Stanford Stays a Step Ahead

This is Stanford, step-by-step.

“There’s a famous quote by Lou Holtz,” defensive tackle Matt Leonard said in a Coliseum hallway after the Cardinal defeated USC Saturday night. “We don’t think we can win every game. But we do think we can win the next one.”

Three games in a row, the Cardinal has.

Now Stanford waits to see if it will be among the top 25 this week after lurking on the edges last week.

“We’ve won three football games. Is that a good start?” Coach Tyrone Willingham said. “Yes, it is. I don’t worry about rankings. That’s not my concern. We worry about winning the football game.”

Don’t let the facade fool you, however. Someone asked Willingham about the mood in the locker room after Stanford’s first 3-0 start since 1986.

“I’d say ... jubilant,” he said, in his measured way. “They should be. This is a tough place to win. Not a lot of teams win here. We’ve been able to do it two times in a row.”

It is only two seasons since Stanford’s Rose Bowl run. Picked to finish ninth in the Pacific 10 Conference in 1999, Stanford went to Pasadena.

Picked fifth this season, Stanford is off to a solid start.

But it is only a start, since Oregon, UCLA and Washington await.

Still, every once in a while, the Cardinal players--or even a coach--will let you see the chip that sits on Stanford shoulders.

“We talk about it and understand it,” said Randy Fasani, the calm and versatile quarterback in his second season. “I don’t think we’d get respect going into any season. We’re always ranked 30, 40. We talk about it and it gives us a little motivation.

“I said that toward the end of the season, if we keep playing like this, we should be in the top 10. And I said if we get a win like this against USC, we should be in the top 25.”

On the other side of the ball, the general assumption that USC would be able to run on Stanford irked a few people.

“I don’t think anybody gave us any credit,” defensive coordinator Kent Baer said. “I don’t think anybody thinks we’re any good. People were talking about how they could move the ball on our defense. I’m glad they said it. It just fired people up.”

At the end of the night, USC had 28 yards rushing.

No single aspect of this Stanford team stands out as distinctive.

The defense was good enough against USC to hold the Trojans to one offensive touchdown--and that one was set up by Kevin Arbet’s punt return to the eight-yard line.

There is a multi-threat offense directed by Fasani--who tucked the ball in and ran 23 yards for a first down when Stanford needed to run time off the clock.

“I know firsthand,” Leonard said. “When you think you’re got him, you don’t have him.”

At his disposal, Fasani has two solid running backs, Kerry Carter and Brian Allen, and a group of receivers led Saturday by Luke Powell’s 124 yards on four receptions.

There is an offensive line strong enough to sustain a drive when it needed to most, in the final four minutes of the game, playing a long game of keep-away from USC.

“That’s how offensive lines get known, how they get recognition, by controlling the football and running time off the clock,” left tackle Kirk Chambers said.

Finally, in a feat that should be admired by a USC team that committed a parade of personal fouls, Stanford didn’t commit a penalty until the fourth quarter.

The Cardinal finished with four--and the final one was an intentional delay of game to eat up the clock.

“We try to emphasize that there is a mental aspect to penalties,” Willingham said.

The lesson is drilled into the players’ minds, Allen said.

“At Stanford, that’s how we’re taught. From Day One, be disciplined, but be aggressive.”

There is punishment for lapses.

“Up-downs,” Allen said. “It is an issue we do deal with.”

Stanford was hardly flawless.

It almost let a 21-0 halftime lead slip away.

And the special teams were poor, allowing a big punt return that set up one touchdown and a blocked field goal for a touchdown.

But maybe most admirably, Stanford has a calm perspective.

The Pac-10 race?

“It’s too early to know,” Leonard said. “We have a long stretch in front of us. Washington State, Oregon, UCLA, Washington ... “

Allen went only as far as Washington State.

“I know the Pac-10 is loaded,” he said. “Anything can happen. It’s a very good conference.”