ESPN College Football

As you'd expect, things are picking up with national signing day just around the corner. A lot has happened in the past few days.

First, there was the commitment of offensive lineman Josh Garnett. If you haven't heard, scroll down a couple of inches.

There was also the de-commitment of Jontrey Tillman, who spoke with Mike Coppage of scout.com about failing to gain admission.

I was crushed about it. Because that's where I really wanted to be: at Stanford. He ([Stanford coach Lance] Anderson) told me good luck and said he would try to find out more about it.

I was overwhelmed. At first, I didn't want to go play basketball -- I had a game that night -- and I didn't want to play. My plan was to stay in the house but Coach Antoine came and got me out of the house. I'm glad he did, because my teammates helped me feel better - even though they didn't know what was going on at the time.

Per the article, Tillman might not declare next week and instead weigh his options. That's probably the smart move. He obviously had his heart set on Stanford so no need to make rash decisions about the future when your head isn't completely right. He still has offers from New Mexico, Memphis, SMU and Southern Miss.

With a reported 4.0 grade point average, he's obviously a bright young man and the Cardinal coaching staff saw enough in the two-star athelte to make him an offer which leads me to believe he'll land on his feet.

On the lighter side, the folks at RecruitingNation rolled the dice and made their predictions on where the remaining five- and four-star prospects would end up.

If you believe Greg Biggins, Jamie Newberg and Damon Sayles, offensive tackle Andrus Peat, ranked N0. 9 in the ESPNU 150, is headed to Stanford.

Five of seven recruiting analysts have offensive tackle Kyle Murphy (No. 27) picking Stanford over USC.

On the defensive line, four of the seven analysts have Aziz Shittu picking Stanford over USC and Cal.

Also, if you missed this on the Pac-12 blog Thursday, Stanford was rated as one of the top five out-of-state recruiting schools in a study conducted by RecruitingNation and LaRue Cook of ESPN The Magazine.

Writes Cook:

The Cardinal just can't compete with USC and UCLA for California's top talent, signing only two of the state's 73 ESPNU 150 recruits from 2007-11. But when Jim Harbaugh landed [Andrew] Luck, it proved that top prospects will travel to Palo Alto. After Harbaugh left for the 49ers, new head coach David Shaw convinced 2011's No. 2 ILB James Vaughters (Tucker, Ga.) to stick with Stanford, and the Cardinal currently have three out-of-state ESPNU 150 preps committed for 2012, including top-25 overall prospect OLB Noor Davis (Leesburg, Fla.).

The Cardinal had players from 27 different states on the roster this past season.

Stanford wants to be a physical football team with a rugged running game. It just picked up a piece that can make that happen.

Offensive lineman Joshua Garnett (Puyallup, Wash./Puyallup) has picked Stanford over Michigan.

“I love the strength and conditioning program and I’ve seen firsthand how much bigger and stronger the Stanford players get," he told ESPN Recruiting's Greg Biggins. "I knew David DeCastro in high school and he was always strong but now he’s benching over 500 pounds and is an absolute beast, that's how I want to be.”

The 6-foot-5, 285 pounder is consider the top prospect in the state of Washington. He's ranked No. 44 overall on the ESPNU 150.

Garnett is the 5th offensive line commitment for the Cardinal and they’re in the running for two more elite linemen: Kyle Murphy (San Clemente, Calif./San Clemente) and Andrus Peat (Tempe, Ariz./Corona del Sol), who will both announce on signing day. Murphy is ranked 27th on the ESPNU 150 and Peat ninth.

And, yes, signing three of the nation's top-45 offensive linemen would be impressive — and would raise an eyebrow or two among 2013 QB and RB recruits.

Has there ever been a 3-8 defense? Three linemen, eight linebackers?

"Uh, I don't think so," laughed Stanford linebacker Jarek Lancaster. "But who knows. I'm sure the coaches will find a way to figure it out. There are far too many talented guys to just leave them on the bench."

It's the proverbial great problem for Stanford to have — too many good players for only four linebacker spots.

All four of Stanford's starting linebackers return next season — Lancaster and A.J. Tarpley on the inside and Trent Murphy and Chase Thomas on the outside. Not to mention that two of the three starting defensive linemen — Ben Gardner and Terrence Stephens — are also back.

Then, you factor in that Shayne Skov will be returning from a knee injury, Joe Hemschoot picked up good playing time, James Vaughters is chomping at the bit and incoming freshman Noor Davis — the No. 1 outside linebacker recruit in the nation — may fight for snaps.

Co-defensive coordinator Jason Tarver said the key to rotating so many players is making sure the snaps they get are about quality, not quantity.

"We'll use them for what they do well," Tarver said. "We're excited about the depth and they are good young men. There are also a lot of young guys out there who are excited about playing and taking the baton and taking what we started to another level."

The unit obviously got a huge boost when Thomas opted to return to Stanford for his senior year. After going through the NFL projections, he decided his NFL future would still be too hazy to leave early.

"It was probably the hardest decision I've ever had to make," Thomas told the San Francisco Chronicle. "Each day I woke up and I'd be changing my mind ... I just had to go with my gut instinct."

ESPN's Mel Kiper Jr. projects Thomas to be the No. 1 senior outside linebacker in the country next season.

Chase Thomas had a chance to crack the second round, but in going back to Palo Alto for another year, I think he has the chance to improve his stock a bit.

The biggest question mark will be Skov -- who went down with a season-ending knee injury in the third game of the season. He was the team's leading tackler and probably would have left for the NFL had he stayed healthy. Kiper rates him as the No. 3 senior inside linebacker.

Skov is an interesting prospect, and if he's fully healthy the Stanford defense is going to be quite good.

While head coach David Shaw's expertise is on the offensive side of the ball, he knows his linebacker cup runneth over with talent. And it's not something he can ignore.

"We'll find a way to get them all involved. We have to," Shaw said. "With Ben and Terrence Stephens, A.J. and Lancaster — the experience those guys got this year — and Shayne hopefully coming back to form and both outside linebackers, it's an exciting group when you look at it on paper."

Let's face it, you're not going to find a bunch of underachievers at Stanford. So it makes sense that Brian Fremeau of Football Outsiders dubbed the Cardinal one of five recruiting overachievers over the last few years.

Fremeau looked at the last five seasons and compared teams with higher-rated recruiting classes against the rest of the field. Interestingly enough, teams with the "better" recruiting classes won 67 percent of the time. But five teams with less heralded recruits bucked that trend. Stanford being one of them.

Writes Fremeau: The Cardinal lead all teams in victories (29 wins since 2007) over the last five seasons in games in which they had a recruiting disadvantage. Of those 29 wins, 22 have come in the last three seasons with quarterback Andrew Luck at the helm. Luck was a highly touted quarterback coming out of high school (he ranked seventh among QBs nationally and 61st overall in the ESPNU 150), and he's the most significant reason for Stanford's meteoric rise over the last few years.

But former coach Jim Harbaugh also developed unheralded talent to build the program, and current head coach David Shaw kept that train rolling this past season. The recent success has helped Stanford produce several of its strongest recruiting classes in the last few seasons, but once Luck departs, will that overachieving tradition depart, too? Stanford will continue to play annual games against the Oregon Ducks, USC Trojans and Notre Dame Fighting Irish, along with several other Pac-12 foes, in which it will have a decided disadvantage in terms of recruiting ratings.

The other four teams to make Fremeau's list are Cincinnati, Boise State, Baylor and Oregon State.

But that trend might be changing. The Cardinal have a Top 20 recruiting class in the works, headlined by three players on the ESPNU 150 list. They are still in the hunt for several big-name players -- including three of the nation's top prep offensive linemen. If the Cardinal can close the deal on some of those players in the next week, it could propel them into a Top 15, maybe even Top 10 class. This year's group is already on pace to be one of the top classes in school history.

TJ in San Francisco writes: (Regarding Darron Thomas is leaving early). I think most of us (including me) had chalked up next year's game at Oregon as a loss... what do you think our chances of beating them are now? Should we be more worried about Oregon or Washington in the Pac 12 North?

Kevin Gemmell: If I can steal an old cliché that's pretty popular around The Farm, worry about yourselves, not the other guys. Worry about who is going to play the two safety spots and who will make the defensive calls against the Ducks, not who is under center or in their backfield. Oregon has plenty of firepower -- and will for the foreseeable future. Are they any more vulnerable without Thomas? Maybe. Just as Stanford is more vulnerable without Andrew Luck. And yes, I think Washington is also a big concern -- especially since that is a road game next year with a new starting quarterback for Stanford. If Keith Price continues to mature at the rate he's going, Washington will be a player in the North.

---

Tyler in "The District" writes: Hey Kevin. If the Heisman trophy voting happened today, would Robert Griffin III still win? To me, it seems that some voters may have previously voted erroneously; more in tune with a fad than sound judgment. Now that time has passed, would voters sober up from the intoxicating RG3 performance against the Longhorns? (By the way, Texas isn't what they used to be and no one seems to care.) Or would they vote for a guy like Luck who wasn't losing 49-3 against Okie State? PS: Don't try to say that RG3's bowl game performance means anything. The convoy of moving trucks in Seattle this past month aren't there because of RG3.

Kevin Gemmell: Tyler, I've long held the belief that Heisman voting should be done after the bowl season. Just a personal opinion. With that said, did anything change in the bowl season that would make you think people who were going to vote for Griffin are suddenly going to change their vote? The fact is, those who wanted to vote for Griffin did, and the people that wanted to vote for Luck did. RG3 didn't do anything to "lose" votes. Maybe Luck would have picked up a few more votes from those who voted for Montee Ball or Trent Richardson or Tyrann Mathieu based on his bowl performance. It was pretty darn good. But RG3's wasn't exactly horrific -- and his team won. I don't think anyone who voted for Griffin is suddenly feeling like they blew it. Time to let this one go.

---

Kory in Hillsborough, Calif., writes: Any word as to why Coby Fleener and Delano Howell declined their Senior Bowl invitations? I hope they weren't scared to compete because that completely goes against the Stanford football we've come to know.

Kevin Gemmell: No official word, so this is just me speculating. First, both were pretty banged up toward the end of the year. Howell, you'll remember, missed a lot of time due to that hand injury and Fleener's ankle looked like it had a softball sticking out of it after the Fiesta Bowl (he missed the fourth quarter). Both of them have enough of their resumes on film that I don't think one game would make a difference either way. That's my best guess.

---

Sean in Palo Alto, Calif., writes: You gave Stanford a B+ in the Pac-12 report card. Explain yourself.

Kevin Gemmell: Well, Sean, I'm assuming you think the grade should be higher. Let's look at the facts. They didn't win their conference, that right there drops them from an A to an A-. They didn't win their bowl game. That should drop them down as well. I gave the offense an A- and the defense a B. Average that together and you come out with a B+. Don't think that was too harsh of a grade.

A look at what happened in the world of Stanford recruiting over the past week.

• The Cardinal picked up a commitment last week from three-star defensive end Nathanael Lohn.
• Safety Bam Bradley (Trotwood, Ohio) still lists Stanford as his leader, followed by Pittsburgh and Ohio State, writes ESPN.com's Jared Shanker.

The three-star athlete has one last official visit to take, but so far he likes the attention he's been getting from the Stanford coaching staff.

Said Bradley:

"They actually come more than pretty much anybody. They're here whenever they can be ... They make an effort to get here as much as they can ... That just means they really need me and don't just want me. I got to go somewhere I'm needed and not just wanted. I'm going to work hard wherever I go but it's a plus to go somewhere they need you."

• Jameis Winston, the nation's top-ranked quarterback who has already committed to Florida State, enjoyed his visit to Stanford, reports ESPN.com's Jaime Newberg.
• Wide receiver Jordan Cunningham (Davie, Fla., 2013) said he's looking for a school big on athletics and academics. Stanford is one of those schools that fits the bill.

News and notes on players already committed to Stanford:

• Noor Davis lands at No. 15 on the Super Southeast 120.
• Barry J. Sanders understands he's in a unique situation.
• Alex Carter enjoyed his time at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
• Kodi Whitfield (Los Angeles) enjoyed his recent official visit to Stanford, writes ESPN.com's Greg Biggins.

Said Whitfield:

"I loved it there, and Stanford is an amazing place. I've been there before so I had a good comfort level already. It was fun to hang out with the other recruits and get to know them better. My dad went to Stanford, so I've been following them since I was little. I'm still a solid commit and excited about the opportunities Stanford provides."

• Luke Kaumatule (Honolulu, Hawaii) recently took an official visit to UCLA, according to Biggins.
• Thanks, I guess? Conner Crane was one of 42 players named to a Super Snub team -- players who just missed the all-area team.

Looking for the most improved player on Stanford's football team didn't take long. Especially when you consider the circumstances that brought David Yankey to the starting lineup in training camp.

At 6-foot-5, 305 pounds, he has a tackle's body. And he was very much in the mix for the starting right tackle spot before the season started. But the decision was made about three weeks before the first game of the year to move the redshirt freshman from tackle to guard -- a position he had never played in his life.

Now, 13 starts later, Yankey is a veteran.

"There were a lot of mistakes early on," Yankey said. "But through the season as I started to get more adjusted to the role, I got better at pulling and played better overall."

He earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention and freshman All-America honors by Yahoo for his efforts in helping Stanford to the nation's 18th-ranked rushing offense at 210.6 yards per game. Stanford was also seventh nationally in sacks allowed.

"Having never played guard before, I didn't really have a reaction when coach asked me to switch," Yankey said. "They said I had enough versatility to play guard, so I just did what I could to help out the team."

In Stanford's gap-scheme running attack, the guards do a great deal of pulling. That was new to Yankey, who leaned heavily on guard David DeCastro, an Outland Trophy finalist who is expected to go in the first round of the NFL draft.

"Watching him play is incredible," Yankey said of DeCastro. "He's a beast. That's the only way to describe him. He has awesome hands and feet, his technique is amazing. And I'll pick his brain all the time. He has so much knowledge and he's such a great player."

With three new starters on the offensive line heading into the season, there were some question marks about the unit. Yankey said he and fellow new starters Sam Schwartzstain and Cameron Fleming were aware of the questions, but never let them deter them. He credited running game coordinator Mike Bloomgren for getting the line up to speed and helping them adjust quickly as a unit.

With DeCastro and left tackle Jonathan Martin leaving for the NFL, the Cardinal will again have to fill some spots on the line. Yankey said if another position switch is called for, he's ready to make the move. He no longer considers himself just a tackle or just a guard.

"I'm politically correct about it," Yankey said. "I'm an offensive lineman.

"We'll figure everything out in the spring and in training camp and see who's better at playing where. It's about finding the right combination that can protect the quarterback and run the football the way we want to."

Now that all eligible players have declared, Mel Kiper Jr. officially kicks off the draft season with his first mock of 2012 . Here's how he projects Stanford players in the first round, along with some of his comments:

• QB Andrew Luck, No. 1, Indianapolis Colts: As a college player, Luck thinks and reads the game at an advanced level, can make adjustments on the fly and call plays and audibles at a remarkably high level for his age. He throws well moving left or right, keeps his eyes down the field and gets through progressions and into checkdowns extremely well. Nobody expects an easy transition for a rookie signal-caller, but Luck has the tools to make the transition easier than most.
• OL Jonathan Martin, No. 13, Arizona Cardinals: The Cardinals need to mend the offensive line -- they haven't drafted an offensive lineman before the fifth round since 2007 -- and Martin is an athletic, powerful left tackle who can help upgrade this unit immediately.
• OL David DeCastro, No. 14, Dallas Cowboys: With DeCastro, the Cowboys have a chance to solidify the interior of the line, helping both the running game and protection for Tony Romo and make that unit a strength.

Naturally, drafts don't always mean the best players go in order, which is why we've shown you Kiper's Big Board each week , which has Luck at No. 1, Martin at No. 9 and DeCastro at No. 12 (up one spot from No. 13 last week).

Kiper also ranked the top five players in each position . Here's how the Stanford players rank in his eyes:

• Luck: No. 1 among quarterbacks.
• DeCastro: No. 1 among offensive guards.
• Coby Fleener: No. 3 among tight ends behind Dwayne Allen of Clemson and Orson Charles of Georgia.
• Martin: No. 3 among offensive tackles behind Matt Kalil of USC and Riley Reiff of Iowa.

Todd McShay isn't quite as high on Martin and DeCastro in his latest top 32 rankings . He's got Martin at No. 11 (down from No. 10 last week) and DeCastro at No. 15 (down from No. 14 last week).

Fleener, however, made a huge jump in McShay's top 32 this week, moving from No. 32 up to No. 24, which makes him the highest ranked tight end in the field.

Writes McShay:

Fleener has improved as a blocker, and his size, athleticism and ability to stretch the seams and create after the catch are impressive.

Catching up on the day's news.

• Some news and notes about the Pac-12's business affairs.
• Andrew Luck's uncle will serve as his agent as he moves into his NFL career.
• A look at how Luck, the Mannings and Alex Smith are all connected.
• Some final notes about underclassmen leaving for the NFL draft.
• Some rankings on all of the underclassmen who have declared for the draft.

The rest of the blogging crew is looking at the best atmospheres from their conference during the season. So here at the Stanford blog, we're going to look at the best single-game atmosphere.

Now, the folks in Palo Alto deserve a pat on the back for rallying their program this season. Stanford fans bucked the reputation that they don't support their team by selling out six of the seven home games this past season.

The atmosphere at every home game (save the season opener against San Jose State when the bulk of the students still weren't on campus) was fantastic and the fan support was great throughout the year.

But the best single-game atmosphere this season belongs to the fans of Troy. And, in all due fairness, the Stanford fans who made the pilgrimage to USC in late October.

Naturally, the biggest game of the season to that point for both teams drew a vocal 93,607 to the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. And the fact that the game was nip and tuck made the environment absolutely electric.

When Curtis McNeal put together touchdown runs of 61 and 25 yards in the third quarter to give USC the lead, it was pure madness. And then Nickell Robey's 33-yard pick-six with 3:08 left in the game that put the Trojans ahead brought the crowd to a deafening frenzy.

Over the public address system, there were warnings not to rush the field after the game -- a sure sign that fans were expecting the upset victory. Stanford safety Michael Thomas would later say that he and the rest of the team heard the announcement and took exception.

Each touchdown in overtime brought the fans -- and those on deadline in the press box -- to madness. And when A.J. Tarpley recovered the fumble in the end zone to end the game, a collective gasp went out, followed by silence, except for a small sliver of fans dressed in Cardinal.

Stanford fans did a great job this year supporting their team, but nothing this season matched the thrill and excitement at USC on Oct. 29.

First year or fifth year, it makes no difference. If you can play, you can play.

That's the philosophy of Stanford head coach David Shaw, who is starting his second offseason running the show at his alma mater.

And with several big-name players giving committing to Stanford, it's worth exploring which ones might play right away next season by examining who got in this year.

Of course, due to NCAA regulations, Shaw is not allowed to comment on any individual players until after the pomp and circumstance of signing day. But Shaw did say that he'll evaluate every player who comes in to the system and if they can compete immediately, they will.

"It's player-by-player, and there is no set rule," Shaw said. "If a guy is physically, mentally and emotionally ready to help us than that opportunity is there for them."

We saw several true freshman take the field for Stanford this season -- specifically wide receiver Ty Montgomery, linebacker James Vaughters, safety Jordan Richards and cornerback Wayne Lyons, before he hurt his foot and missed the majority of the season.

Some coaches live and die by a strict redshirt policy. That's not the case with Shaw, who has shown he'll use true freshmen to bolster depth.

Montgomery emerged -- slowly at first -- and then following the series of concussions to Chris Owusu, he leapt into the starting role and became a major contributor on offense down the stretch.

Lyons was working his way into the cornerback rotation early in the season before injuring his foot.

Vaughters saw a healthy amount of playing time -- specifically as a third-down pass-rusher. But even when Shayne Skov went down with a knee injury, Shaw said he wouldn't accelerate Vaughter's growth and give him responsibilities that he wasn't ready for.

In the case of Richards, he saw his playing time increase when Delano Howell missed time with a hand injury.

Player-by-player basis.

Naturally, the bulk of Stanford's freshmen redshirt -- that's the nature of college football. Most players aren't physically or mentally mature enough to contribute right away.

"Some guys aren't excited about it because they think they're ready, and they're not," Shaw said. "Other guys are really ready and we don't have a position for them and it's not worth missing that extra year for one or two plays."

That could be the case next season with, say, Noor Davis, considered by many to be the top outside linebacker in the nation. With Chase Thomas returning for another season and Trent Murphy coming off a fantastic year, it's not ikely Davis is going to overtake either of them. But he could be used like Vaughters, on pass-rush situations and to add depth in the case of injury. Or he could redshirt and get three or four good years after gaining strength for another season.

Stanford's other highly-touted recruit, running back Barry Sanders, could be in the mix right away, or could sit for a season behind the rotation of Stepfan Taylor, Tyler Gaffney and Anthony Wilkerson.

We won't know for sure until we've seen them in camp -- and until the coaches are allowed to comment on them.

"There are a lot of things that come in to play," Shaw said. "It's definitely a player-by-player situation, and we're not going to rush anyone who isn't ready. But if they are, we'll find a way to play them."

Catching up on Stanford football news over the long weekend.

• Andrew Luck has signed with the Wasserman Media Group.
• A top 50 breakdown of the upcoming NFL draft that has Stanford's big three in the top 11 and Coby Fleener at No. 44.
• This mock draft has Fleener going at No. 24.
• In the winners and losers of players leaving early, Stanford falls in the loss column.
• Some Pac-12 recruiting updates.

It was a big recruiting weekend for Stanford -- literally. The Cardinal hosted a trio of big-time linemen, including offensive linemen Joshua Garnett (Puyallup, Wash.) and Kyle Murphy (San Clemente, Calif.) and defensive lineman Aziz Shittu (Atwater, Calif.). ESPN.com's Greg Biggins recapped the visits from all three players.

Here's the recap on Garnett.

Garnett said he's still deciding between Stanford, Michigan and Notre Dame and will make his announcement on Jan. 26.

Here's what Garnett had to say about his visit:

There was a good group of committed players there and we all got along really well. With Stanford, it's a unique place and the people that are there are not just great athletes but great students as well. You kind of feel like you're around other football players that are just like you when you're at Stanford and that's a cool feeling. They're looking at me as a guard and Stanford has a very good OL class already and I know if I went there, I could be part of something pretty special.

Here's the write-up on Murphy , who has in-home visits with Oregon, USC and Stanford still on his docket.

This was my fourth time visiting Stanford, so I already had a real good feel for the place. Every time that I visited or even on my home visit, the coaches were able to break things down for me in terms of how I fit in with the team and the offensive line. They see me as a tackle, right or left, and said I would have a chance to compete for playing time if I'm ready.

Murphy also said rumors of his commitment to Stanford last week were untrue.

Here's the breakdown of Shittu's visit from Biggins .

He's considered one of the nation's top defensive tackle prospects. He said he won't announce until signing day and he's deciding between Stanford, Cal, USC and UCLA.

I had a real nice time. I've already been to Stanford about 10 times so I was really familiar with the campus, the coaches and basically the overall plan for me. This weekend was about hanging out with the players on the team and some of the recruits as well. I wanted to see how I fit in with those guys and how comfortable I would be and I had a lot of fun for sure -- they have a great group of guys at Stanford.

Alabama has contacted Stanford offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton about taking the same job with the Crimson Tide, a source close to Hamilton has confirmed.

Through a Stanford spokesperson, Hamilton declined comment, though the source said that only contact has been made and no interview has been scheduled. The source did not indicate whether the interest was mutual.

Alabama is looking to replace Jim McElwain, who is leaving to become the head coach at Colorado State.

Washington offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier has also been linked to the position and is reportedly the favorite.

Hamilton joined the Stanford staff in 2010 as the wide receivers coach before assuming offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach duties this past season in David Shaw's first year as head coach. He spent the previous decade working with several NFL teams on the offensive side of the ball — specifically as a quarterbacks coach.

Hamilton is one of the architects of Stanford's current offensive scheme that ranked eighth nationally in total offense and seventh in scoring offense this past season. On more than one occasion, Shaw has referred to Hamilton as a "guru" when it comes to red-zone play calling. The Cardinal led the nation in red-zone efficiency this past year, scoring on 67-of-69 trips (97 percent) inside the opponent's 20-yard line.

"He's a great person and a great offensive mind," the source said. "He's going to make a great head coach someday."

Alex Scarborough, who covers Alabama for ESPN.com's Tide Nation contributed to this report.

If 2011 was the season of learning for Stanford linebacker Jarek Lancaster, then the Fiesta Bowl against Oklahoma State was graduation. And the first-year starter walked away with defensive valedictorian honors. In a game that wasn't exactly overflowing with defensive bright spots -- for either team for that matter -- Lancaster was one of the few defenders who stood out.

"He made a lot of plays," said head coach David Shaw. "He was physical. In a game where we missed some tackles on defense, he was as sure a tackler as there was in space. He made big-time stops at big times. It's how the season went for him. We ask him to do more and he steps up and does more."

And more is on the way, both in the production and expectation departments. The third-year sophomore admits that when he first stepped in to the starting inside linebacker spot following Shayne Skov's injury, there were plenty of jitters. But he also knew that in time, they would pass.

"When you first get thrust into a starting position, you want to think you'll get better and believe you have the potential to get to another level," Lancaster said. "When I first got in there, the game seemed really fast and I wasn't as comfortable as I am now. It's been real nice to see the game slow down in front of my eyes and be able to feel more confident when I'm in there."

And confidence wasn't a problem in the Fiesta Bowl, where he matched senior safety Delano Howell for the team high in tackles with seven.

"I felt like I played pretty well with the open-field tackles, because they are a speed team," Lancaster said. "They didn't really run the ball, which is something you want to do -- make them one-dimensional. They were the better team that night, but overall I thought I played pretty well."

So next season, there won't be any excuses. No first-year starter excuses to fall back on. Not that Lancaster did anyway. But the better he plays, the better he will be expected to play.

"His open-field tackling was outstanding," said co-defensive coordinator Jason Tarver. "They were big-time drive-stoppers for us. I was really excited about that. I was happy to see him do that. After a long season and starting on two special teams and playing almost every snap on defense, he worked through everything in his first year starting and his production per play was very good.

"I can't wait to see him progress. We were already talking about certain areas where he needs to grow right after the game and on the way home. He put a lot of good things on film. Jarek's a pretty amazing kid and he has a great ability to stay in the moment."

Despite leading the Cardinal with 70 tackles this season, Lancaster had just one sack on the year. That's something he said will be a major point of emphasis in the offseason.

"I need to get better at my pass rush," Lancaster said. "Maybe I can get some hands, too, so I can get a pick next season."

Is A.J. Tarpley, the other starting inside linebacker, giving him a hard time because he has a pick?

"Yeah, a little bit," Lancaster joked. "I need to fix that."