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2012 Stanford

12–⁠2 (8–⁠1 Pac-12), coached by David Shaw, finished No. 7 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Stanford in 2012, game by game: won vs. San José State 20–17; won vs. Duke 50–13; won vs. No. 2 USC 21–14; lost at Washington 13–17; won vs. Arizona 54–48; lost at No. 7 Notre Dame 13–20; won at California 21–3; won vs. Washington State 24–17; won at Colorado 48–0; won vs. No. 13 Oregon State 27–23; won at No. 1 Oregon 17–14; won at No. 15 UCLA 35–17; won vs. No. 17 UCLA 27–24; won vs. Wisconsin 20–14+48−7Won 20–17 vs. San José State+3San José StateWon 50–13 vs. Duke+37DukeWon 21–14 vs. No. 2 USC+7No. 2 USCLost 13–17 at Washington-4WashingtonWon 54–48 vs. Arizona+6ArizonaLost 13–20 at No. 7 Notre Dame-7No. 7 Notre DameWon 21–3 at California+18CaliforniaWon 24–17 vs. Washington State+7Washington StateWon 48–0 at Colorado+48ColoradoWon 27–23 vs. No. 13 Oregon State+4No. 13 Oregon StateWon 17–14 at No. 1 Oregon+3No. 1 OregonWon 35–17 at No. 15 UCLA+18No. 15 UCLAWon 27–24 vs. No. 17 UCLA+3No. 17 UCLAWon 20–14 vs. Wisconsin+6Wisconsin
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31vsSan José StateW 20–⁠1786%
Sep 8vsDukeW 50–⁠1384%
Sep 15vs2USCW 21–⁠1461%
Sep 27atWashingtonL 13–⁠1766%
Oct 6vsArizonaW 54–⁠4877%
Oct 13at7Notre DameL 13–⁠2040%
Oct 20atCaliforniaW 21–⁠364%
Oct 27vsWashington StateW 24–⁠1790%
Nov 3atColoradoW 48–⁠086%
Nov 10vs13Oregon StateW 27–⁠2371%
Nov 17at1OregonW 17–⁠1428%
Nov 24at15UCLAW 35–⁠1760%
Nov 30vs17UCLAPac-12 Championship GameW 27–⁠2473%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvsWisconsinRose BowlW 20–⁠1461%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Wisconsin 20–⁠14 in the Rose Bowl; No. 7 in the final AP poll; Pac-12 champions.

In program history: The 2nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 109 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 21
  2. Wk 2: 25
  3. Wk 3: 21
  4. Wk 4: 9
  5. Wk 5: 8
  6. Wk 6: 18
  7. Wk 7: 17
  8. Wk 8: 22
  9. Wk 9: 19
  10. Wk 10: 15
  11. Wk 11: 16
  12. Wk 12: 14
  13. Wk 13: 11
  14. Wk 14: 8
  15. Wk 15: 8
  16. Final: 7

Pac-12 champions8–⁠1 in the conference, won the Pac-12 Championship Game

2 consensus All-AmericansZach Ertz, TE; David Yankey, OL

Record
12–⁠2
Conference
8–⁠1 shared first in Pac-12
AP final
No. 7 peak No. 7
Points
390–⁠241
Coach
David Shaw
Elo
1786 +108 this season
SP+ rating
15.3 No. 22 of 124; offense No. 56, defense No. 7, special teams No. 48
SRS
14.6 No. 13 of 124 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 7
Offensive coordinator
Pep Hamilton
Defensive coordinator
Derek Mason
Captains
Chase Thomas, Stepfan Taylor and Sam Schwartzstein
Offense
West Coast
Defense
3–⁠4

How good, play by play

  • Offense67th of 124
  • Defense31st of 124
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted59th of 124
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted20th of 124
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0540%0.9167th of 124
Defense0.0237%1.0131st of 124
Opponent-adjusted0.06 off
0.02 def		40% off
37% def		—59th off
20th def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 312% allowed
Defense-0.6own 262% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsJosh Nunes QB1,643 yds
Passing touchdownsJosh Nunes QB10 TD
Rushing yardsStepfan Taylor RB1,530 yds
Rushing touchdownsStepfan Taylor RB13 TD
Receiving yardsZach Ertz TE898 yds
Receiving touchdownsZach Ertz TE6 TD
InterceptionsJordan Richards 3 INT

Top recruits in the 2012 class

Kyle Murphy OT★★★★★No. 11
Andrus Peat OT★★★★★No. 31
Joshua Garnett OG★★★★No. 38
Noor Davis OLB★★★★No. 58
Alex Carter S★★★★No. 66
Barry J. Sanders APB★★★★No. 84
Aziz Shittu DT★★★★No. 93
Luke Kaumatule SDE★★★★No. 246

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2012 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs14.00.961
Receivers43.00.852
Offensive line74.00.928
Defensive line53.60.906
Linebackers23.50.916
Defensive backs33.30.895
Whole class223.60.905

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2013

The 2013 draft
Rd 2Zach Ertz TEPhiladelphia Eagles
Rd 4Levine Toilolo TEAtlanta Falcons
Rd 5Stepfan Taylor RBArizona Cardinals

Roster 122

The 2012 roster

122 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2012 line; 34 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Pac-12

10 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 2012 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2012 Pac-12 standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Oregon8–⁠112–⁠12
Stanford8–⁠112–⁠27
Oregon State6–⁠39–⁠420
UCLA6–⁠39–⁠5
Arizona State5–⁠48–⁠5
USC5–⁠47–⁠6
Washington5–⁠47–⁠6
Arizona4–⁠58–⁠5
Utah3–⁠65–⁠7
California2–⁠73–⁠9
Washington State1–⁠83–⁠9
Colorado1–⁠81–⁠11

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