Levine Toilolo Named Starting Tight End For Stanford

The Cardinal have all kinds of depth at the tight end position – Stanford brought in four recruits at the position in 2009. One of them is Levine Toilolo, a redshirt freshman already flashing enough talent during fall camp to earn a starting position over a few veteran options. But perhaps most intriguing to Stanford fans is one unique physical attribute:

Listed at 6-foot-8, Levine Toilolo says he’s actually closer to 6-9. His height and long arms have quickly helped him move to the top of the depth chart at Stanford.

That’s three inches taller than Cal’s renowned basketball playing tight end alum Tony Gonzalez. It will be interesting to see if that height transfers into on-the-field production – particularly in the red zone.

Stanford Finished 27th in AP Preseason Top 25 Poll

Stanford received 81 votes, 4th most in the Pac-10 behind Oregon, Oregon State and USC. Much of the hype is built around Heisman candidate Andrew Luck and an offense that returns mostly intact, but the big question is can that pass defense get better and can Toby Gerhart be replaced?

More Stanford Players Swinging Both Ways On the Field

First Owen Marecic, then Alex Loukas, now Corey Gatewood. Tom FitzGerald of the Chronicle reports.

One two-way-player experiment may be ending and another beginning as coach Jim Harbaugh continues to tinker with the Stanford lineup.

Alex Loukas’ days as a safety may be numbered, or at least limited, because he is emerging as the No. 2 quarterback behind Andrew Luck. Meanwhile, senior cornerback Corey Gatewood is getting a look at wide receiver for the first time in his college career.

Eventually Harbaugh is going to just line up his entire offense on defense and entire defense on offense, just to prove that Luck can win the Heisman. AS A NOSE TACKLE.

Stanford Ranked #24 In Sports Illustrated College Football Preview

Sports Illustrated is unveiling their 2010 college football preview edition tomorrow. The issue will be ranking the Stanford Cardinal 24th in the nation to start the season.

Although the Cardinal lose all-world running back Toby Gerhart, they will be looking to replace his talent with a platoon of three running backs: Stepfan Taylor, Jeremy Stewart and Tyler Gaffney. Taylor finished last season as the team’s third leading running back with 303 yards on 56 carries. The top two rushers were Gerhart and QB Andrew Luck.

Although the team loses Gerhart, I’d imagine many teams in the nation would be happy coming into the 2010 season simply with Luck. The red-shirt sophomore QB threw for 2,575 yards last season with a 56.3% completion percentage and 13 touchdowns, alongside 4 interceptions. Needless to say, while he might not be a Heisman favorite, he’s certainly in the discussion of potential finalists heading into this season.

Of course, every good passing attack needs some semblance of a running game. As offensive coordinator David Shaw told Sports Illustrated, "[W]e don’t want to be one of those teams that just lines up and throws 60 times a game. We want to play tough and physical between the tackles and run the ball.”

The big question throughout the season will be what will we see from the trio of running backs. It’s hard to replace an all-time Stanford RB like Gerhart, but if they can provide even a significant portion of his yards, the Cardinal could make a run at the Pac-10 title in 2010.

Stanford Opens Training Camp With High Expectations, Questions

Tom Fitzgerald previews Stanford football training camp, which begins Monday. Much of the focus is on Sophomore Andrew Luck, who will be pressured to lead the offense after the departure of Toby Gerhart. But Stanford’s defense must improve as well:

According to senior nose tackle Sione Fua, the defense is tired of hearing how bad it’s been. “The defense has really taken that to heart,” he said. “Switching to the 3-4 is great. It’s better suited to us.”

New defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, Fua said, “has a system but he allows us to be football players. There will be more blitzing, a lot of different looks. They’re not going to know where we’re coming from. It’s going to be a pretty dramatic change.”

Fitzgerald also asks five questions, the most pressing being the obvious question of who will replace Toby Gerhart:

That’s easy: nobody. But if a posse of tailbacks can come near his 1,871 rushing yards and 28 touchdowns, Stanford would be delighted. Senior Jeremy Stewart (who might have two years of eligibility left because injuries sidelined him early last year) is up against sophs Stepfan Taylor and Tyler Gaffney.

Stanford Leads Pac-10 In Academic Progress Rate, Margin Narrowing

Ted Miller reports the Cardinal football team finished first in the conference. All Pac-10 schools made the cutoff line.

1. Stanford: 975.
2. USC: 971.
3. California: 963.
4. Oregon State: 962
5. Arizona: 961.
6. Washington State: 953.
7. Oregon: 949.
8. UCLA: 943.
9. Washington: 934.
10. Arizona State: 925

However, one thing that should be noted...according to the APR engine, the Cardinal's APR has been slowly decreasing on Harbaugh's watch. Three years isn't too much, but you know what they say about the slippery slope.

2006-07	987	Stanford University	Dec 2006
2007-08	979
2008-09	975

Stanford Receives 41 Votes In Inaugural USA Today Coaches' Poll

Preseason polls really have very little meaning in the big picture, but it can still be solid validation of expectations for a program. For the Stanford Cardinal, the first coaches poll of 2010 has them receiving 41 votes. While not yet ranked, this is the first time since 2002 that Stanford has received votes in a preseason football poll. Of course, that season ended for the Cardinal with a 2-9 record.

Although Stanford enters the season without Toby Gerhart, expectations are still running high for the fightin’ Jim Harbaughs. Harbaugh has brought some level of respect back to The Farm. We’ll see if they can meet such lofty expectations in 2010.

Jim Harbaugh And Owen Marecic At Pac-10 Media Day

Harbaugh's interviews are always...uh, what's the word...curious. I guess that's the diplomatic phrase. Pac-10 Media Day was no exception.

"Owen and I, we look at Aug. 9 as the start of the New Year," Harbaugh said.

On playing Marecic at both fullback and linebacker, the coach said: "I've noticed there are a lot more TV timeouts in football."

The fourth-year coach has improved Stanford's record each season since he took over. Asked about sustaining that level of success, Harbaugh sat forward as if he'd been shot and bellowed into the microphone.

"We're not sustaining a gosh darn thing," he yelled. "We despise the word sustain, we despise the word satisfaction."