Stanford Cardinal vs. Oklahoma Sooners (-9.5, 54.5)
The 76th annual Sun Bowl will pit the Pac-10’s Stanford Cardinal against the Big 12’s Oklahoma Sooners on Thursday in El Paso.
The bowl road
Stanford was the hottest team in the country coming off consecutive wins over Oregon and USC and posting more than 50 points in each. But their Rose Bowl hopes withered when they lost to their arch-nemesis, Cal, in the Big Game at home.
Coach Jim Harbaugh put the Cardinal back on the college football map after compiling its best record (8-4) since the 2001 season. Harbaugh might have been the best play-caller in the country this year with Stanford ranking 10th in scoring offence (36.2 ppg) while being extremely balanced in its rushing (224.3 ypg) and passing (217.1 ypg) attacks.
After starting the season ranked No. 3 in the country, Oklahoma had a year to forget. It all started with quarterback Sam Bradford going down in the first game of the season – a 14-13 home loss to BYU.
Bradford returned for the Texas game only to reinjure his shoulder that would ultimately require season-ending surgery. As the losses accrued, the Sooners were left out of the final regular season rankings for the first time since 2005.
These teams haven’t met in 25 years, but Oklahoma leads the all-time series 3-1.
Motivation levels
This is Stanford’s first bowl game since 2001 and seniors on the team who endured losing season after losing season will be eager to end their careers on a high note.
The Cardinal hasn’t won a bowl game since 1996 and Jim Harbaugh will want to prove his worth in his first career bowl appearance after signing a three-year extension a few weeks ago.
“We have told our football team this is the most important game on the schedule,” Harbaugh said. “This may be the first time some people see Stanford play.”
Bob Stoops is notorious for not winning the big games and not even caring about the little games. His Sooners have earned 11 consecutive bowl berths, but have lost three straight and five of their last six.
Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy announced that he will forego his senior season and enter the draft. There are a handful of other pro prospects on the team who might not want to jeopardize their NFL careers with an injury in a game that has little meaning.
No Luck
Sensational freshman quarterback Andrew Luck will not start the bowl game after breaking his finger in Stanford’s regular season finale – an injury that required surgery.
Luck has not been ruled out for the game and returned to practice this week, but senior Tavita Pritchard will start for the Cardinals under center.
“We'll figure out if there is a role [Luck] could play in the game,” Harbaugh said. “He's not been ruled out, but we're not counting on it.”
In the first start of his career in 2007, Pritchard led Stanford to a 24-23 win over USC as major underdogs. He regressed the next season, guiding the team to a 5-7 record while tossing only 10 touchdowns against 13 interceptions.
Tunnel Workers Union
Toby Gerhart received all the accolades (and deserved the Heisman), but he would be the first to say he couldn’t have done it without his offensive line – a unit dubbed the Tunnel Workers Union because they are blue-collar men that go to work everyday and create holes.
One member of the TWU, center Chase Beeler, attended Oklahoma his freshman year. He played in five games, starting one, but transferred to Stanford the next season due to academic reasons.
Beeler, a native of Jenks, Okla., still keeps in touch with players on the team including defensive tackles McCoy and Adrian Taylor who he will go helmet-to-helmet with during the game.
“I am going to try and cull some of that knowledge from the depths of my memory,” Beeler said. “Gerald (McCoy) and I worked against each other in practice during one-on-one drills.”
Gerhart, who finished tops in the nation in rushing yards (1,736) and touchdowns (26), will test his mettle against Oklahoma’s 7th-ranked rush defence (88.6 ypg). Gerhart rushed for more than 100 yards in 10 of his 12 games this year and was held to less than 90 yards only once.
Trend-setter
Stanford is 5-2 SU and 3-4 ATS in bowl games since 1980.
The under is 8-1 in Oklahoma’s last nine December contests.
The Sooners are 4-6 in their last 10 bowl games, going 3-7 ATS during that span.