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There was reason to celebrate and reason to despair. The Stanford football team, despite losing four of its last five games, finished a remarkable season with a look toward an even better tomorrow.

The Big Game loss, a painful 37-16 decision to California in Berkeley, will certainly carry a sting into the off-season. Stanford's accomplishments this year can soothe some of the pain.

Though there was the reality of the program's seventh consecutive losing season, it also accompanied an unmistakable sense of hope for the future of the program.

Junior running back Toby Gerhart became Stanford's all-time single-season record with 1,136 rushing yards after gaining 103 against the Bears.

That mark can be shared by a much-improved offensive line, and running mate Anthony Kimble, who rushed for a career high 717 yards on the season and who finished his Stanford career ranked eighth in school history with 1,940 career yards and tied for sixth with 18 rushing touchdowns.

Only the 1949 team rushed (2,481) for more yards than Gerhart, Kimble and Co.'s 2,395 yards.
Tavita Pritchard set his career high with 306 passing yards, and matched his career best with 22 completions.

Ryan Whalen, who had one catch for 11 yards last year, led Stanford with 41 receptions for 508 yards in 2008.

And there's room for growth.

"First and foremost I thanked the seniors for what they started," Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said. "For those of us moving forward, our No. 1 priority has to be to finish. That will be our mantra and it starts with recruiting and replacing the senior leadership."

Despite Tavita Pritchard's 306 yards passing, the Cardinal fell apart defensively after halftime in their third consecutive loss.

Stanford trailed 10-3 at halftime despite controlling much of the first half, but the Bears' offense quickly took charge with tight end Cameron Morrah's TD catch on a fine misdirection play, receiver Verran Tucker's clever lateral to Best for a score, and Best's short scoring run after a long reverse to receiver Jeremy Ross; all in a 4:06 span before the third quarter was half over.

"It got to a point in the third quarter where we just came unraveled and turned the ball over," Harbaugh said. "Cal got on a roll with their trick plays that were all working, one right after the other."

Pritchard threw three interceptions, yet the Cardinal managed 435 total yards—more than any Cal opponent this season. But Stanford didn't score a touchdown until the fourth quarter, with two lengthy first-half drives ending on a missed field goal and a fumble at the Cal 10.

Gerhart ran 10 yards and Doug Baldwin caught a 34-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter for Stanford. Though the loss stings, the Cardinal realize they took another step forward this fall under Harbaugh, who's close to signing a contract extension.

"The culture is definitely changing here at Stanford, (but) I know I'm hurting for the seniors," Gerhart said. "They have to be killing to not go out with a win in the Big Game and not go to a bowl game."

--Palo Alto Online sports staff