The 2009 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University during the 2009 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Cardinal was led by third-year head coach Jim Harbaugh and played their home games at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California.
Recruiting
Stanford's 2009 recruiting class was ranked 15th in the nation by Scout.com and 20th by Rivals.com, and included these top-rated recruits:
Schedule
Game summaries
Washington State
Toby Gerhart rushed for 121 yards and two touchdowns, and redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Luck made his collegiate debut by throwing for 193 yards and a touchdown pass to Chris Owusu as Stanford defeated Washington State in Pullman. The Cardinal dominated the first half, but as the second half began, the Cougars took the early momentum, driving 80 yards and scoring on a 5-yard pass from Kevin Lopina to Jared Karstetter. However, Owusu answered immediately for the Cardinal with an 85-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to keep the game out of reach.
Wake Forest
Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck threw two first half touchdown passes to Ryan Whalen, and Nate Whitaker added a 54-yard field goal—the longest Stanford field goal in 20 years—to give the Cardinal a 17–3 lead at the half. But the Demon Deacons dominated the second half with three unanswered touchdowns: a 3-yard run from Mike Rinfrette, a 9-yard pass from quarterback Riley Skinner to Jordan Williams, and then, with 2 seconds left in the game, a one-yard keeper by Skinner to give Wake Forest its first lead in the game and the 24–17 victory.
San Jose State
Stanford's Chris Owusu returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown to set the pace as Stanford routed San Jose State 42–17. Owusu also caught a touchdown pass from Andrew Luck, and Toby Gerhart rushed for two touchdowns. The Cardinal added another special teams touchdown on Richard Sherman's 48-yard punt return, and Corey Gatewood rounded out the scoring with a 23-yard interception return for a touchdown. The Spartans scored on a 1-yard pass from Jordan La Secla to Jalal Beauchman, a 14-yard run from Lamon Muldrow, and a 30-yard field goal by Tyler Cope.
Washington
The Cardinal rushed for 322 yards, including a career-best 200 yards from Toby Gerhart to down the Huskies. For the second week in a row, Chris Owusu returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown to start the scoring for Stanford. Soon after, the Huskies tied the score on a dropped lateral from Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck to tight end Jim Dray; neither Luck nor Dray realized the throw was not a forward pass, but Washington's Justin Glenn picked up the ball and ran it 51 yards for the touchdown. However, on the next play from scrimmage, Gerhart ran 60 yards for a score to put Stanford ahead to stay.
UCLA
Coming into the game, the Bruins were the only undefeated team in the Pac-10 Conference although they had yet to a play another Pac-10 team. Toby Gerhart, the Cardinal's 237-pound tailback who had 138 yards against UCLA last year, is averaging 129 yards a game.
After UCLA recovered a fumble, Kai Forbath kicked a 29-yard field goal to give the Bruins the early lead. Gerhart rushed 5 yards for a touchdown for Stanford in the first quarter and aided by a UCLA penalty in the second quarter, scored a second touchdown. The Bruins kicked a field goal before halftime, aided by a partially blocked punt.
With a 46-yard flea flicker in the third quarter to put Stanford in the red zone, Gerhart scored his third touchdown from the 5-yard line. He finished the game with 134 rushing yards. Later in the quarter, Nate Whitaker kicked a 29-yard field goal to give the Cardinal a 24–6 lead. The Bruins began the fourth quarter with a Johnathan Franklin 1-yard touchdown run to cut the lead to 11, and a Forbath 35-yard field goal with about four minutes left in the game cut the lead to 24–16. UCLA took over with 3 minutes left but was unable to complete the comeback.
Oregon State
The Beavers scored on every drive in the first half to take a 31–7 halftime lead on their way to a 38–28 defeat of the Cardinal. Jacquizz Rodgers ran for a career-high 189 yards and a school record-tying four touchdowns. His brother James added the fifth touchdown and a Justin Kahut 31-yard field goal completed the scoring for the Beavers. After falling behind early, Stanford was forced out of its usual Toby Gerhart-led power rushing game, though Gerhart still managed 96 yards and two touchdowns. Andrew Luck added two touchdown passes, one to Chris Owusu and another to Jim Dray.