1991 Stanford Cardinal football team

American college football season

1991 Stanford Cardinal football
Aloha Bowl, L 17–18 vs. Georgia Tech
Conference	Pac-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 22
AP	No. 22
Record	8–4 (6–2 Pac-10)
Head coach	Dennis Green (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Ron Turner (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	West Coast
Defensive coordinator	Willie Shaw (2nd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Stanford Stadium
Seasons ← 1990 1992 →

1991 Pacific-10 Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 2 Washington $	8	–	0	12	–	0
No. 8 California	6	–	2	10	–	2
No. 19 UCLA	6	–	2	9	–	3
No. 22 Stanford	6	–	2	8	–	4
Arizona State	4	–	4	6	–	5
Washington State	3	–	5	4	–	7
Arizona	3	–	5	4	–	7
USC	2	–	6	3	–	8
Oregon	1	–	7	3	–	8
Oregon State	1	–	7	1	–	10

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1991 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 1991 NCAA Division I-A football season. It would be Dennis Green's final season as the head coach.

Tommy Vardell rushed for 1,843 yards with 37 touchdowns in his college career. He never fumbled once for Stanford, and ranks second in Stanford football history for most touchdowns and third for most rushing yards. Vardell set the record for most rushing yards in a season by a Cardinal running back, with his 1084 yards in 1991.^[1]

Stanford’s win over USC in October - its first over the Trojans since 1975, and only its fourth since 1957 - signaled a remarkable change in that rivalry’s competitiveness, as the two teams have shared wins roughly evenly in the succeeding years.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 7	12:30 p.m.	No. 4 Washington		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	ABC	L 7–42	45,273
September 14	3:30 p.m.	at Arizona		Arizona Stadium Tucson, AZ	Prime	L 23–28	43,055
September 28	12:30 p.m.	No. 17 Colorado*		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	ABC	W 28–21	57,394
October 5	8:00 p.m.	No. 8 Notre Dame*		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	ESPN	L 26–42	70,798
October 12	1:00 p.m.	Cornell*		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		W 56–6	30,347	^[2]
October 19	3:30 p.m.	at USC		Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA (rivalry)	Prime	W 24–21	61,265
October 26	1:00 p.m.	Oregon State		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		W 40–10	21,416
November 2	1:00 p.m.	at Oregon		Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR		W 33–13	41,949
November 9	3:30 p.m.	No. 22 UCLA		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	Prime	W 27–10	55,178
November 16	1:00 p.m.	at Washington State	No. 22	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA		W 49–14	18,238
November 23	12:30 p.m.	No. 6 California	No. 21	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (Big Game)	ABC	W 38–21	86,019
December 25	12:30 p.m.	vs. Georgia Tech*	No. 17	Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI (Aloha Bowl)	ABC	L 17–18	34,433	^[3]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

Washington

#4 Washington at Stanford

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Huskies	0	21	0	21	42
Cardinal	0	7	0	0	7

Date: September 7
Location: Stanford Stadium, Stanford, CA
Game start: 12:30 pm PDT
TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Bob Griese

Scoring summary

Q2	13:45	UW	Jay Barry 11 yard run (Travis Hanson kick)	UW 7–0

Q2	9:43	UW	Beno Bryant (Travis Hanson kick)	UW 14–0

Q2	2:02	STAN	Tommy Vardell 1 yard run (Aaron Mills kick)	UW 14–7

Q2	0:09	UW	Mario Bailey 26 yard pass from Billy Joe Hobert (Travis Hanson kick)	UW 21–7

Q4	14:02	UW	Joe Kralik 20 yard pass from Billy Joe Hobert (Travis Hanson kick)	UW 28–7

Q4	11:59	UW	Jay Barry 20 yard run (Travis Hanson kick)	UW 35–7

Q4	1:30	UW	Leif Johnson 20 yard run (Travis Hanson kick)	UW 42–7

Colorado

#17 Colorado at Stanford

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buffaloes	0	0	0	21	21
• Cardinal	28	0	0	0	28

Date: September 7
Location: Stanford Stadium, Stanford, CA
Game start: 12:30 pm PDT
Game attendance: 57,394
Television network: ABC

Notre Dame

California

Vs. Georgia Tech (Aloha Bowl)

Georgia Tech vs. #17 Stanford

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Yellow Jackets	10	0	0	8	18
Cardinal	7	10	0	0	17

Date: December 25
Location: Aloha Stadium, Honolulu, HI
Game attendance: 34,433
Referee: Doyle Jackson
TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson, Bob Griese, Jack Arute

Roster

1991 Stanford Cardinal football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
TE	`83`	Turner Baur	Sr
RB	`22`	Ozzie Grenardo	Fr
RB	`5`	Glyn Milburn	Jr
QB	`12`	Jason Palumbis	Sr
WR	`6`	Jon Pinckney	Sr
QB	`18`	Steve Stenstrom	Fr
FB	`44`	Tommy Vardell	Sr
WR	`80`	Chris Walsh	Sr
OT	`70`	Bob Whitfield	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
CB	`21`	Darrien Gordon	Jr
SS	`17`	John Lynch	Jr
DT	`60`	Tyrone Parker	Jr
LB	`36`	Tom Williams	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K		Aaron Mills	Fr

Head coach

Dennis Green

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Ron Turner – Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks
Tyrone Willingham – Running backs
Brian Billick – Wide receivers and tight ends
Scott Schuhmann – Offensive line
Willie Shaw – Defensive coordinator and defensive backs
Mike Nelson – Defensive line
Mike Tolleson – Inside Linebacker
Dave Tipton – Outside linebacker
Chris Foerster – Special teams coordinator

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

1992 NFL Draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Bob Whitfield	Tackle	1	8	Atlanta Falcons
Tommy Vardell	Running back	1	9	Cleveland Browns
Chris Walsh	Wide receiver	9	251	Buffalo Bills
Turner Baur	Tight end	10	261	New England Patriots

^[4]

References

^ "Cougars preparing to go with another QB". October 31, 2008.
^ Soltau, Mark (October 13, 1991). "Stanford Throttles Cornell, But So What?". San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco, Calif. p. D-8 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Tech climbs off the deck to win by 1". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. December 26, 1991. Retrieved February 4, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "1992 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.

v t e Stanford Cardinal football
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