Cardinal Feeling Defensive Repeating In Pac-10 Starts With The Front Line
Stanford’s defense of the Pac-10 title will begin with its defense.
And Willie Howard, for one, is ecstatic about it.
“It’s our turn now,” said the Cardinal defensive end.
Their turn to prove they are better than the 110 defense ranking they earned last season. Their turn to redeem themselves for the 69-17 loss to Texas and the 44 points given up to San Jose State. Their turn to show people Stanford - and the Pac-10 for that matter - is more than just glorified flag football.
So this preseason, Howard’s on the campaign trail, stumping for himself and the 10 Cardinal players who got buzz-sawed for 452 yards per game last season.
“Now we have got 11 leaders on defense,” said Howard. “We are the anchor.”
Good thing. Because the Cardinal offense could be a wayward ship early on. Stanford lost quarterback Joe Borchard to major league baseball. The Pac-10 offensive player of the year, Troy Walters, is now a receiver with the Minnesota Vikings. Dave Davis, the Cardinal’s other explosive receiver, failed out. And two first-team All-Pac-10 offensive linemen, Mike McLaughlin and Jeff Croshagen, graduated.
“With a young offense, it’s going to be on our shoulders at the start,” said defensive coordinator Kent Baer. “But we have got a lot of potential, especially up front.”
Most of that potential is centered around Howard. The 6-foot-4 298-pound senior is a preseason All-American and the top defensive lineman in the Pac-10.
“He’s the best we play against,” said Washington State tackle Reed Raymond
Howard can chase down running backs. Like he did last year to Arizona’s Trung Canidate. Or he can make the big hit and the big play. Like he did against Arizona State when he caused a fumbled, scooped it up and ran 22 yards for the touchdown.
“When Willie sets his mind to it he can do anything he wants,” said defensive line coach Dave Tipton.
Apparently that includes self healing. In the last game of the regular season against Notre Dame, Howard suffered what was thought to be a season-ending knee injury. Doctors thought his ACL was torn and they knew Howard’s MCL was severely sprained. But as he was being carted off the field, Howard told everyone he would be ready for the Rose Bowl.
Five weeks later, with a partially torn ACL, Howard was back. Not sitting on the sideline, but playing. And getting five tackles, including one for a seven-yard loss.
“I always want to be out there,” said Howard. “I always want to play and play my best. That’s my responsibility.
“You’re out there and there are 80,000 people watching,” he continued. “And there are kids watching. And they see you make a sack and that makes them go back to their practice or their game and work harder to get a sack like Willie Howard did. Being able to affect like that is powerful but it also is part of the responsibility you have being a football player at Stanford.”
“With Willie, he just makes everybody better no matter who it is,” said Baer. “The other day everybody is coming in from practice, tired and worn out, but there is Willie out there working with a freshman offensive lineman. Helping that freshman with his footwork.”
This year Howard should get some more help on defense. Three of the Trench Dogs - named by Tipton, a member of the famed Thunderchickens in the early 1970s - return this year.
Linebacker Rial Johnson is also back. Johnson tied for the Pac-10 lead with 13 sacks last year. Five of those came against Washington State. Free safety Tank Williams also returns, but the rest of the secondary, especially the cornerbacks, are suspect.
“We’ve got midgets who can’t jump back there,” said Baer.
Ruben Carter, a 5-foot-8 junior, has proved he can play at cornerback. But the Cardinal will probably be searching, at least until midseason, for consistency at the other cornerback spot.
“But we’ve got a lot of depth,” said Howard. “And everybody on the defense has a lot of confidence.”
A lot of that confidence stems from the fact that Howard will be right up front leading the defense of the Pac-10 title.