STANFORD, Calif. (AP) – Andrew Luck has often been compared to another great Stanford quarterback who just so happened to become the NFL draft’s No. 1 pick: John Elway.
This is the one week he might want to avoid the similarities.
While Luck looks to begin his Heisman Trophy campaign in his style in the seventh-ranked Cardinal’s season opener against San Jose State on Saturday, the neighboring Spartans are ready to give him a history lesson first.
Elway returned for his senior season in 1982 only to fall 35-31 to San Jose State in Stanford’s home opener. Don’t think the Spartans aren’t aware of what has happened more than once in the Silicon Valley series.
“I definitely think the young men on our football team hear about the upsets,” San Jose State coach Mike MacIntyre said. “They see the guys, the ex-players and the alumni talk about it.”
Of course, these are far different teams than the two that met almost 30 years ago.
The Cardinal went 12-1 last season, rolled over Virginia Tech 40-12 in the Orange Bowl and finished fourth in the final AP poll, the program’s best ranking since the unbeaten 1940 team ended second. Luck led the way with school records for TD passes (32), completion percentage (70.7 percent) and passing efficiency (170.2).
Now he’s back.
And he’s ready to prove he can do it all again.
“I do get a little irked when people start talking about (the Heisman) before the season because you don’t win awards based on how you played last year,” Luck said. “What have I done? I haven’t done anything.”
Not yet, anyway.
The Spartans figure to be the first of a new kind of challenge for the Cardinal this year. No longer viewed as a school with a winning percentage that couldn’t keep pace with its grade point average, Stanford has turned into a college football heavyweight.
Suddenly, success is expected.
The Cardinal have steadily improved from a 1-11 season in 2006 – coincidentally, the last time the Spartans won against their South Bay rival – leading to coach Walt Harris getting fired and Jim Harbaugh taking over.
Now Harbaugh is gone, departed to the San Francisco 49ers. New coach David Shaw, promoted from co-offensive coordinator, and winning the inaugural Pac-12 title and possibly a national championship are the only goals.
“It’s not our story to tell anymore that we went from 1-11 to 12-1,” safety Michael Thomas said. “We’re not sneaking up on anybody anymore. We understand there are high expectations, but we have high expectations for ourselves. None of us want to see what it’s going to be like or feel like if we were not to live up to our expectations.”
Anything short of a blowout against San Jose State would certainly fall short in the opener.
The Spartans were 1-12 last season, and while they are healthier and much improved, MacIntyre couldn’t name one position on the field where they have an advantage over Stanford.
Matt Faulkner is making his first start at quarterback for San Jose State. He played sparingly as a backup last year after transferring from Mount San Antonio College, where he led the program to a 13-0 record and the California Community College Athletic Association championship in 2009.
What a game to make his first start.
“It’s an opportunity to put ourselves on the stage nationally,” Faulkner said. “If we go out and beat Stanford, the No. 7 team in the country in the first game, that’s going to make a little noise.”
In this series, proven talent hasn’t always mattered either.
San Jose State has a history of upsets over Stanford in the “Bill Walsh Legacy Game,” named after the late San Francisco 49ers coach and Spartans graduate who also had two stints with the Cardinal. They have 14 wins in 64 meetings against Stanford.
This year the outcome might all depend on Luck.
Or, as MacIntyre joked, maybe a little less of him.
“Maybe he’ll twist his ankle getting off the bus,” MacIntyre said, chuckling. “That’s about the only way you stop him.”
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Antonio Gonzalez can be reached at: www.twitter.com/agonzalezAP
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