Ranking the Top 100 College Football Teams for 2018: No. 9 Stanford

In the 100 days leading up to the kickoff of the college football season on Saturday, Aug. 25, HERO Sports is ranking the top 100 teams in the FBS. Each day, starting May 17 and ending Aug. 24, a new team is revealed in the HERO Sports Top 100. 

No. 9 Stanford

For the first time since Andrew Luck was terrorizing Pac-12 defenses, there are more questions about Stanford's defense than offense. And with a brutal September schedule that features San Diego State, USC, Oregon and Notre Dame, coordinator Lance Anderson doesn't have time for a retooled unit to hit their stride.

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2017 Record: 9-5 (7-2, Pac-12)

Stanford failed to win at least 10 games for just the second time since 2010, their five losses tied the most since 2009, and they lost twice lost back-to-back games for the first time since 2008.

Still, they won the Pac-12 North for the fifth time since divisions were created in 2011, won at Utah and beat Washington and Notre Dame at home.

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Head Coach: David Shaw (8th Year, 73-22)

Suddenly, David Shaw is the 19th-longest-tenured head coach in the FBS, taking over the same season as Dana Holgorsen and Rocky Long at their respective programs.

He's led the Cardinal to the best stretch of football in program history, has four of the program's seasons with 11 or more wins, and has done a remarkable job recruiting.

Obviously, the next step is a berth in the College Football Playoff.

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Player Losses

QB Keller Chryst, TE Dalton Schultz, DT Harrison Phillips, LB Peter Kalambayi, LB Mike Tyler, CB Quenton Meeks, S Justin Reid

Keller Chryst's transfer to Tennessee hurt their quarterback depth and Dalton Schultz was one of the conference's best tight ends, but the defense was smacked with more impactful departures.

Harrison Phillips was dominant inside, leading the team in sacks (7.5), tackles for loss (17) and tackles (103). A defensive lineman had 103 tackles!

Quenton Meeks left early for the NFL but wasn't selected in the draft, Justin Reid was a third-round pick of the Houston Texans, and Peter Kalambayi was a team captain who had 190 tackles, 28 tackles for loss and 18.5 sacks in his career.

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Returning Offensive Players

QB K.J. Costello, RB Bryce Love, RB Cameron Scarlett, WR Trenton Irwin, WR JJ Arcega-Whiteside, WR Connor Wedington, TE Colby Parkinson, TE Kaden Smith, OL Nate Herbig, OT Walker Little, OT A.T. Hall, C Jesse Burkett, P Jake Bailey, K Jet Toner

David Shaw replaced coordinator Mike Bloomgren (new Rice head coach) with 31-year-old former Stanford quarterback Tavita Pritchard, who began his coaching career as a grad assistant one year after graduating and hasn't left, most recently serving as quarterbacks coach and receivers coach. He will still coach quarterbacks. 

He inherits an offense that protected the ball (0.9 turnovers per game), averaged 5.9 yards per carry (sixth nationally), improved their sack rate from a whopping 10.3 percent in 2016 to 4.5 percent in 2017 and averaged 0.53 points per play (11th nationally). David Shaw kept play-calling duties, though, like Bloomgren, Pritchard will contribute to the calls. And though this could be one of the best and fastest offenses in years, they will still employ a run-first, move-the-chains system that doesn't take many chances.

K.J. Costello returns at quarterback after an efficient season — four interceptions in 211 attempts, 6.6 percent touchdown rate — and has a stockpile of weapons, led by Bryce Love, who could somehow be more dangerous as he seeks to become the second-ever FBS player with two 2,000-yard rushing seasons.

“The plan is for him to hopefully be more versatile,” Shaw said, adding that Love will play a bigger role in the passing game after catching just six passes in 2017. "He’s going to get physical."

Their top three receivers return, led by JJ Arcega-Whiteside (below), the best No. 19 in college football. He averaged 2.65 yards per route last year, had at least one 20-yard reception in each of his 11 games and averaged 16.3 yards per reception. 

Trenton Irwin (43 receptions, 461 yards), and Connor Wedington (31 receptions, 243 yards) also return.

“We like versatile players,” offensive coordinator Tavita Pritchard said about Wedington after the spring game. “He knew what he was doing, he played fast, and the ball found him.”

Elsewhere, the offensive line will be darn good with the return of versatile guard/tackle Nate Herbig and Freshman All-American Walker Little. Running back Cameron Scarlett is a good backup who scored eight times on only 91 carries last year. He's also one of the best kick returners in the game, averaging 26 yards per return last season. And they have two good specialists in kicker Jet Toner (54-for-54 on PATs, 21-for-26 on field goals as a freshman) and punter Jake Bailey, whose 45.4-yard punting average is second among returning FBS punters.

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Returning Defensive Players

DE Dylan Jackson, DE Jovan Swann, LB Bobby Okereke, LB Sean Barton, LB Joey Alfieri, CB Alijah Holder, S Frank Buncom

Stanford would be ranked higher if they didn't have a few questions on defense. That feels bizarre for a team that's been the epitome of reliability for most of the last decade thanks largely to a strong defense.

Last year's defense forced two turnovers per game on the season and allowed 17.9 points over their final seven regular-season conference games but wasn't great in the red zone (84 percent) or on third downs (43 percent) and allowed 4.6 yards per attempt. Coordinator Lance Anderson earned the benefit of the doubt as a game-planner, play-caller and recruiter long ago, but without guys like Harrison Phillips, Peter Kalambayi and Justin Reid, it will be hard to match those mediocre numbers in 2018.

Bobby Okereke (below) is one of three fifth-year seniors at linebacker. "Stanford other's No. 20" has 11.5 tackles for loss and four sacks the last two seasons and is their only returnee who had more than two sacks last year. Joey Alfieri moved back to his natural position of outside linebacker and could be in for a big season.

“Bobby Okereke has done a tremendous job. He's played at a high level this camp," Anderson said during fall camp. "I think everybody looks up to Bobby. They respect him. He's definitely a guy they follow."

End Jovan Swann made his first career start in the Pac-12 Championship after Eric Cotton was injured and had six tackles. And he's loving the offseason concern about the defensive line.

“I love the pressure,” he said. “We’re getting ready for a great season. People have been doubting us since Harrison left and before that, when Solomon left. We’re going to do what we need to do to contribute to this team. As far as the doubters, bring it on.”

Senior corner Alijah Holder is healthy after missing 15 games the last two seasons. When healthy, the 6-foot-2, 188-pounder is one of the best in the Pac-12. Junior safety Frank Buncom is also back after a breakout season (46 tackles, three interceptions).

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Player Additions

QB Davis Mills, DT Dalyn Wade-Perry, CB Paulson Adebo

Per usual, not many new faces will play big roles for Stanford, though there are some youngsters to watch closely.

Davis Mills was a five-star recruit and the top-ranked pro-style quarterback in the 2017 class. He suffered a knee injury as a high school senior, redshirted last year and had a setback that kept him out of spring work. If he can get healthy, he's a big-time talent behind Costello.

Two more 2017 recruits, defensive tackle Dalyn Wade-Perry and corner Paulson Adebo are pushing for second-team roles. Both have been praised by the staff throughout the offseason.

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Schedule

I mean…holy heavens.

After hosting San Diego State — whom they lost to in San Diego last year — at home in Week 1, Stanford hosts USC in Week 2. Two weeks later, they begin a three-game gauntlet: at Oregon, at Notre Dame, vs. Utah.

If Stanford wins 10 or 11 regular-season games, they earned it.