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Pac-12 Football: 3 biggest storylines heading into spring 2020

By Dante Pryor

(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
(Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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PALO ALTO, CA – NOVEMBER 30: Stanford Head Coach David Shaw (wearing black) and the Stanford Cardinal run onto the field before an NCAA football game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on November 30, 2019, at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by David Madison/Getty Images)
PALO ALTO, CA – NOVEMBER 30: Stanford Head Coach David Shaw (wearing black) and the Stanford Cardinal run onto the field before an NCAA football game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on November 30, 2019, at Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by David Madison/Getty Images) /

3. Is Stanford trending in the wrong direction?

Last season was a complete disaster for the Stanford Cardinal. They were coming off of a 2018 season where they won nine games.

They were looking forward to KJ Costello in year two. They recruited the skill positions well and Walker Little came into the season on the Outland Trophy watch list. They had speed at the receiver, and they were going to learn how to live without a stud running back after Bryce Love and Christian McCaffrey for the first time in four combined years.

Last season could not have gone any worse.

KJ Costello, Davis Mills and Walker Little all lost time to injuries — Little was lost for the season. Their secondary was depleted with Paulson Adebo, Malik Antoine and Stuart Head all missing significant time due to injuries. The result? The worst season since David Shaw took over in 2011.

Did the injuries overshadow a larger issue going on within the Cardinal program? Two things stand out that have been on the decline within the program since it last won 10 games in 2016.

From 2017-19 Stanford’s defense got consistently worse in points per game and yards per game. Since Jim Harbaugh began the rebuild — or build — of the Cardinal football program, was the power running game. The decline in the run game was not gradual like the defense. The Cardinal averaged 202 rushing yards per game in 2017; they averaged almost 100 fewer yards per game on the ground.

The Cardinal’s “intellectual brutality” has been absent for the last few years. They are not the same physical team upfront they were when they were winning 10 games almost every season. One of the biggest losses to the Cardinal program was Mike Bloomgren taking the head coaching job at Rice.

They’ve recruited well the last couple of years. This season will let us know if the injuries caught up with the Cardinal last season, or if the program is on the decline.

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