The Wolverine

Mortensen performed in 11 games, connecting on 234 of 389 passes (60.2 per- cent) for 2,874 yards with 25 touchdowns and only six interceptions. Mortensen led a San Diego offense that averaged 36.1 points per game, with 3,029 passing yards and 1,727 on the ground. The veteran directed the Toreros to a 7-4 record, with five consecutive victories to end the season. The team wound up 3-1 in the PFL North Division, good for second place. Mortensen himself signed a free agent contract with the NFL's Detroit Lions after finishing up at San Diego. Stanford University, 2007 — Harbaugh inherited a 1-11 Stanford squad when he took over, and quarterback uncertainties to boot. Senior T.C. Ostrander began the season as a starter, but took a beating in Stanford's 1-3 start to the 2007 campaign, especially in the 41-3 loss against Arizona State in the fourth game of the year. Ostrander actually experienced seizure symptoms while dining with his parents after that one, taking him out of action for the next contest, at USC. That one will forever be remembered as one of the biggest upsets in college football history, with Stanford entering the contest as a 41-point underdog. The Cardinal did so behind untested sophomore Tavita Pritchard, who engi- neered the 24-23 upset heard 'round the college football world. Ostrander came back, and Stanford featured a two-headed QB approach for the rest of the year. Ostrander wound up performing in eight games, completed 130 of 229 throws (56.8 percent) for 1,422 yards with seven touchdowns and three interceptions. Pritchard played in nine games, including the gem against the Trojans, and con- nected on 97 of 194 passes (50.0 percent) for 1,114 yards with five touchdowns and nine interceptions. He also ran the ball 66 times for 45 yards. The Cardinal went 4-8 that year, a strong step forward from the misery of recent years. They also showed one major flash of the success to come, even under a sudden change at quarterback. San Francisco 49ers, 2011 — Harbaugh took over a 49ers crew featuring a six- year veteran quarterback in Alex Smith. Smith started all 18 games for the 49ers in 2011, helping the team post a 13-3 record in the regular season and a victory in the divisional round of the playoffs before suffering an overtime defeat in the NFC Championship Game. Smith wound up connecting on 273 of 445 passes (61.3 percent) for 3,144 yards with 17 touchdowns and only five interceptions. San Francisco also gave a pre- view of coming attractions that year, with future starter Colin Kaepernick getting into three games and completing 3 of 5 passing attempts for 35 yards. The 49ers' eye-popping differential in taking care of the football through the air featured them tossing just those five interceptions, while picking off 23 passes. That proved a major factor in the jump from a 6-10 regular-season mark in 2010 to the 13-3 ledger they posted in Harbaugh's first year. — John Borton

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