Cardinal need to put Cardinal need to put (November 03, 2004)their mistakes behind them

by Rick Eymer

Perhaps a quick history lesson is needed for those diehard Stanford football fans who might be chagrined following the Cardinal's latest visit with misery.

Stanford's bowl hopes seem to be dimming rapidly following last Saturday's 21-0 loss to host UCLA. The Cardinal (2-3, 4-4) have lost two in a row and three of four as it enters Saturday's 3:30 p.m. game at 23rd-ranked Arizona State.

The math is easy. Stanford needs to win two of its last three games to become bowl eligible. After the Sun Devils, whose only losses have been to top-ranked USC and fourth-ranked California, the Cardinal host Oregon State and play the Bears in Berkeley.

"We've spurted the last two weeks but we have the players that I think can fix it," Stanford linebacker David Bergeron said. "We're in a position to get things back on track. Expectations are still very high with this team."

OK, papers and pencils everyone: In 1996, Stanford's bowl hopes were all but extinct. The Cardinal were barely hanging on to a 1-3 conference mark, 2-5 overall. They needed to sweep their remaining four games to become bowl eligible.

"We're making a lot of mistakes and paying for them," Stanford linebacker Chris Draft said at the time.

Sophomore quarterback Chad Hutchinson was questionable for the rest of the season because of a sprained thumb, and had some miserable outings.

Stanford never lost again, winning five straight, including a 38-0 victory over Michigan State in the Sun Bowl.

So maybe Bergeron is on to something. Maybe Stanford has made all its mistakes for the season and is ready to run the table. And maybe the Cardinal are only dreaming of what might have been.

"We need to find an answer," Stanford coach Buddy Teevens said. "That's the first time that happened where our offense was shut down. We're better than that."

Can Stanford repeat the success of its 1996 predecessors? Sure, man, why not?

What makes the loss to the Bruins so galling is that UCLA came into the game ranked last in the Pac-10 in defense and Stanford didn't seem to have a clue how to exploit that weakness.

Arizona State has allowed 27, 42 and 45 points in its last three games. Stanford should be able to score, but that was the common wisdom before the Cardinal floundered against the Bruins.

"Turnovers and missed opportunities," Stanford tight end Alex Smith said. "That's the story of the game. For whatever reason we couldn't finish our drives."

Smith finished with 136 yards on 10 catches. Menlo-Atherton grad Greg Camarillo caught four passes for 50 yards. Trent Edwards passed for 224 yards and rushed for another 28.

In 1996, Stanford was shut out by Wisconsin, 14-0, early in the year. The defense was effective that season and kept the Cardinal in games until the offense finally got itself untracked.

"Not scoring was unforgivable," Teevens said. "We didn't think that was possible. The offense didn't hold up its part of the bargain."

November used to be Stanford's month. In the seven seasons before Teevens took over the program, the Cardinal were a combined 17-7 in the month, and suffered just one losing November among them.

Stanford is 2-7 in two losing Novembers under Teevens, though it has a chance to reverse that trend this year. Has the team made enough strides to keep up with Arizona State? After all, the Sun Devils were also shut out last weekend, losing 27-0 to Cal.

Football rules say you have to score to win, so something is bound to happen in Tempe this weekend. It's hard to say what though.

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