1982 Stanford Cardinal football team

The 1982 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the Pacific-10 Conference in the 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by third-year head coach Paul Wiggin, the Cardinal had an overall record of 5–6 (3–5 in Pac-10, seventh).

1982 Stanford Cardinal football
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Record	5–6 (3–5 Pac-10)
Head coach	Paul Wiggin (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Jim Fassel (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	West Coast
Defensive coordinator	Fred von Appen (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Stanford Stadium
Seasons ← 1981 1983 →

1982 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 UCLA $	5	–	1	–	1			10	–	1	–	1
No. 7 Washington	6	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 6 Arizona State	5	–	2	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 15 USC	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
Arizona	4	–	3	–	1			6	–	4	–	1
California	4	–	4	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Stanford	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington State	2	–	4	–	1			3	–	7	–	1
Oregon	2	–	6	–	0			2	–	8	–	1
Oregon State	0	–	7	–	1			1	–	9	–	1
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

This was the first football season for Stanford's new singular nickname Cardinal; from 1972 to 1981, it was the plural Cardinals.^[1] Both represented the color.

With consensus All-American John Elway at quarterback, the 1982 Cardinal were exciting - seven of its eleven games were decided in the fourth quarter - but maddeningly erratic:

• After an impressive opening road win at Purdue, the Cardinal dropped a 35–31 decision at home to unranked San Jose State, coached by Elway's father Jack, who became Stanford's head coach in 1984.
• In week 3 at #12 Ohio State, Stanford won on a last-minute eighty-yard drive, scoring the decisive TD with 34 seconds remaining.^[2]
• In week 5 at #11 Arizona State, Stanford scored a go-ahead touchdown in the final minute, only to lose on a Sun Devil TD with eleven seconds left on the clock.^[2]
• In week 7 at Washington State, the Cardinal scored the winning touchdown with 22 seconds left.^[2]
• In week 8 at home, Stanford scored thirty consecutive points to decisively defeat previously unbeaten #2 Washington 43–31,^[3] which put Elway on the cover of Sports Illustrated.^[4][5]
• In week 9, at home against unranked Arizona, it gave up 28 unanswered fourth quarter points to lose by fourteen.^[6]

After a hard-fought 38–35 loss at Rose Bowl-bound and 12th-ranked UCLA in week 10, the Cardinal traveled to Berkeley for its final scheduled game.

Elway's last football game at Stanford was one of the most famous games of all time, the 1982 Big Game versus rival California. It ended with "The Play," a kickoff return for a touchdown with four backward lateral passes and one forward lateral pass that allowed Cal to win the game as time expired.

After that game, Elway congratulated the Stanford Band trombone player that got run over in the end zone. Although Elway never led Stanford to a bowl game, he had an accomplished college career. In his four seasons (1979–1982), he completed 774 passes for 9,349 yards and 77 touchdowns. Stanford had a 20–23–1 (.466) record during his tenure. Elway's 24 touchdown passes in 1982 led the nation, and he left with nearly every Stanford and Pacific-10 career record for passing and total offense. Elway won Pac-10 Player of the Year honors for the second time in 1982, and was a consensus All-American. In addition, he finished second in Heisman Trophy balloting.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 11	10:33 a.m.	at Purdue*	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN		W 35–14	64,381	[7]
September 18	1:35 p.m.	San Jose State*	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	CBS	L 31–35	60,789	[8]
September 25	9:37 a.m.	at No. 13 Ohio State*	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ABC	W 23–20	89,436	[9]
October 2	1:32 p.m.	Oregon State	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		W 45–5	39,400–41,138	[10]
October 9	6:30 p.m.	at No. 11 Arizona State	Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ		L 17–21	70,823	[11]
October 16	12:48 p.m.	No. 14 USC	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	CBS	L 21–41	73,859–75,185	[12]
October 23	1:02 p.m.	at Washington State	Martin Stadium Pullman, WA		W 31–26	26,806	[13]
October 30	12:50 p.m.	No. 2 Washington	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	ABC	W 43–31	53,871–55,213	[14]
November 6	1:05 p.m.	Arizona	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		L 27–41	41,789	[15]
November 13		at No. 12 UCLA	Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA		L 35–38	78,452	[16]
November 20	1:05 p.m.	at California	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA (Big Game)	USA	L 20–25	75,662	[17]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Pacific time

^[18]

Game summaries

At Purdue

See also: 1982 Purdue Boilermakers football team

San Jose State

See also: 1982 San Jose State Spartans football team and Bill Walsh Legacy Game

At Ohio State

Stanford at Ohio State

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
• Cardinal	0	0	13	10	23
No. 13 Buckeyes	3	10	0	7	20

• Date: September 25
• Location: Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH
• Game attendance: 89,436
• Referee: Glenn Fortin (Big Ten)
• TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Frank Broyles

Scoring summary

1	4:22	OSU	Spangler 31-yard field goal	OSU 3–0
2	14:58	OSU	Broadnax 1-yard run (Spangler kick)	OSU 10–0
2	0:13	OSU	Spangler 24-yard field goal	OSU 13–0
3	10:56	STAN	Harmon 23-yard field goal	OSU 13–3
3	6:26	STAN	Harmon 24-yard field goal	OSU 13–6
3	3:30	STAN	Dotterer 11-yard pass from John Elway (Harmon kick)	Tied 13–13
4	8:47	OSU	Spencer 2-yard run (Spangler kick)	OSU 20–13
4	4:15	STAN	Harmon 47-yard field goal	OSU 20–16
4	0:34	STAN	Harry 18-yard pass from Elway (Harmon kick)	Stanford 23–20

See also: 1982 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

John Elway threw for 407 yards and 2 touchdowns, including the game-winner to Emile Harry with 34 seconds remaining.^[19]

Oregon State

See also: 1982 Oregon State Beavers football team

At Arizona State

See also: 1982 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

USC

See also: 1982 USC Trojans football team and Stanford–USC football rivalry

At Washington State

See also: 1982 Washington State Cougars football team

Washington

See also: 1982 Washington Huskies football team

Washington at Stanford

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 2 Huskies	10	7	7	7	31
• Cardinal	7	17	13	6	43

• Date: October 30
• Location: Stanford Stadium Stanford, California
• Game attendance: 53,871–55,213
• TV announcers (ABC): Keith Jackson and Frank Broyles

Source:^[5]

Arizona

See also: 1982 Arizona Wildcats football team

At UCLA

See also: 1982 UCLA Bruins football team

At California

Stanford at California

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinal	0	0	14	6	20
• Golden Bears	0	10	0	15	25

• Date: November 20
• Location: California Memorial Stadium • Berkeley, California
• Game attendance: 75,662
• Referee: Charles Moffett
• TV announcers (USA): Barry Tompkins and John Beasley

Scoring summary

2	9:22	CAL	Joe Cooper 31-yard field goal	Cal 3–0
2	2:42	CAL	Mariet Ford 29-yard pass from Gale Gilbert (Joe Cooper kick)	Cal 10–0
3	5:29	STAN	Vincent White 2-yard pass from John Elway (Mark Harmon kick)	Cal 10–7
3	1:42	STAN	Vincent White 43-yard pass from John Elway (Mark Harmon kick)	Stanford 14–10
4	13:28	CAL	Joe Cooper 31-yard field goal	Stanford 14–13
4	11:24	CAL	Wes Howell 32 yard pass from Gale Gilbert (pass failed)	Cal 19–14
4	5:32	STAN	Mark Harmon 22-yard field goal	Cal 19–17
4	0:04	STAN	Mark Harmon 35-yard field goal	Stanford 20–19
4	0:00	CAL	Kevin Moen 25-yard kickoff return after numerous laterals (Kick failed)	Cal 25–20

Main article: The Play (American football)

See also: 1982 California Golden Bears football team and Big Game (American football)

^[20][21][22]

Personnel

Coaching staff

• Head coach – Paul Wiggin (Stanford '57)
• Associate head coach – Ray Handley (Stanford '66)
• Offensive coordinator – Jim Fassel (USC '70)
• Defensive coordinator – Larry Mac Duff (CSU-Fullerton '71)
• Running backs – Jim Anderson (Cal Western '70)
• Defensive backs – Chuck Detwiler (Utah State '68)
• Offensive line – Dick James (UC Davis '62)
• Receivers and tight ends – Dave Ottmar (Stanford '74)
• Defensive line – Fred von Appen (Linfield '64)
• Asst. coach – offensive line – Pete Mangurian (Louisiana State '77)
• Asst. coach – secondary – Mike Nolan (Oregon '80)

Roster

1982 Stanford Cardinal football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 42 Steve Brown RB 24 Mike Dotterer Sr TE 88 Chris Dressel Sr QB 7 John Elway Sr WR 10 Emile Harry So OT Chris Rose Sr WR 26 Mike Tolliver Jr RB 22 Vincent White Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 86 Kevin Bates ILB 56 Louis Arvanetes Sr S 20 Rod Gilmore Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK 8 Mark Harmon So	Head coach Paul Wiggin (3rd year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Ray Handley – Associate head coach Jim Fassel – Offensive Coordinator Jim Anderson – Running back Dave Ottmar – Tight end Dick James – Offensive line Larry Mac Duff – Defensive line Fred von Appen – Defensive coordinator Chuck Detwiler – Defensive back Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

^[23][24]

Awards and honors

• John Elway: Sammy Baugh Trophy, Pac-10 Player of the Year, Consensus First-team All-American, 2nd in Heisman Trophy voting

NFL draft

Main article: 1983 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
John Elway	Quarterback	1	1	Baltimore Colts (later traded to Denver)
Chris Dressel	Tight end	3	69	Houston Oilers
Vincent White	Running back	6	163	New York Jets
Mike Dotterer	Running back	8	222	Los Angeles Raiders
Chris Rose	Tackle	9	241	Baltimore Colts

^[25]