1982 Stanford Cardinal football team


The 1982 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season. This was the first year the team was called the singular Cardinal, representing the color; from 1972 to 1981, the team was referred to as the Cardinals.

Regular season

Blessed with All-America quarterback John Elway, the 1982 Cardinal were exciting - 7 of its 11 games were decided in the 4th quarter - but maddeningly erratic:
After a hard-fought 38-35 loss at Rose Bowl-bound and 12th-ranked UCLA in week 10, the Cardinal would travel to Berkeley for its eleventh game.
John Elway's last football game at Stanford was one of the most famous games of all time, the 1982 Big Game versus rival California, which ended with "The Play." It was a play with five backward lateral passes that allowed Cal to win the game.
After that game, Elway congratulated the trombone player that got run over. Although Elway never led his team to a bowl game, he had an accomplished college career. In his four seasons at Stanford, he completed 774 passes for 9,349 yards and 77 touchdowns. Stanford had a 20–23 record during his tenure. Elway's 24 touchdown passes in 1982 led the nation, and he graduated with nearly every Stanford and Pacific-10 career record for passing and total offense.
He 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 as a senior.

Schedule

Roster

Coaching staff

at Purdue

San Jose State

at Ohio State

threw for 407 yards and 2 touchdowns, including the game-winner to Emile Harry with 34 seconds remaining.

Oregon State

at Arizona State

USC

at Washington State

Washington

Arizona

at UCLA

at California

Team players in the NFL

PlayerPositionRoundPickNFL Club
John ElwayQuarterback11Baltimore Colts
Chris DresselTight End369Houston Oilers
Vincent WhiteRunning Back6163New York Jets
Mike DottererRunning Back8222Los Angeles Raiders
Chris RoseTackle9241Baltimore Colts

Awards and honors