Jared Newberry didn’t expect this.
Five years ago, Stanford’s football team was headed to the
Rose Bowl and Newberry hoped to become the linebacker that kept the
Cardinal atop the Pac-10 conference.
But since that time, Newberry has gone through a whirlwind
experience that has mirrored Stanford’s program.
Despite the change and uncertainty, the Cardinal has stayed
afloat, and Newberry is as big a reason as any.
In his five years at Stanford, Newberry has weathered changes in
coaches, positions and defensive alignments.
“It was kind of hard at first,” Newberry said of his
transition from linebacker to fullback as a redshirt freshman.
“Nobody wants to change at first, but it was best for the
team.”
Coach Tyrone Willingham’s decision to move Newberry to the
offense was mostly out of need, since the Cardinal had three senior
linebackers and just one fullback during the 2001 season.
But as the Cardinal’s needs changed the following year, so
did Newberry’s role, and he returned to his natural
linebacking position his sophomore season.
“I really wanted to get back on the defensive side,”
Newberry said. “You can be more aggressive playing
linebacker. On offense, each play is a given and you know what you
have to do. On defense, you’re responding more.”
Unfortunately for Newberry, the switch coincided with
Stanford’s plunge from a nine-win season to a conference
doormat. There were few similarities between the two squads, and
the most noticeable difference was Willingham’s departure and
the hiring of current coach Buddy Teevens.
“Some of the guys felt betrayed,” Newberry recalled
of his former coach’s decision to leave for Notre Dame.
“They had a really strong relationship with him.”
During the last two seasons, Newberry’s accomplishments
were always overshadowed by the team’s shortcomings and
turmoil surrounding the head coach. Individually, the walk-on had
earned a starting position and by his second year had become the
team’s second-leading tackler. But even as he began meeting
his personal expectations, the goals he once envisioned for the
team remained unfulfilled.
“It’s been tough,” Newberry said. “You
never look to go out there and then struggle the way we
have.”
Heading into his final season, Newberry’s tumultuous
career was thrown for another loop. With the Cardinal implementing
a 3-4 defense this year, Newberry must play closer to a defensive
end’s role. Because the formation limits an outside
linebacker’s ability to roam the field, Newberry has seen his
number of tackles fall. But, at the same time, the Cardinal defense
as a whole has improved, limiting its opponents to 16.1 points per
game.
“It’s very productive for our defense,”
Newberry said of the new alignment. “We have some very fast
and strong guys on the field and it’s shown by some of the
things this lets us do.”
The Cardinal is not the first team to have boasted a stingy
defense heading into a game against UCLA. However, not one of those
teams lived up to their reputation against the Bruins’ potent
offense. Stanford’s ability to retain its impressive
defensive statistics will largely fall on Newberry, who will likely
be matched up against Bruin tight end Marcedes Lewis.
“They put up a lot of points and yards and this tight end
is the biggest pass threat I’ve faced,” Newberry
said.
The respect Newberry gives UCLA’s offense is paralleled by
the respect the Bruins’ offense gives the Cardinal. With
Stanford operating one of the few 3-4 defenses in college football,
the Bruins acknowledge they will have to make some adjustments.
“They present some problems since it’s a different
defense we don’t normally see,” quarterback Drew Olson
said. “So our o-line and backs have their hands
full.”
But the greatest adjustments for the Cardinal in
Saturday’s game have already been made. And one needs only to
look at Newberry to see where.