Conference Pacific-10 Conference Head coach Paul Wiggin (3rd year) | 1982 record 5–6 (3–5 Pac-10) Offensive coordinator Jim Fassel (2nd year) | |
Defensive coordinator Larry Mac Duff (1st year) Home stadium Stanford Stadium
(c. 85,500, grass) | ||
The 1982 Stanford Cardinal football team represented Stanford University in the 1982 NCAA Division I-A football season. This was the first year the team was called the singular Cardinal, representing the color; from 1972 to 1981, the team was referred to as the Cardinals.
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Regular season
John Elway's last football game at Stanford was one of the most famous games of all time, the 1982 Big Game versus rival California, which ended with "The Play." It was a play with five lateral passes that allowed Cal to win the game.
After that game, Elway congratulated the trombone player that got run over. Although Elway never led his team to a bowl game, he had an accomplished college career. In his four seasons (1979–1982) at Stanford, he completed 774 passes for 9,349 yards and 77 touchdowns. Stanford had a 20–23 record during his tenure. Elway's 24 touchdown passes in 1982 led the nation, and he graduated with nearly every Stanford and Pacific-10 career record for passing and total offense.
He won Pac-10 Player of the Year honors for the second time in 1982, and was a consensus All-American. In addition, he finished second in Heisman Trophy balloting as a senior.