Stanford defense worked its way to standard

LOS ANGELES — The season began with a PowerPoint. Stanford defensive coordinator Lance Anderson showed his players slides that listed feats of Cardinal defenses from the recent past.

Then, the slide for the 2015 defense popped on the screen. It showed a bunch of question marks.

'It was all question marks,' defensive end Brennan Scarlett said Sunday. 'He told us we really control our own destiny, and it was at that point that we're like, OK, I felt like we all came together and said let's be a great defense. These past years defenses have paved the way and now it's our turn.'

The Cardinal did lose nine starters from a defense that was third in the nation and allowed 282.4 yards a game, 4.21 a play. Even in the high-speed Pac-12, the Cardinal held opponents to just 16.4 points a game. That was No. 2 in the country.

The bus didn't completely unload personnel-wise. If you peel back Stanford's 2015 defense and check the resumes, you'll see plenty of experience on the two deep.

'One thing that people maybe overlook is we have a lot of guys that have played a fair amount,' Stanford linebacker Kevin Anderson said. 'Brennan's played a lot. Aziz (Shittu, defensive end) has played a lot. We have a lot of guys who not necessarily started, but have experience. And after a game or two, especially Northwestern, I think that was a big point for the team in general after Northwestern where we came out and when you give your all and you lose, you look yourself in the eyes and as a defense we said we can be better than this.'

Oh, the Northwestern game. This is the one where the Cardinal lost 16-6 and then when they stayed in the hunt for the College Football Playoff and had their resume measured the CFP cut them some slack for playing a two-time zone game that kicked off at 9 a.m. for their Pacific time biological clocks.

'No excuses now looking back on it,' cornerback Ronnie Harris said. 'They were the better team that day. They beat us, solid team. I give them all the credit. After that loss, we got together as captains and we said that we want to hold just the team, team-only meeting, so we gathered up the rest of our players and took them inside Luck Auditorium and we sat everybody down and said, 'Hey, this one loss will not determine our season.''

That was week 1. The Cardinal didn't lose again until Nov. 14 and that was 38-36 to Oregon.

There have been more yards (374.5 per game, 5.69 per play). There have been more points (23.1), but there also has been a steady climb for the Cardinal defense. They're in the Rose Bowl, and now with three Rose appearances in the last four years, that is the Stanford standard.

'The biggest thing we wanted to do is we wanted our guys to be confident in what they were playing and be able to play fast and give them enough tools where they could have the success that we needed,' Lance Anderson said. 'It's been a challenge. There have been ups and downs but like I said, the guys have worked hard all year and responded well. I am happy to be where we are at this point.'

Davis on Iowa's backup QBs — Redshirt freshman Tyler Wiegers didn't see any important gametime, even with starter C.J. Beathard struggling with hip and groin injuries for more than half of the season. Wiegers did, however, see a ton of snaps with the first-team in practice during a three-week window.

Again, he didn't get in games, but Wiegers did elevate his profile in offensive coordinator Greg Davis' eyes.

'It's the greatest thing that's ever happened,' Davis said. 'Tyler took all the first-team reps and most of the second-team reps. And you could see his growth as the season was going on, even though he wasn't playing, but you could see it during the week, just the confidence and the checking and changing things.'

As far as true freshmen QBs Ryan Boyle and Drew Cook go, they didn't get a lot of work, especially after the decision to redshirt them was made relatively early, Davis said. The reps weren't there, but both were included in everything, including every road trip and every meeting.

Adding to their learning curve was the fact that Boyle (West Des Moines Dowling) and Cook (Iowa City Regina) were spread QBs in high school and didn't take snaps from under center. Iowa runs a considerable amount of shotgun, but demands the QB take snaps from center.

'Not only do they travel to every ball game, they sit in on every game plan meeting,' Davis said. 'They sit right there at halftime when, OK, we're going to change here, versus a diamond, we're going to do this. So they've sat there and they've listened to halftime adjustments. They've been given game plan sheets. My sense is that they both have had a really good year.'

Duzey suffers setback

— Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz announced Sunday that senior tight end Jake Duzey re-injured his knee during practice on Friday. Duzey had seen limited action in nine games after suffering a torn patellar tendon during spring drills.

'We all feel badly for Jake and the fact that this injury will keep him from playing in the game,' Ferentz said in a statement. 'Jake has worked extremely hard since his initial injury in the spring, and has contributed to the success of our season in a number of ways.'

Might be something, might be nothing — In the short portion of practice reporters were invited to Sunday, sophomore Ike Boettger replaced fellow sophomore Boone Myers at offensive tackle. Boettger, who suffered a severe ankle sprain in October, went to his spot at right tackle. Junior Cole Croston moved from the right to the left.

Iowa also experimented with Sean Welsh at right tackle and true freshman James Daniels replacing him at guard. That was the O-line, by the way, that ground out nearly 300 rush yards at Northwestern.

Myers did participate with the second unit and didn't appear to be injured. This was a scheduled media opportunity, so probably take this info with a grain of salt.

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com