Stanford senior running back Toby Gerhart was named one of the 16 semifinalists for the Maxwell Award earlier this week, which is given to the nation’s most outstanding player in college football, but as the Cardinal (5-3, 4-2 Pacific-10 Conference) gear up to take on the hard-hitting Oregon defense, Gerhart will face his toughest challenge yet.
Through eight games Gerhart has carried the ball 195 times for 994 yards and 13 scores. His mark of 124.3 yards per game leads the Pac-10, while ranking third in touchdowns to only Oregon State’s James and Jacquizz Rodgers, who have each tallied 15 on the year.
“I think Gerhart is one of the top running backs in the country,” Oregon head coach Chip Kelly said.
Last season, Oregon was able to hold Gerhart to 21 yards on eight carries en route to a 35-28 win, though this year’s Cardinal team looks to be a much bigger challenge.
“They play fast, they play physical,” Kelly said. “We expect a battle.”
Redshirt freshman Andrew Luck has been a welcome surprise to the Stanford offense at the quarterback position, as he’s completed 114 of 196 passes for 1,825 yards, nine touchdowns and only three interceptions. In his eight starts, Luck has put together the highest passer efficiency rating in the Pac-10 with 148.5, while completing 58.2 percent of his passes.
“The QB brings a lot to the table,” Oregon freshman free safety John Boyett said. “Stanford’s coaches do a good job of using his skills in their offense.”
The 6-foot-4-inch, 235-pound signal caller was the No. 5 overall high school recruit coming out of the state of Texas — the same class as Oregon running back LaMichael James — and has been able mesh with a talented Stanford receiving corps so far this year.
“The difference between them this year and last year is the play of Andrew Luck,” Kelly said. “I think he’s one of the top quarterbacks around and he’s only a freshman.”
Kelly continued to say that with a quarterback like Luck under center, the Stanford offense becomes much more balanced, making it harder for defenses to gang up on the run game alone.
Luck’s favorite targets on the perimeter have been junior Ryan Whalen, who leads the team with 39 receptions for 647 yards and three touchdowns, and sophomore Chris Owusu who has pulled down 26 catches for 459 yards and four scores.
“They like the play-action pass,” sophomore cornerback Javes Lewis said. “Teams that run the ball well like to complement it with the play action, so we have to get our eyes right and read our keys.”
Owusu is also one of the more versatile return men in the Pac-10, returning 19 kickoffs for 668 yards and three touchdowns. His average of 35.2 yards per return ranks second in the conference behind the Ducks redshirt freshman Kenjon Barner, who ranks fifth nationally, at 35.4. Senior cornerback Richard Sherman has also provided additional scoring as a punt returner for Stanford, fielding 14 punts for 143 yards and a touchdown.
“They can beat you both ways,” Kelly concluded. “With Gerhart, obviously they can run the ball as good as anybody in the country. They’ve got an outstanding offensive line. They run a lot of varied schemes.”
Stanford will undoubtedly need all the scoring help it can get in order to compete with the red-hot Oregon offense, but one thing in the Cardinal favor is the home field advantage. Stanford is unbeaten at home this season and has won eight of its last nine dating back to the final game of the 2007 season.
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