By Glenn Reeves, STAFF WRITER
Stanford coach Walt Harris often laments his team's lack of depth. On more than one occasion this season he has said: "We have good players, just not enough of them." That's what makes what happened last Saturday against Oregon State all the more remarkable. Stanford won 20-17 to go into Saturday's Big Game one win away from a winning season and bowl eligibility. And yet at the end of the game Stanford (5-4, 4-3 Pac-10) was playing an offense minus every single starting skill-position player. Quarterback Trent Edwards went out with an injured hand for the second time this season. He took a couple of blows to his left, non-throwing hard, causing it to swell so much he couldn't take a snap from center. The swelling has gone down as this week progressed, and Harris announced Thursday that Edwards would start against Cal. Evan Moore and Mark Bradford were the starting wide receivers at the start of the season. Moore suffered a dislocated hip in the season opener against Navy and is out for the season. Bradford suffered a sprained ankle early against UCLA, missed the USC game and did not start against Oregon State. Justin McCullum started in place of Bradford in Corvallis andhad a career first half, catching seven passes for 119 yards and both Stanford touchdowns. That was after catching nine passes for 138 yards in Bradford's absence the previous week against USC. But McCullum injured a shoulder late in the first half and didn't catch a pass in the second half, getting on the field for only a few plays. When McCullum went down, Bradford came on to replace him. He played most of the rest of the game but had only one pass thrown to him. (It fell incomplete). "It was really good just being out there and getting my legs back," said Bradford, whose injury against UCLA came the week after his own career game, nine catches for 185 yards in a 45-35 win over Arizona State. With Moore out and Bradford and McCullum hurting, Gerren Crochet, Stanford's fastest receiver, had one of his better games with five receptions for 77 yards. Crochet, a fifth-year senior, was the Colorado state champion in the 100 meters, 110 high hurdles and 300 intermediate hurdles in high school. But he hadn't received much playing time until this year. "During my whole career I tried to maintain my focus with a hard-work ethic and a sense of patience," Crochet said. "I always knew I'd get my chance." Bradford and McCullum hope to play against Cal. Amthony Kimble was Stanford's starter at running back until he hurt a knee against Arizona State and missed both the UCLA and USC games. He didn't start or finish the game against Oregon State but did see some action, carrying five times for 7 yards. Senior J.R. Lemon, who missed the first three games of the season with a quad strain, got most of the action against the Beavers, gaining 46 yards on 14 carries.
Fullback Nick Frank, a mainstay for Stanford this season, also went down early with an injury against Oregon State. Kris Bonifas got most of the second-half snaps in offensive sets that included a fullback. Matt Traverso, who started seven of the first eight games at tight end, also missed the Oregon State game with an injury. So how did a Stanford team lacking depth manage to win such an important road game with injuries at every skill position? "We have a lot of good players, that's what it means," McCullum said. "It was a great accomplishment by our players," Harris said. "The defense played huge in the second half. ... Doing it with so many players banged up made it all the more enjoyable and satisfying."
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