SUN BOWL: Gerhart geared up to face Sooners

— Stanford running back Toby Gerhart has looked at film, analyzed the matchups and gone over the game plan.

Today’s Sun Bowl against Oklahoma couldn’t get here quick enough for the Heisman Trophy runner-up.

“It will be entertaining for everybody,” said Gerhart, who finished second to Alabama’s Mark Ingram in the closest Heisman vote ever. “We have a power offense, statistically ranked pretty high, and they have the great defense that’s ranked in the top 10 in basically every category.”

That matchup became a little spicier Wednesday when Stanford Coach Jim Harbaugh said freshman quarterback Andrew Luck got the pins removed from his broken right index finger and might play.

“He is progressing nicely. We’ve been hopeful up to this point,” Harbaugh said. “We’re going to give ourselves another 24 hours to make that decision.”

Luck set Stanford’s freshman passing record with 2,575yards but hasn’t thrown since undergoing surgery after the regular-season finale against Notre Dame. The first freshman to start at quarterback for Stanford since 2002, he was among the Pacific-10 leaders in total offense and passing efficiency.

Senior Tavita Pritchard, who led the Cardinal to a thrilling 24-23 upset at Southern California two years ago in the first of his 19 career starts, has been directing the offense in practice.

“Even though he hasn’t taken a lot of snaps this year, Tavita has shown constant improvement in his preparation for this game,” Harbaugh said.

Gerhart has carried the No. 19 Cardinal (8-4) to its best season and first bowl appearance since 2001, while Oklahoma’s national title aspirations were dashed by a series of key injuries that started with quarterback Sam Bradford in an opening loss to BYU.

The Sooners’ injured list is so long that All-American tackle Trent Williams will play center against Stanford, becoming the fourth player to snap the ball for Oklahoma (7-5) this season.

“He’s doing a nice job,” said Bob Stoops, whose team lost five regular-season games for the first time in his 11 years as coach. “He’s a talented, strong player. If anyone can handle it well, it’s him, and he has looked good in there.”

Still, the outcome likely will hinge on what the Sooners do to slow Gerhart, a hard-charging back who led the nation with 1,736 yards rushing and 26 rushing touchdowns. Oklahoma ranked seventh nationally against the run, allowing 88.6 yards per game.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge of it,” Stoops said. “We recognize Stanford as an excellent, excellent football team.”

Sports, Pages 19 on 12/31/2009

Upcoming Events