ESPN College Football

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck had surgery on a finger in his right, throwing hand and won't start the Sun Bowl against Oklahoma, the Stanford Daily -- the student newspaper -- reported and ESPN.com confirmed.

Coach Jim Harbaugh wouldn't rule him out of the Dec. 31 game in El Paso, Tex.

"He's going to be out of practice at least two to three weeks," Harbaugh told the Pac-10 blog Monday. "He's not ruled out of the game, but based on what we know right now, he won't start. We'll have to see how his finger heals and see what his availability is for the game. It will be a game-week decision."

Luck's backup is senior Tavita Pritchard, who has started 19 games in his career but was eclipsed by Luck during spring practices.

Obviously, a huge blow to Stanford's chances.

The Sooners now likely will gang up on the line of scrimmage to stop Toby Gerhart and dare Pritchard to beat them with the passing game. A defense couldn't do that with the talented Luck running the Cardinal offense.

Of course, it was Pritchard who engineered the stunning victory at USC in 2007.

"This team doesn't make excuses," Harbaugh said. "There's injuries in football."

The Cardinal already lost linebacker Clinton Snyder, defensive end Erik Lorig, offensive tackles Matt Kopa and Allen Smith and defensive tackle Brian Bulcke to injuries this season.

Of course, Oklahoma knows all about losing star players to injuries. It's played without All-American tight end Jermaine Gresham the entire season and quarterback Sam Bradford, the 2008 Heisman Trophy winner, most of the year.

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

Stanford's defense? Smart and slow. Just look at film from the second half at Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons started racing -- and beating -- the Cardinal to the perimeter and then gashed them with deep throws downfield, whipping one-on-one coverage.

Wake Forest piled up 311 of its 458 yards in the second half as it rumbled back from a 14-point halftime deficit to win 24-17.

What went wrong?

"Everything," Stanford's co-defensive coordinator Ron Lynn said. "We just didn't play well in the second half. We probably didn't coach as well in the second half as the first half."

Considering Washington State piled up 351 yards in the season-opener, early on it looked like the Cardinal defense would only aspire to mediocrity in 2009.

Smart. Slow. Average. Typical Stanford defense.

But a funny thing happened on the path to "just OK." Stanford took a detour.

None of the Cardinal's last three opponents -- San Jose State, Washington and UCLA -- gained more than 299 yards. And, after five games, only Wake Forest scored more than 17 points.

Stanford is on the cusp of earning a national ranking in large part because of a highly efficient, physical offense led by Heisman Trophy candidate Toby Gerhart, who ranks fourth in the nation with 130 yards rushing per game, and poised redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Luck.

But the defense's improvement is nearly as notable. It is giving up 16.8 points and 324 yards per game, which is 10.6 points and 56 yards better than last year.

Of course, that improvement likely will be tested Saturday at Oregon State by the Rodgers brothers, James and Jacquizz, who rank Nos. 1 and 2 in the Pac-10 in all-purpose yards.

"It's Rodgers right and Rodgers left," Lynn said. "Those two are dynamic playmakers. If you were just a fan, it would be fun to watch them. But as an opposing coach, it's not a lot of fun to watch them."

Both are quick and fast. They dart between gaps looking for stress points. They tempt defenders to forget responsibilities. The makes plays on the perimeter and downfield in the passing game.

So slow Stanford better play smart. And with relentlessness.

By the way, asking about the defense's reputed lack of speed didn't go over that well.

"I didn't know that was the M.O. on us at this point," linebacker Clinton Snyder said. "I think we've showed we've got some speed out there."

Said Linn, "We have a little bit of sneaky speed. I'm not sure if on the clock we might be [fast]. I do know our guys care and fight their butt off to run to the ball and they are resilient. That relentlessness of staying after it covers up a lot of sins. I don't think we're slow by any stretch of the imagination but we may not be the fastest team in the nation."

Lynn, co-coordinator Andy Buh and head coach Jim Harbaugh actually made a number of moves between the 2008 season and fall camp in order to shore up a defense that was particularly weak against the pass.

While three of four 2008 starters returned in the secondary, only safety Bo McNally remains a starter. Delano Howell was moved from running back to strong safety. Richard Sherman switched from receiver to cornerback (his call). Corey Gatewood, who was injured in 2008, is the other corner.

It's a far more athletic, if less experienced, crew. The Cardinal surrendered 18 touchdown passes a year ago. Through five games in 2009, they've given up four.

"They're getting better every week," Snyder said. "In the first couple of games, there was some stuff we needed to get fixed -- some big-time plays were made on us."

Harbaugh said he's happy with the play of Snyder and the linebackers. Linn said defensive tackles Ukom Udofia and Sione Fua have played well, which is critical because starter Matt Masifilo and key backup Brian Bulcke are both out with injuries.

End Thomas Keiser is proving an impressive freshman season wasn't a fluke with 4.5 sacks and 7.5 tackles for a loss.

Oregon State coach Mike Riley sees a defense that will challenge his young offensive line with a variety of looks and zone blitzes.

"They are playing very sound," Riley said. "Their front -- they play hard, they get good edge pressure, they get good push in the middle."

It's a smart, relentless unit that's starting to play together.

And, maybe, they aren't really that slow.

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

Andrew Luck bounces back from his first career pick deep in Wake Forest territory to throw his second beautiful TD pass, this one 17 yards to Ryan Whalen.

Stanford up 14-3. Luck is 11 for 15 for 134. At this point, it's fair to say that he's meeting high expectations.

The Cardinal O-line, with a pair of redshirt freshmen starters, is owning the line of scrimmage.

The defense has been bending but not breaking. Nice third and short stop near midfield -- play by LB Clinton Snyder -- to get the ball back in Luck's hands.

Posted by ESPN.com's Ted Miller

Nine of the 66 names on the preseason Butkus Award watch list are from the Pac-10. USC, California and Stanford each put two names on the board.

The Nasty Nine are:

Reggie Carter, UCLA

Brian Cushing, USC

Zack Follett, California

Rey Maualuga, USC

Pat Maynor, Stanford

Gerald Munns, Arizona State

Ronnie Palmer, Arizona

Clinton Snyder, Stanford

Worrell Williams, California

The complete list can be found on the official Butkus Award site.