Stanford looks to improve on 40-point opening win

A 43-3 season-opening victory looks awfully good on paper, especially for a Stanford team that suffered a 4-7 season a year ago.

But coach Buddy Teevens couldn't allow himself to get euphoric about the Cardinal's lopsided win. That's because it came against lowly San Jose State.

Teevens realizes there's a lot of work yet to do in order to turn the program around, and he is looking for considerable improvement in Week 2.

"We play a challenging schedule, and we need to improve," Teevens said. "For the first one out of the blocks, there were some good things in all aspects of the game. But, I think we can do much better."

For Stanford, much tougher opponents lie ahead, beginning Saturday night, when the Cardinal hosts 1-0 BYU (8 p.m., Ch. 2).

This year's Stanford squad is expected to be the best in Teevens' three seasons at The Farm. Still, the Cardinal is picked to finish near the bottom of the Pac-10 standings.

Teevens is certainly counting on improvement from sophomore quarterback Trent Edwards. Rated as one of the top high school QBs in the country three years ago — along with Ben Olson, who signed with BYU and is now serving an LDS Church mission — Edwards made his first collegiate start last season against the Cougars as a redshirt freshman.

Edwards struggled against BYU, completing 10-of-23 passes for 25 yards and two interceptions. However, he ended up scoring the game-winning touchdown with 3:51 remaining on a 14-yard run, leading Stanford to an 18-14 triumph.

Three games later, he suffered a shoulder injury that limited his playing time the remainder of the year.

In last week's contest, Edwards completed 14-of-22 passes for 187 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. In the process, he may have discovered a new favorite receiver in 6-foot-7, 235-pound Evan Moore.

Moore caught four passes for 77 yards and two touchdowns. Matched up against a 5-9 defensive back, Moore hauled in a one-handed TD catch on a fourth-and-two play from the San Jose State 30-yard line. "He's tall and athletic," Teevens said. "When the ball's in the air, he plays it very well."

Moore and Stanford's other top receiver, Mark Bradford, are also members of the Cardinal's nationally-ranked basketball team.

With play-making receivers at his disposal, and with more experience under his belt, Edwards is much better than he was last season, according to BYU coach Gary Crowton. "He looks like he's really progressed since last year, especially from when he played us," Crowton said. "I think he's got a very good arm and a quick release. He's very athletic and similar to the quarterback we faced against Notre Dame (Brady Quinn). I think he's progressing, but hopefully not too much."