2010 Heisman Hopefuls: Andrew Luck
Last season was the first time since 2001 that fans of the Stanford Cardinals football team could lift their heads with pride. Tyrone Willingham’s final season was the last time the team finished with a winning record (9-3).
Willingham left for what he thought were greener pastures in South Bend and the Cardinal football program fell, and fell hard. For the next seven seasons they had a hard time winning more than four games (2005 and 2008) as the program went through three coaches (third being current coach Jim Harbaugh).
Harbaugh was able to put it together last season with the help of one of the best running backs in the nation in Toby Gerhart. The Doak Walker Award winner led the nation in rushing yards (1871) and touchdowns (28). Gerhart would come in second to Mark Ingram in Heisman voting in what was the closest vote in history.
Losing that kind of production can be difficult for a team to rebound from. However, the Cardinals do not have to worry because they have another Heisman candidate in their quarterback, Andrew Luck.
High School
Few players have had a pedigree for football success quite like Andrew Luck's. His father, Oliver Luck, was a quarterback at West Virginia and played professionally for the Houston Oilers. Andrew spent many years overseas when his father took over the managing duties of two World League of America Football teams before eventually overseeing the entire league.
Andrew would get a chance to play for Stratford High School in Houston, Texas, when his dad was named the CEO of the Harris County Sports Authority. Over the length of his high school career he proved to be a threat as a runner as well as a passer.
During his sophomore season in 2005 he threw for 1529 yards and rush for another 700. His rushing statistics would stay about the same throughout his high school years; as a junior he ran for 714 off 118 carries for an average of 6.1 yards a carry. In his senior year ran for 671 yards off 127 carries for an average of 5.3; as a junior he scored 10 rushing touchdowns and another 14 his senior year.
As good as was carrying the ball, he was just as good as a passer. His best statistical year was as a junior when he completed 68.5 % of his passes (176 for 257) for 2926 yards with 27 touchdowns with only six interceptions. During his senior year he would throw for 2684 yards and 19 touchdowns with only nine interceptions.
The co-valedictorian would be a good fit at an academic school like Stanford University.
College
Like many highly recruited players, Luck was redshirted his freshman year in 2008. In 2009 he competed for the starting job and won it job over Tavita Pritchard.
His career started off on the right foot with a 39-13 win over at Washington State. He would have a pretty decent day going 11 for 23 for just under 200 yards with one touchdown. His best statistical day would come in a losing effort to Arizona. On the day he would complete 21 of 35 passes for 423 yards and three touchdowns along with a rare interception.
With a running back like Gerhart in the backfield, the Cardinals did not have to lean on Luck too often to control or win the game. On the season he would end up completing 56% of his passes (162 for 288) for 2575 yards and 13 touchdowns with only four interceptions and just six sacks. As a redshirt freshman he had an impressive QB rating of 143.47 on the season.
The Cardinals are likely to feature their sophomore quarterback during the 2010 season and are likely hoping that he will continue to develop off of a successful first year. If his pedigree is any indication, he will do much more than just improve.
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