Cruelty is the Absence of Character

Probably more than any team in the country, the Stanford Cardinal have taken on the character and personality of their coach. Jim Harbaugh has made his imprint on the Cardinal, who like to say they win with "character and cruelty."

Harbaugh adds a third element: contentiousness. Early on after being hired at Stanford in 2007 he invited controversy by publicly declaring Pete Carroll was exiting USC at the end of the year (Carroll did leave, but not for another two seasons.) His first year as head coach the Cardinal went 4-8, but with wins over the Trojans (as a 41-point underdog, the biggest upset ever in terms of point spread overcome) and arch rival Cal. Last year, his third season at Palo Alto, they rose to 8-5 and a bowl berth, with three wins over ranked opponents, including 51-42 over the number 7 Ducks.

Along the way he's ruffled a few feathers, most of them intentionally. He went for two against the Trojans up 27 in the fourth quarter, he iced the kicker against Wake Forest leading by 34, challenged an official's ruling on a fumble leading by 44, and last week at Notre Dame he tacked on a field goal leading by 20 with 1:29 to play.

The two-point conversion against USC led to the now famous exchange during the midfield handshake, Carroll greeting Harbaugh with, "What's your deal?" to which Harbaugh shot back, "What's YOUR deal?" The phrase is this year's Stanford football marketing slogan, and the Cardinal's deal appears to be, they want to win, but they also want the opportunity to rub your nose in it a little along the way.

Harbaugh has succeed in infusing his team with the trademark brand of toughness he learned first from his dad, a football coach for 41 years, and then playing for Bo Schemblecher at Michigan and Mike Ditka in the NFL. His Cardinal team sometimes runs 8-man lines with extra tackles at slot back and tight end. They are the anti-Ducks, in some ways. While everyone else is spreading the field and running PlayStation offenses the Cardinal play old school electric football, with all the players wedged in tight and tailback running right at you. They play with attitude in traditional uniforms, and Harbaugh's favorite player is his two-way fullback/linebacker Owen Marecic, a Jesuit High product from Portland, whom he calls "a true throwback." Harbaugh embraces modernity in other ways, like tweeting Michelle Wie.

The Cardinals are throwbacks, a team a traditionalist would love, with a hard-nosed attitude and a 4-0 record. They rolled Notre Dame 37-14 in Notre Dame stadium, pounded Wake Forest 68-24, embarrassed UCLA 35-0 in Pasadena, and steamrolled hapless Sacramento State 52-17 in their opener. Their quarterback Andrew Luck is the likely first pick in next spring's NFL draft. He torched Oregon last fall with big gains, and so far this year he has 11 tds against two interceptions. 6-4, 235, the son of a former NFL quarterback, Luck has good mobility and a strong arm, though he wasn't particularly sharp against Notre Dame.

But the Ducks weren't particularly sharp in beating ASU, and the thinking by many is they could be in trouble against the smashmouth Cardinal. Luck is light years ahead of Stephen Threet, and Threet and the Sun Devils ran and passed the Duck defense silly. Arizona's fast, pressure defense frustrated Oregon's offense, and the Cardinal are hard hitting and physical and playing with a Harbaugh-sized chip on the shoulder.

Fortunately, the Ducks have a Chip of their own on the sidelines. This game feels a little like the week leading up to last year's Cal game. Last season the Ducks had looked uneven in their early wins, and there were a lot of question marks about whether Oregon could match up with the talented, athletic, physical Bears. Oregon has many adjustments to make this week, some holes to plug, and an offense to tune up. But they also have a formidable home crowd and a hard-nosed attitude of their own. Cruelty won't win this football game. But character might.