1978 Stanford Cardinals football team

The 1978 Stanford Cardinals football team represented Stanford University in the Pacific-10 Conference during the 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by second-year head coach Bill Walsh, the Cardinals were 7–4 in the regular season (4–3 in Pac-10, tied for fourth) and played their home games on campus at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California. Their four losses were by a combined total of sixteen points.^[1]

1978 Stanford Cardinals football
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl champion
Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl, W 25–22 vs. Georgia
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 16
AP	No. 17
Record	8–4 (4–3 Pac-10)
Head coach	Bill Walsh (2nd season)
Home stadium	Stanford Stadium
Seasons ← 1977 1979 →

1978 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 USC $	6	–	1	–	0			12	–	1	–	0
No. 14 UCLA	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	1
Washington	6	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Arizona State	4	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
No. 17 Stanford	4	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
California	3	–	4	–	0			6	–	5	–	0
Arizona	3	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Oregon	2	–	5	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Oregon State	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	7	–	1
Washington State	1	–	7	–	0			3	–	7	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

In the Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl on New Year's Eve, Stanford rallied from a 22-point deficit in the second half to defeat No. 11 Georgia, 25–22.^[2][3] and finished with an 8–4 record and a top twenty ranking.^[4]

Less than two weeks later, Walsh departed for the NFL's San Francisco 49ers,^[5] and receivers coach Rod Dowhower was promoted.^[6] Walsh won three Super Bowls in ten seasons with the Niners, took three years off, and returned to Stanford as head coach in 1992.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	No. 4 Oklahoma*		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		L 29–35	58,883	[7]
September 16	San Jose State*		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)		W 38–9	42,500	[8]
September 23	at Illinois*		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL		W 35–10	43,143	[9]
September 30	Tulane*	No. 20	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		W 17–14	40,111	[10]
October 7	at No. 16 UCLA	No. 17	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Los Angeles, CA		L 26–27	54,106	[11]
October 14	Washington	No. 18	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		L 31–34	58,079	[12]
October 21	at Washington State		Martin Stadium Pullman, WA		W 43–27	27,411	[13]
October 28	Oregon State		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		W 24–6	39,214	[14]
November 4	No. 6 USC		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)		L 7–13	84,084	[15]
November 11	at Arizona State		Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ		W 21–14	51,000	[16]
November 18	at California		California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA (Big Game)		W 30–10	77,880	[17]
December 31	vs. No. 11 Georgia*		Houston Astrodome Houston, TX (Astro-Bluebonnet Bowl)	Mizlou	W 25–22	34,084	[18]
*Non-conference game Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

^[19]

Personnel

1978 Stanford Cardinal football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class RB Billy Anderson RB Gordon Banks TE Pat Bowe RB Jim Brown QB Steve Dils OL Gene Engle FB Phil Francis OL Paul Hibler OL Brian Holloway WR James Lofton OL John Macauley WR Ken Margerum WR Vince Mulroy RB Darrin Nelson TE Mitch Pleis OL Brent Saylor QB Turk Schonert TE Marty Smith OL Jim Stephens WR Andre Tyler	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB Kevin Bates LB Bo Boxold LB Steve Budinger DB Keith Burcham LB Gordy Ceresino DB Robby Chapman DL Chuck Evans DL Dan Floyd DB Steve Foley LB Tom Hall LB Milt McColl DB Rick Parker DB John Pigott LB Terry Rennaker DL Doug Rogers DB Kent Stalwick DB Savann Thompson DL Dean Wilson	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P Brad Fox K Ken Naber	Head coach Bill Walsh Coordinators/assistant coaches Rod Dowhower (WR) Dennis Green (RB) George Seifert (DB) Norb Hecker (LB) Tom Lovat (OL) Fred von Appen (DL) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Awards and honors

• Steve Dils, Sammy Baugh Trophy^[20]

All-conference

Main article: 1978 All-Pacific-10 Conference football team

Two sophomores were named to the All-Pac-10 team, halfback Darrin Nelson and wide receiver Ken Margerum, along with senior linebacker Gordy Ceresino.

NFL draft

Two Cardinals were selected in the 1979 NFL draft.

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Steve Dils	Quarterback	4	97	Minnesota Vikings
Phil Francis	Running back	7	166	San Francisco 49ers

^[21]