October 19, 2005

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Palo Alto Online

A turn for the better

by Rick Eymer

Trent Edwards embodies the philosophy that turnovers lead to losses. Even while his passing statistics are down from last year, he's been more efficient this year - and that's directly related to the scarcity of turnovers.

Edwards passed for a season-low 137 yards (throwing out the UC Davis game in which he left with an injury after four pass attempts) but two of his passes went for touchdowns and Stanford survived a desert swarm to beat host Arizona, 20-16, in a Pac-10 Conference contest on Saturday.

"I thought he did some excellent things," Stanford coach Walt Harris said of Edwards. "It's not about how many yards you make, it's about how many points you make."

The Cardinal (2-1, 3-2) woke up Sunday morning to find themselves in a fourth-place tie with Oregon State. With games against two unbeaten teams in USC and UCLA, and against nationally-ranked California and Notre Dame remaining on the schedule, this could be Stanford's high-water mark for the year.

That could change if Stanford manages to beat Arizona State (1-2, 3-3) on Saturday in its homecoming game at Stanford Stadium at 2 p.m.

"We found out we could lose to anybody," Harris said. "We're hoping to find out we can beat anybody one of these games."

The Cardinal in a bowl game this season? Crazier things have happened in the Pac-10. If Stanford does make a postseason appearance, credit its turnover ratio for much of the success.

"I'm going to be selfish; I'm a senior and I want to play in a bowl game," Stanford linebacker Jon Alston said. "It's something that drives me."

After beating the Wildcats, Stanford remains undefeated on the road, and undefeated when it commits fewer turnovers than the opponent, both at 3-0. It's the first time since 1995 the Cardinal have won three straight road games.

Edwards has thrown seven touchdown passes this season, along with a mere two interceptions (both against Oregon). Over his career, Edwards has more interceptions (22) than touchdown passes (20) but those figures are looking better after his first five games this year.

"There's no excuse for us to be lousy in giveaways; zero," Harris said. "The more you recognize it, the more rewards you reap."

After five games as a redshirt freshman, Edwards had thrown eight interceptions along with four touchdowns. Last year he had four interceptions and seven touchdown passes to go with 1,188 yards in the same time frame.

Stanford hasn't committed a turnover in back-to-back games for the first time since 1998 and those back-to-back victories are no fluke.

"Painstaking attention to detail," Harris said. "It's the name of the game. We've been preaching that since the first rattle out of the box about turning the ball over and how you hold onto it. It hard enough to win football games let alone beating yourself. Ball security is one of the things we always look at."

Edwards has been paying attention. Not only has he been more efficient in his passing game, he's been Stanford's leading rusher the past two games. He's carried the ball 21 times (which includes four sacks) without fumbling it away. He has an efficiency rating of 133.51, up from his final of 110.71 last year.

"He's very accurate," Harris said. "He gets rid of the ball quick and he's fast. We're working on him becoming a better runner. He doesn't need to take any hits. He has to become more comfortable in seeing route adjustments so he can stay with the primary receiver longer."

Stanford managed less than 200 total offensive yards and lost the time of possession battle. If it means a win, the Cardinal would likely settle for that every week. In addition to winning the turnover front, Stanford is also the least-penalized team in the conference. It means the Cardinal doesn't give away easy yards to its opponent and that's led to the team's current success.

Stanford is ranked 11th in the nation in turnover ratio.

"We approach things like that with such a focus that it becomes a habit," Stanford strong safety Brandon Harrison said.

Alston caused a fumble and recorded three quarterback sacks. He leads the team with five sacks, seven tackles for a loss, and has forced two fumbles.

"Jon Alston is a tremendous athlete," Harrison said. "When I'm in coverage and reading my receiver's route, I look up and see him getting congratulated and the quarterback is on the ground. He makes the secondary's job that much easier."

Junior tight end Michael Horgan caught his first career touchdown pass, a 10-yard yard reception early in the third quarter, to help Stanford build its biggest lead at 17-7. It was Horgan's third career reception and also his longest.

Running back Anthony Kimble also caught an Edwards touchdown pass of 10 yards that put Stanford ahead for good late in the second quarter. Michael Sgroi added a pair of field goals.

NOTES: Former Stanford All-American Paul Wiggin will be honored on Saturday for his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame. He becomes the 17th Stanford player so honored. Wiggin also coached at Stanford between 1980-83 . . . The Cardinal have allowed 104 first downs, best in the Pac-10 . . . Horgan's touchdown reception culminated Stanford's second-longest drive of the year: 80 yards in 10 plays. The longest was an 86-yard drive against Navy in the season opener.

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