Jim Harbaugh is asked about Stanford's dominance entering Saturday's juggernaut game at Oregon.
"I guess I agree with Ralph Waldo Emerson," he said.
With that, Stanford's football coach begins to quote.
"I hate to be defended in a newspaper," Harbaugh said. "As long as all that is said is said against me, I feel a certain sublime assurance of success, but as soon as honeyed words of praise are spoken for me, I feel as one that lies unprotected before his enemies."
In short, he wants to be the underdog.
The No. 9 Cardinal will certainly be that when it travels to Autzen Stadium to face the No. 4 Ducks. But Stanford is getting its most nationwide attention, it seems, since Chelsea Clinton walked the campus.
ESPN's "College GameDay" will broadcast live from the UO campus, and the game will be aired on ABC at 5 p.m.
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Just don't call the game a contrast in styles - even though the Cardinal has taken on Harbaugh's nails-tough personality, and the Ducks run the world's most futuristic offense. The Ducks are third in the country, averaging 560 total yards of offense. Stanford is No. 24 with 457.
"They go about it in a little bit different way, I think," Oregon coach Chip Kelly said. "It's still a tough, hard-nosed physical game from both sides. It's still pretty much the same stuff. They got some different guys doing it.
"I still think it's the same schemes, yes."
Stanford's defense, however, is the 11th-best nationwide in terms of yards allowed. Oregon is No. 23.
"Oregon is fast, fast," Harbaugh said. "They are a strong, tough team and they are a fast team. They're the fastest team we've seen, including our own."
The league's game of the year, thus far, has conference coaches buzzing.
The Arizona Wildcats' Mike Stoops called Harbaugh his "favorite."
But "you've got the rough-and-tough guys from Stanford," Stoops said. "Those guys, a little more finesse, from Oregon. It's a little bit of a clash of styles. ... It's going to come down to defenses making some stops against terrific offenses."
UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel agreed. "You've got two juggernaut offenses that are on all cylinders right now," he said. "The question will be, who rises up and plays defense?"
Harbaugh said he wants his team to keep playing together. He quotes another story.
A group of men are cutting stone when a stranger approaches. One says, plainly, that he's cutting stone into blocks. The next, however, says that he's part of a team building a great cathedral.
"That's attitude," Harbaugh gushes. "We're trying to build that team attitude."
Up next
• What: Stanford at Oregon
• When: 5 p.m. Saturday
• TV: Channel 9
