Rivalry showdown with Cal helps Stanford bounce back

A loss to a bitter rival, coupled with the gloomy, wet weather at Tuesday’s practice, could easily put a damper on a team’s overall spirit. For the Stanford Cardinal, however, intensity at practice remains as high as ever due in large part to the example set by the team’s senior leadership.

Sophomore wide receiver Michael Rector (right) noted that his success on deep passes recently has opened up shorter routes. Rector led the Cardinal in receiving yardage against both Oregon and USC. (SIMON WARBY/The Stanford Daily)

Head coach David Shaw provided a few positive updates as he looks to get his squad ready to take on archrival Cal in the 116th Big Game on Saturday.

For one, it has become apparent that no one has the ability to stop senior running back Tyler Gaffney from imposing his will this season — not even his own head coach.

“We were going to hold Tyler Gaffney out [of practice], but he just said, ‘No,’” said head coach David Shaw, who was planning on resting his star running back. Shaw also went on to praise Gaffney for his outstanding performance in practice.

On the injury front, senior kicker Jordan Williamson, who was scratched from the lineup at the last minute before the USC game, saw a specialist to examine his lingering leg issue. Williamson was held out of practice Tuesday, but he will begin kicking again on Wednesday. His status remains questionable for Saturday.

Alex Carter is out for Big Game with a concussion. Shaw had said Carter was “banged up” against USC before officially ruling him out Wednesday evening. The sophomore cornerback has been held out of practice this week.

While Carter’s injury will thin the Stanford secondary prior to its showdown with Cal head coach Sonny Dykes’ pass-happy “Bear-Raid” offense, Shaw announced that the unit received a boost on Tuesday with the return of sophomore safety Zach Hoffpauir.

“[Hoffpauir] was all over the place,” Shaw said. “He was running around and being Zach, so we’ll have him back.”

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One of the positive offensive developments during Stanford’s last two games has been the emergence of wide receiver Michael Rector, who led the team in receiving yardage against Oregon and USC. Known primarily as a deep-ball threat, the speedy sophomore found success in the intermediate passing game against the Trojans.

“When you really establish a deep presence,” Rector said, “you get other teams to really respect that speed…which opens up the underneath routes.”

Rector added that the Stanford passing attack is rapidly improving this season as more receivers, including junior Jordan Pratt and sophomore Kodi Whitfield, are becoming incorporated into the offense.

Rector also noted that Stanford receivers, who play in a run-first offense, are cut from a slightly different cloth; they take pride in more than just catching balls.

“We’re really used to running the ball a lot here so we like blocking,” Rector said. “When we do call pass plays, we get really excited so we have extra adrenaline for that…but we pride ourselves on blocking first.”

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This season, the Stanford offense is ranked just 100th in the nation in red-zone touchdown efficiency, reaching the end zone on just 54 percent of its trips inside the 20-yard line. At no time was this statistic more glaring than in the second half of Stanford’s game against USC, when the Cardinal failed to score on two red-zone possessions.

While many have criticized Shaw for his play calling, sophomore offensive lineman Joshua Garnett insists that success in the red zone depends on the men up front.

“On the offensive line, we have to take it upon ourselves when we get in the red zone,” Garnett said. “It really shouldn’t matter what the coach calls; the O-line has to take it upon ourselves to do it as best as we can and score in the red zone to help our entire team.”

Garnett also said that the mood in practice has been heightened this week because of the upcoming Big Game. Garnett is excited to have so many Stanford football alumni on the sideline for the showdown with Cal, including Richard Sherman ’10, Zach Ertz ’13 and Levine Toilolo ’13.

“We really want to establish ourselves in this Big Game,” Garnett said, “and do it for the guys that came before us.”

Contact Vihan Lakshman at vihan ‘at’ stanford.edu.