Pac-10 Preview | Harbaugh talking good talk at Stanford

The statement might have been the most inflammatory thing Jim Harbaugh has said in his brief stint as Stanford's head football coach.

No, not that he expects this to be Pete Carroll's last season at USC. He said exactly that a few months ago, saying he heard it from someone "inside the staff," earning the enmity of Carroll along the way.

And, no, not his more recent statement that his alma mater, Michigan, doesn't really deserve its highfalutin academic image. Harbaugh contends Michigan, like a lot of schools, steers players into athlete-friendly majors.

No, what really caught some off guard was his insistence at Pac-10 media day that he expects to win a few games with the Cardinal this season.

"We will take that team and play UCLA on Sept. 1, and we will expect to win," Harbaugh declared.

No one else will, however. Stanford threatened last season to become the first Pac-10 team to go winless since the 1981 Oregon State Beavers before pulling off an astonishing upset of Washington at Husky Stadium in Week 10.

But that victory was a mirage in a season in which the Cardinal was outscored 274-74 in nine conference games. Walt Harris was fired after only two seasons.

Stanford athletic director Bob Bowlsby took something of a gamble in hiring Harbaugh, a former star quarterback at Michigan and a veteran of 15 years in the NFL, to replace Harris.

Harbaugh has just three years of coaching experience, none at the I-A level, though he did plant himself as an up-and-comer by leading I-AA San Diego to consecutive 11-1 seasons the past two years. Harbaugh further shook convention by filling his staff with a lot of his USD assistants and others from lower-division ranks.

But Harbaugh's enthusiasm appears to strike the right chord with players who didn't respond as well to Harris' old-school ways, especially a group of 19 seniors that sounds determined to leave on a better note.

"We're trying to put together something right now as seniors and people in leadership positions to get more accountability and raise the expectations of what it means to be a Stanford football player," said quarterback T.C. Ostrander.

Ostrander started the last five games last season, including the win at Washington, and will be No. 1 again. . Harbaugh plans to implement his own version of the West Coast offense around Ostrander and receivers who figure to be the strength of the team.

Sophomore Richard Sherman showed his potential by catching six passes for 177 yards against the Huskies. He will be flanked by seniors Mark Bradford and Evan Moore, who each decided to return for another season after the coaching change.

Stanford returns nine starters on offense, which engenders some hope. But the line is shaky, having allowed an NCAA-most 50 sacks last season, and Harbaugh has to try to find a way to revive a rushing attack that ranked 115th in the nation last year, averaging 65.1 yards.

Defensively, Harbaugh is switching Stanford back to a 4-3. There's decent talent up front, notably mammoth junior tackle Ekom Udofia (6 feet 2, 310 pounds), though the secondary is thin.

What Stanford fans would like most this season is at least one win at home. The school christened a rebuilt Stanford Stadium last season only to see the Cardinal get blown out in all five home games, losing each by at least 13 points.

Harbaugh, though, is expecting more.

"I don't temper the enthusiasm that we have for this season," he said. "We're ready to kick this thing off. As far as having a crystal ball for how many games we are going to win, I don't have one. But what we are trying to do is get better every single day."

Bob Condotta: 206-515-5699 or bcondotta@seattletimes.com. Read his blogs on Washington football and basketball at www.seattletimes.com/huskies