There are few teams in college football nowadays that play a smash mouth brand of football in a similar manner to Kirk Ferentz and his Iowa Hawkeyes, but Stanford fits that bill. The Cardinal are a team known for running the ball down your throat and playing hard-nosed, physical defense. And this year's team is cut from the same cloth, but with maybe one big difference: this year's team is carried by an extremely productive offense, while the defense is very young.
The defense has not been completely terrible this season, but they have taken a step back after losing 9 starters from last year's death squad.