Allen is as good as he seems, that may even things up. As it stands, though, Harbaugh seems to have the edge. Harbaugh has taken the approach of offering scholarships to players who seem likely to gain admission to Stanford and leaving it up to the players to satisfy the requirements. He loses some players who don’t qualify, but, generally, it seems to be successful. In the pre-Harbaugh days, Stanford coaches usually waited for the player to be admitted before offering a scholarship — or schollie as they are called to those of us in the biz.
After I open up your Rss feed it seems to be a lot of junk, is the problem on my side?