1986 Stanford Cardinal football team

1986 Stanford Cardinal football
Gator Bowl, L 21–27 vs. Clemson
Conference	Pacific-10 Conference
Record	8–4 (5–3 Pac-10)
Head coach	Jack Elway (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	West Coast
Defensive coordinator	Dick Mannini (3rd season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Stanford Stadium
Seasons ←  1985 1987  →

1986 Pacific-10 Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Arizona State $	5	–	1	–	1			10	–	1	–	1
No. 14 UCLA	5	–	2	–	1			8	–	3	–	1
No. 18 Washington	5	–	2	–	1			8	–	3	–	1
No. 11 Arizona	5	–	3	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Stanford	5	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
USC	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Oregon	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Washington State	2	–	6	–	1			3	–	7	–	1
California	2	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Oregon State	1	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1986 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. In head coach Jack Elway's third season at Stanford, the Cardinal had its first winning season since 1980 and received its first post-season bowl invitation since 1978. ^{[1] [2]}

The team played their home games at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California and competed in the Pacific-10 Conference.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 13	at Texas *		Texas Memorial Stadium Austin, TX		W 31–20	74,372	[3]
September 20	San Jose State *		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)		W 28–10	64,950	[4]
September 27	at Oregon State		Parker Stadium Corvallis, OR		W 17–7	21,125	[5]
October 4	San Diego State *		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		W 17–10	36,500	[6]
October 11	No. 12 Washington	No. 18	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	TBS	L 24–14	52,000	[7]
October 18	at Oregon		Autzen Stadium Eugene, OR		W 41–7	28,226	[8]
October 25	USC	No. 19	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA (rivalry)	CBS	L 0–10	73,500	[9]
November 1	Washington State		Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA		W 42–12	35,000	[10]
November 8	at No. 12 UCLA		Rose Bowl Pasadena, CA	CBS	W 28–23	68,857	[11]
November 22	at California	No. 16	California Memorial Stadium Berkeley, CA (Big Game)		L 11–17	75,662	[12]
November 30	vs. No. 12 Arizona		National Stadium Tokyo, Japan (Coca-Cola Classic)	ESPN	W 29–24	55,000	[13]
December 27	vs. No. 21 Clemson *	No. 20	Gator Bowl Stadium Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl)	CBS	L 21–27	80,104	[14]
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Game summaries

At California

See also: 1986 California Golden Bears football team and Big Game (American football)

Stanford Cardinal at California Golden Bears

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Stanford	0	3	0	8	11
California	0	10	0	7	17

at California Memorial Stadium, Berkeley, California

• Date: November 22, 1986
• Game attendance: 75,662
• Eugene Register Guard, 1986 Nov 23.

Game information

Second quarter CAL – Leland Rix 34-yard field goal. California 3–0. Drive: CAL – Wendell Peoples 5-yard pass from Kevin Brown (Leland Rix kick). California 10–0. Drive: STAN – David Sweeney 48-yard field goal. California 10–3. Drive: Fourth quarter CAL – Mike Ford 47-yard run (Leland Rix kick), 7:36. California 17–3. Drive: STAN – Jeff James 69-yard pass from John Paye (pass good), 5:37. California 17–11. Drive: Top passers STAN – John Paye – 23/35, 224 yards, TD CAL – Kevin Brown – 15/23, 221 yards, TD, 2 int Top rushers STAN – Brad Muster – 18 rushes, 59 yards CAL – Mike Ford – 1 rush, 47 yards, TD Top receivers STAN – Jeff James – 7 receptions, 138 yards, TD CAL – James Devers – 7 receptions, 99 yards

Roster

1986 Stanford Cardinal football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OL Robbie Coffin RB Marshall Dillard QB Greg Ennis RB Scott Eschelman WR Thomas Henley Sr WR Jeff James Jr OL Kurt Josephson TE Craig Landis OL John Mahoney OL Jeff Marchin So WR 40 Ed McCaffrey Fr RB Brian Morris WR Carl Morris RB 25 Brad Muster Jr OL Tom Nye Sr OL Andy Papathanassiou QB 14 John Paye Sr TE Jim Price RB Kevin R. Scott Sr OL Andy Sinclair So TE Eric Snelson Jr OL John Zentner So	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB Darron Bennett LB Kurt Colehower Jr DB Toi Cook DB Walt Harris Sr DB Brad Humphreys Jr CB Pat Kelly So DL Tony Leiker Sr DL Joe Lortie LB Barry McKeever So LB Mike Noble DB Bruce Richardson LB Kevin Richardson DL Eric Volta LB Chris Weber Sr LB 92 Dave Wyman Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P Doug Robison K David Sweeney	Head coach Jack Elway (3rd year) Coordinators/assistant coaches Jimmy Walsh –Running back Dave Baldwin –Wide receiver Otto Kofler –Tight end Steve Axman –Offensive line Dick Mannini –Defensive Coordinator & defensive line Larry Kerr –Inside linebacker Jack Gilmete –Outside Linebacker Sonny Lubick –Secondary Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

^[15]

1987 NFL draft

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Dave Wyman	Linebacker	2	45	Seattle Seahawks
Thomas Henley	Wide receiver	6	152	New Orleans Saints
Tony Leiker	Defensive end	7	172	Green Bay Packers
Toi Cook	Running back	8	207	New Orleans Saints
John Paye	Quarterback	10	275	San Francisco 49ers

^[16]

References

1. "Stanford Game-by-Game Results; 1986–1990". College Football Data Warehouse. Archived from the original on January 18, 2013. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
2. "1986 AP Football Poll". CollegePollArchive.com. Retrieved September 12, 2012.
3. "Horns' new look not a pretty sight". The Victoria Advocate. September 14, 1986. Retrieved April 21, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
4. "Stanford sloppy in 28–10 win". The San Francisco Examiner. September 21, 1986. Retrieved April 21, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
5. "Stanford defense beats OSU". The Peninsula Times Tribune. September 28, 1986. Retrieved April 21, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
6. "Game At A Glance". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. October 5, 1986. p. III-12. Retrieved January 18, 2017– via Newspapers.com.
7. "Stanford throws away victory". The Sacramento Bee. October 12, 1986. Retrieved April 21, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
8. "Cardinal Musters victory over Ducks". The San Francisco Examiner. October 19, 1986. Retrieved April 21, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
9. "USC finds a way to stop Paye, wins". The Daily Breeze. October 26, 1986. Retrieved April 21, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
10. "Cougars can't pass Muster". The Spokesman-Review. November 2, 1986. Retrieved April 21, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
11. "Paye passes Stanford past 12th-rated UCLA". San Angelo Standard-Times. November 9, 1986. Retrieved April 21, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
12. "Cal's 17–11 upset of Stanford gives Kapp quite a lift". The Los Angeles Times. November 23, 1986. Retrieved April 21, 2025– via Newspapers.com.
13. "Stanford holds on for victory". Record Searchlight. December 1, 1986. Retrieved January 18, 2023– via Newspapers.com.
14. "Stanford's big ending fizzles". The San Francisco Examiner. December 28, 1986. Retrieved January 31, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
15. "Starting lineups". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). October 18, 1986. p. 2C.
16. "1987 NFL Draft Listing - Pro-Football-Reference.com". Archived from the original on December 21, 2007.