Aug. 8, 2002

Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader

THE CARDINAL: Buddy Teevens begins his first season at the helm of the Cardinal football program after a 23-year coaching career, including 12 as a collegiate head coach ... Teevens takes over a program that finished No. 16 in the final Associated Press poll a year ago, went 9-3 overall, tied for second in the Pacific-10 Conference with a 6-2 mark and won nine regular season games for only the 11th time in school history ... Teevens inherits a team that returns 36 lettermen and nine starters, including seven on offense and two on defense ... Stanford opens fall camp on August 13 ... The Cardinal begins the 2002 season with a non-conference matchup at Boston College on September 7.

STANFORD BY THE NUMBERS: The Cardinal returns 36 lettermen and nine starters from last year's team, including All-Pac-10 players Kwame Harris and Greg Schindler on the offensive line and kick return specialist/receiver Luke Powell ... WR Teyo Johnson, the Pac-10's Co-Freshman of the Year, returns along with honorable mention all-conference picks Kirk Chambers at OT and Matt Leonard at DT ... Teevens and staff must replace nine starters on the defensive side of the ball, but on offense Stanford returns seven starters and a cast of experienced personnel role as starters in 2002.

WHO'S BACK: Offensively, the Cardinal returns seven starters, but must replace two First-Team All-Pac-10 performers in OG Eric Heitmann and C Zack Quaccia along with QB Randy Fasani and RB Brian Allen ... However, experience and talent abound on offense, giving the Cardinal the potential to have one of the most explosive units in the nation ... On the line, returning starters Kwame Harris, Greg Schindler and Kirk Chambers are back along with the entire receiving corps, including starters Luke Powell and Ryan Wells ... TE Brett Pierce returns as one of the best in the conference ... In QB Chris Lewis, RB Kerry Carter and OG Paul Weinacht, the Cardinal will move three very experienced and talented players into the starting ready to assume their lineup in 2002 ... Defensively, tackle Matt Leonard is back along with NTs Craig Albrecht and Trey Freeman and SS Colin Branch ... All four spent time in the starting lineup in 2001 and are expected to be the anchors of a young defense in ?02 ... Replacing all-conference defenders Coy Wire at ILB and Tank Williams at FS will be a challenge for the Cardinal, but Stanford's defense is stocked with young and talented players waiting their turn to take center stage.

THE TEEVENS' ERA: Forty-five year old Buddy Teevens takes over the reigns of the Cardinal football program in 2002 following a 23-year career, including 12 as a head coach and the last three at the University of Florida under Steve Spurrier ... Teevens, a 1979 graduate of Dartmouth College, has previously held the head coaching position at the University of Maine, Dartmouth and Tulane ... He was announced as the Cardinal's head coach on January 9, 2002 after Tyrone Willingham left Stanford to take a similiar position at Notre Dame ... Teevens spent the past three seasons at Florida (1999-2001) working with one of the finest offenses in college football ... He was the assistant offensive coordinator a year ago ... Teevens was the head coach at Maine for two years (1985-86), Dartmouth for five years (1987-91) and at Tulane for five seasons (1992-96).

PRE-SEASON HONORS: Several Cardinal players received pre-season recognition, most notably junior tackle Kwame Harris, who heads into his third season on The Farm as one of the top lineman in college football ... Harris, from Newark, Delaware, was named a First-Team Pre-season All-America by Street & Smith's and Athlon's and a consensus First-Team All-Pac-10 pick ... He was also mentioned as an Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award candidate and ranked as the No. 2 offensive lineman in the nation ... Luke Powell, a First-Team All-America kick returner last season, was named a Pre-season All-America, a consensus First-Team All-Pac-10 selection and ranked as the No. 2 kick returner in college football ... OG Greg Schindler received recognition as a pre-season All-America while pre-season all-conference honors also went to TE Brett Pierce, DT Matt Leonard and RB Kerry Carter ... As a team, The Sporting News ranked the Cardinal's receiving corps No. 6 in the nation and its offensive line No. 10.

LEWIS INHERITS NO. 1 QB ROLE: Although he is no stranger to the starting quarterback position, junior Chris Lewis will step forward in 2002 and become the team's No. 1 QB after spending the past two years as a backup to Randy Fasani ... Lewis, who has started seven games and thrown for 2,456 yards the past two years, comes into the ?02 season as one of the most experi-enced first-year starters in recent history ... In the past two years, Lewis has played in 17 games (including the 2001 Seattle Bowl) and completed 182-of-367 while throwing 20 TDs ... He has been in the spotlight several times the past two years against some of the finest teams in the nation ... He threw last-second, game-winning touchdowns in 2000 vs. Texas and USC and a year ago, he went 3-1 as a starter while leading Stanford to wins over No. 4 Oregon and No. 5 UCLA on consecutive weeks ... It was Lewis' play during a five-game stretch last season when Fasani went down with an injury that helped the Cardinal finish 9-3 and ranked 16th in the country ... During that five-game period, Lewis completed 90-of-163 for 1,277 yards and 12 touchdowns vs. Oregon, UCLA, Washington, Arizona and California ... He has proven himself to be a quality Pac-10 quarter-back and with two more years of eligibility remaining, he has a chance to become one of the best in school history.

KWAME'S THE NAME: Junior offensive tackle Kwame Harris is making his name known throughout the country as one of the top offensive lineman in college football ... Now in his third season at Stanford, Harris (6-7, 308) enters the 2002 campaign as a bonafide All-America candidate and an Outland Trophy and Lombardi Award prospect ... Harris came to Stanford in 2000 as one of the nation's prized recruits from Newark High School in Delaware - and he has lived up to those expectations ... He lettered as a true freshman in 2000 and moved into the starting lineup in 2001 at right tackle, where he started all 12 games ... He was named Second-Team All-Pac-10 last season.

O-LINE EXPERIENCE: In addition to Harris, Stanford returns all-conference lineman Greg Schindler at one guard position and OT Kirk Chambers along with fifth-year senior guard Paul Weinacht, giving Stanford the potential to have an outstanding offensive line in 2002 ... Schindler was named Second-Team All-Pac-10 a year ago and received pre-season Second-Team All-America recognition heading into the 2002 campaign ... He has been in the Cardinal's starting lineup in 32 of the last 35 games from 1999-2001 ... Chambers is a 23-year old junior who has started all 23 games at left tackle since returning from a Mormon Mission in 2000 ... He was an honorable mention All-Pac-10 pick last year ... Weinacht has played a key role as a reserve the past three years and has seen action in the starting lineup in 10 games throughout his career ...The Sporting News ranked Stanford' s offensive line as the 10th best in the nation.

BIG PLAY THREAT: FL/KR Luke Powell, a First-Team All-America kick returner in 2001, enters the 2002 campaign as one of the most dangerous players in college football and one of Stanford's big play threats ... Powell, a junior from Smyrna, Tenn., has proven to be one of those players who can score anytime he touches the ball ... He is currently first in school history with a 22.3 yards per reception average after having caught 58 balls for 1,292 yards and 10 touchdowns ... He is also No. 2 all-time at Stanford with a 14.3 average on punt returns (28 returns, 399 yards, one TD) ... He was second in the NCAA and first in the Pac-10 last season with a 16.0 punt return average ... Throughout his career, Powell has exemplified the knack for making big plays ... He has caught 14 receptions of over 30 yards, including seven over 50.

TWO-SPORT TEYO: Sophomore wide receiver Teyo Johnson has earned the reputation as one of the top two-sport athletes in the nation ... A power forward on Stanford's nationally-ranked basketball team the past two years, Johnson begins his second season as a receiver after coming to Stanford as one of the most highly-touted prep quarterbacks in the nation from Mira Mesa High School in the the San Diego Area ... Johnson was a redshirt freshman QB at Stanford in 2000, but was moved to wide receiver for the 2001 season ... At 6-7 and 240 and very athletic, Johnson proved to be a difficult matchup for oppos-ing defenses ... He wound up catching 38 balls for 565 yards (14.9 ypc) and seven touchdowns and was named the Pac-10's Co-Freshman of the Year ... He could emerge as one of the nation's top receivers in 2002 ... In basketball, Johnson started 11 games for Stanford last year after the football season con-cluded in late December ... He is a potential starter for the Cardinal in 2002-03.

RECEIVING CORPS: The Sporting News ranked Stanford's receiving corps the No. 6 unit in the nation - and for good reason ... Not only does the Cardinal return 168 of the 176 receptions from a year ago, but Stanford's receiving corps has speed, experience, athleticism, size, break-away ability and maturity ...The top three are Luke Powell, Teyo Johnson and fifth-year senior Ryan Wells (19 starts, 55 receptions, five TDs) ... Add that trio to a group of very talented and athletic young receivers and Stanford's unit is among the best in the nation.

DEFENSIVE DOINGS: Stanford must replace nine starters on defense in 2002, including first-team all-conference players Coy Wire at ILB and FS Tank Williams ... The Cardinal does return some experience on the line, including tackle Matt Leonard (five starts in 2001, 12 in career), but must replace all three starting linebackers and all four secondary positions ... Along with Leonard, returning lineman who saw playing time in 2001 include Trey Freeman and Craig Albrecht at nose tackle, ends Amon Gordon, Drew Caylor, Louis Hobson, Michael Lovelady and Will Svitek ... At the line-backer spots, all three starters will be new ... Junior Brian Gaffney is a two-year letterwinner and the leading candidate at MLB ... The leading contenders to earn the start at the two OLB spots are sophomore David Bergeron and freshmen Michael Craven and Jon Alston ... All four secondary starters will be new in ?02, but several have already seen significant playing time, including CBs Leigh Torrence and Stanley Wilson, FS Colin Branch, who started five games last year at strong safety and veterans Jason White and Garry Cobb ... Sophomore Oshiomogho Atogwe looks to be the leading candidate at SS.

CARTER NOW NO. 1: Senior running back Kerry Carter, who shared the running back duties with Brian Allen the past two years, moves into the No. 1 spot in 2002 ... Carter, from Vaughn, Ontario, Can., has gained 1,515 yards and scored 23 touchdowns the past three seasons, but has never held the role of the team's top rushing threat ... He will get his chance in ?02 ... He is already No. 4 on Stanford's career rushing TD list with 21 and is knocking on the door to the school's all-time rushing chart ... He needs just 159 yards to move into Stanford's top-10 rushing list ... A punishing runner at 6-2, 235, Carter led the team in rushing in 2000 (729 yards) and was second a year ago despite missing four games with a shoulder injury.

MOORE NOTES: One area that the Cardinal will not change in 2002 is its starting fullback, where senior Casey Moore will take his usual spot in the lineup for the fourth consecutive season ... Moore has started the last 33 games for the Cardinal from 1999-2001 and has proven to be very effective when given the opportunity to touch the ball ... He has gained 613 yards and scored 14 touchdowns on the ground in his careeer and his 5.9 career yards per rush average is indeed impressive for a fullback ... He has also caught 34 passes for three TDs ... He will be an integral part of the Cardinal offenisve attack in ?02.