Jared Newberry has continued to menace opposing offenses in 2004

Read what the senior linebacker had to chat about in his Thursday chat session.

Stanford, Calif. - Senior linebacker Jared Newberry hit the gostanford.com chat room on Thursday, October 28 (11:00 am, PT) to continue a series of weekly chats with Cardinal football players throughout the 2004 campaign. The chat series is one element of the in-depth, detailed and exclusive coverage of the 2004 Stanford Football team featured on the Cardinal Commitment page of gostanford.com. Other features on the page include press releases, a behind the scenes look at the Stanford Athletics Department staff, promotion and ticket information, Buddy Teevens' press conferences, player reports, assistant coaching reports, and of course, Gameday Central every Saturday for all Stanford Football games.

This Thursday, fans will be chatting with an amazing success story in Newberry. The former walk-on who began his collegiate career as a linebacker, moved to fullback and then back to linebacker is in his second season as a full-time starter on the defensive side of the ball. Newberry has helped lead a revitalized Cardinal defense that has improved dramatically in 2004, ranking third in the Pac-10 and 19th in the nation in scoring defense by allowing just 16.1 points per game. Newberry ranks tied for second on the team with 6.0 tackles for loss and has totaled 24 tackles (18 unassisted), starting all seven of the team's games.

Newberry broke into Stanford's lineup as a full-time starter in his junior season in 2003, earning honorable mention All-Pac-10 honors after coming up with 67 tackles to rank second on the club. He also made the big plays, leading the Cardinal defense with 10 tackles for loss, while adding three quarterback sacks, one interception, seven pass breakups, three forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He had one of the best games of his career against Washington State (9/27/03) with a career-high 10 tackles, including four tackles for loss. He also had one of the team's most memorable moments of the campaign when he came up with a sack on a fourth and goal play to preserve an 18-14 win at Brigham Young (9/20/03). In addition, he was an inspirational force for the Cardinal during his junior season, earning the team's Russell-Huston Award for the player "exemplifying aggressiveness, exceptional performance and unheralded efforts".

After spending his redshirt freshman season as the team's No. 2 fullback, Newberry switched back to the defense as a sophomore in 2002 and made a significant contribution to the team's defense, finishing fourth on the team with 45 tackles and tying for third on the club with 3.0 sacks despite starting just three contests. He also accounted for 4.5 tackles for loss, four pass breakups, one interception and one fumble recovery. He had a memorable Big Game at California (11/23), leading the team with eight tackles to earn the Frank Rehm Award as the team's Most Outstanding Linebacker in the contest. He also had a season-high nine stops against USC (11/9) and 24 tackles in his final three contests.

Newberry earned his first varsity letter at Stanford in 2001 as a fullback and special teams player. He carried the ball twice for 29 yards, both coming in the second game of the year in a 51-28 win over Arizona State (9/22/01). One of the runs was for 19 yards and a touchdown.

Newberry is Stanford's active career leader with 20.5 tackles for loss, dropping opponents for a combined loss of 89 yards. He also has 136 career tackles (87 solos, 49 assists), 6.5 sacks, 14 pass breakups, three forced fumbles, two fumble recoveries and two interceptions.

The Sociology major hails from Minneapolis, MN, where he was a four-year starter as a prep at DeLaSalle High School. Newberry was a three-time all-conference selection and also named to the Midwest Elite team by Gridiron Greats Magazine following both his junior and senior seasons. He added to his honors in his senior year with Second Team All-State and All-Metro honors when he was a two-way starter and led his squad to the state title. Newberry recorded over 100 tackles, five sacks, three fumble recoveries and two interceptions as a linebacker in his senior campaign. Offensively, he played every position except quarterback and scored 10 touchdowns, gaining 563 yards on 85 carries. He also played hoops in high school, leading his team to the state title as a junior and a third-place finish in his senior season. In addition, he found time to participate in the school choir in his free time, while also succeeding academically by receiving National Merit and Urban League scholarships.

In addition, he has family ties to baseball as his grandfather (Richard) and two great uncles (Henry and Jimmy Lee) played professionally in the Negro Leagues.

Newberry and his Stanford teammates are battling for a bowl berth in 2004. The Cardinal begins a tough stretch of three of four road games to end its regular season by traveling to UCLA to face the Bruins in the Rose Bowl this Saturday, October 30 (12:30 pm, PDT). The key conference contest matches a pair of teams with identical records (4-3, 2-2 Pac-10) that are currently tied for fifth-place in the conference standings. Perhaps more importantly, both squads need two more wins (with four games to play) to become bowl eligible. UCLA leads the all-time series between the schools, 40-31-3, but Stanford picked up a 21-14 victory at Stanford Stadium last season to snap UCLA's five-game win streak and start the Bruins on a five-game skid to end the 2003 season. The home team has won the last six games in the series with UCLA taking a 28-18 win the last time the teams played in the Rose Bowl in 2002.

Fox Sports Net will televise this Saturday's game live. Live audio broadcasts of the contest can be heard on Stanford flagship station KNEW 910-AM, KZSU 90.1 FM and gostanford.com, as well as on the Stanford Football Radio Network (KFIA ... 710 AM, Sacramento ... KPSI 920 AM, Palm Springs ... KUIK 1360 AM, Portland).

If you would like to ask your questions for Jared ahead of time, please feel free to post them now, and we will save them for his arrival on Thursday.

Getting To Know Jared