STANFORD, Calif. — Look up and down Stanford’s starting defense and try to find a player who’s not a senior. C’mon, try it.
The offense? It doesn’t have as many seniors, but there are nine returning starters from last season.
This year’s Cardinal is one of the most experienced teams in the country. All 11 starters on defense are seniors or redshirt juniors. The offense is almost as experienced, with a handful of the impact players in their final seasons on The Farm.
With so many players reaching what should be the pinnacle of their college careers, this had to be the year Stanford made an impact.
The Cardinal has done that. Stanford enters Saturday’s game at Washington ranked 10th in this week’s Associated Press Top 25. The Cardinal has skyrocketed to sixth in the latest Bowl Championship Series rankings.
Much of Stanford’s success can be attributed to the play of its seniors. Guard Eric Heitmann and center Zack Quaccia anchor an offensive line that is among the best in the country. Running back Brian Allen is having his finest season, averaging 86 rushing yards per game. On defense, free safety Tank Williams, linebacker Coy Wire and defensive end Austin Lee are big reasons Stanford leads the Pac-10 and is 11th in the country in run defense.
“The fact that we have so many seniors, that also means we have so much more experience within the team,” Heitmann said. “I think that that experience more than anything else has helped us get to where we are right now.”
Coach Tyrone Willingham said he didn’t necessarily target this season as one that could be special despite so many of his best players being seniors. But some of the players said they realized as far back as their freshman seasons that this year could be special.
“We used to talk about that our freshman year,” senior defensive end Marcus Hoover said. “When we used to do scout team, every time one of us would make a play, you would hear ”01, ’01.’ We all came in as freshmen, we all believed that we were the best recruits in the world.”
The class of 2001 experienced a taste of success as sophomores, when the Cardinal went to the Rose Bowl. Heitmann said that year’s senior class, featuring players such as Troy Walters and Todd Husak, had a profound effect on this year’s senior class.
“I think our group of players really learned a lot from their examples and their leadership,” Heitmann said. “We’re just trying to convey that same message to the team at this point.”
NOTES: Saturday’s game will not be televised. ABC is airing the USC-Oregon State game while Fox Sports Net will show Washington State-UCLA. Stanford’s game at Arizona on Nov. 10 has been moved from 6 p.m. to 4 p.m., and will air on ABC.