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Stanford Cardinal vs Oregon State Beavers Football Preview

One more win. That’s all it’s going to take to lift the Stanford Cardinal to an 11-1 record and heights not witnessed since the early 1970s… potentially.

Yes, as long as Coach Jim Harbaugh’s club can take care of the Oregon State Beavers in this Saturday’s regular-season finale at Stanford Stadium, the Cardinal will put themselves in position to perhaps make a BCS bowl game. The decision will rest in the hands of the various bowl committees, but this much is clear as the Bay Area boys welcome Coach Mike Riley’s kids from Corvallis, Oregon: If Stanford loses; it will not make a BCS game – period, end of sentence.

Sure, Stanford might still get passed over by Boise State and TCU for the Rose Bowl. Of course, Stanford could also get snubbed in a bid for the Sugar or Orange Bowl by the Big Ten’s No. 2 team or the SEC’s No. 2 team, both of which appear likely to get at-large bids in a BCS system dominated by money, politics, television, and tourism-based considerations. However, Stanford at least has to force the issue into the hands of the power brokers of college football. If the men in the red jerseys stumble against Oregon State, they’ll be ticketed to the Holiday Bowl and will have absolutely nobody to blame but themselves.

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If Stanford makes the Rose Bowl, the program will recall its halcyon days in 1970 and 1971. Coach John Ralston – who was honored along with the 1970 team a few weeks ago before a game against Arizona – piloted two straight Cardinal crews to the Rose Bowl game. In the first contest, Jim Plunkett – remember him? – led Stanford to a commanding 27-17 win over Woody Hayes and Ohio State. Then, the very next year, Stanford got back to The Granddaddy Of Them All and beat the other great Big Ten team of the era, coach Bo Schembechler’s Michigan Wolverines, by a 13-12 count. The triumphs in the 1971 and ’72 Rose Bowls have not been matched by anything down on The Farm in the subsequent four decades. In the early 1990s, Bill Walsh returned to Stanford and led the Cardinal to a decisive win over Penn State and a certain Mr. Joe Paterno, but that win was in the low-prestige Blockbuster Bowl. Stanford did reach the Rose Bowl in the 1999 season, earning a ticket to the 2000 edition of the Tournament of Roses, but the Cardinal, under then-coach Ty Willingham, lost to Wisconsin in an ugly 17-9 affair.

Stanford owns the weapons and the swagger heading into this game. Oregon State has not been the same team since losing receiver James Rodgers in late September, while the Cardinal boast Andrew Luck, a quarterback who currently sits in the top five of the Heisman Trophy race. One more game, one more solid performance, is all Luck needs. Then all Stanford will need is… well… a little Luck to get back to the Rose Bowl one more time.

By Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Senior Staff Writer