CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

1986 Stanford

8–⁠4 (5–⁠3 Pac-10), coached by Jack Elway.

Schedule and results

Stanford in 1986, game by game: won at Texas 31–20; won vs. San José State 28–10; won at Oregon State 17–7; won vs. San Diego State 17–10; lost vs. No. 12 Washington 14–24; won at Oregon 41–7; lost vs. USC 0–10; won vs. Washington State 42–12; won at No. 12 UCLA 28–23; lost at California 11–17; won vs. No. 12 Arizona 29–24; lost vs. Clemson 21–27+34−10Won 31–20 at Texas+11TexasWon 28–10 vs. San José State+18San José StateWon 17–7 at Oregon State+10Oregon StateWon 17–10 vs. San Diego State+7San Diego StateLost 14–24 vs. No. 12 Washington-10No. 12 WashingtonWon 41–7 at Oregon+34OregonLost 0–10 vs. USC-10USCWon 42–12 vs. Washington State+30Washington StateWon 28–23 at No. 12 UCLA+5No. 12 UCLALost 11–17 at California-6CaliforniaWon 29–24 vs. No. 12 Arizona+5No. 12 ArizonaLost 21–27 vs. Clemson-6Clemson
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 13atTexasW 31–⁠2030%
Sep 20vsSan José StateW 28–⁠1066%
Sep 27atOregon StateW 17–⁠767%
Oct 4vsSan Diego StateW 17–⁠1061%
Oct 11vs12WashingtonL 14–⁠2445%
Oct 18atOregonW 41–⁠754%
Oct 25vsUSCL 0–⁠1059%
Nov 1vsWashington StateW 42–⁠1262%
Nov 8at12UCLAW 28–⁠2325%
Nov 22atCaliforniaL 11–⁠1776%
Nov 30vs12ArizonaW 29–⁠2433%
Dec 27Bowls & playoffvsClemsonGator BowlL 21–⁠2744%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Clemson 27–⁠21 in the Gator Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Pac-10.

In program history: The 45th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 109 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 6: 18
  2. Wk 8: 19
  3. Wk 11: 16
  4. Wk 12: 16
  5. Wk 14: 20

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1986.

Consensus All-AmericanBrad Muster, RB

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in Pac-10
AP final
Unranked peak No. 16
Points
279–⁠191
Coach
Jack Elway
Elo
1561 +99 this season
SP+ rating
17.3 No. 17 of 101; offense No. 37, defense No. 9
SRS
14.8 No. 15 of 105 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Dick Mannini
Offense
West Coast
Defense
4–⁠3

Drafted in 1987

The 1987 draft
Rd 2David Wyman LBSeattle Seahawks
Rd 6Thomas Henley WRNew Orleans Saints
Rd 7Tony Leiker DTGreen Bay Packers

All-Pac-10

4 first team, 5 second team

First team

Second team

  • John PayeQBCoaches-2
  • Jeff JamesWRCoaches-2
  • Andy SinclairCCoaches-2
  • Toi CookDBCoaches-2
  • Walt HarrisDBCoaches-2

From Wikipedia’s 1986 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1986 Pac-10 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Arizona State5–⁠1–⁠110–⁠1–⁠14
Washington5–⁠2–⁠18–⁠3–⁠118
UCLA5–⁠2–⁠18–⁠3–⁠114
Arizona5–⁠39–⁠311
Stanford5–⁠38–⁠4
USC5–⁠37–⁠5
Oregon3–⁠55–⁠6
Washington State2–⁠6–⁠13–⁠7–⁠1
California2–⁠72–⁠9
Oregon State1–⁠63–⁠8

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.