by Billy Witz, Special to FOXSports.com

Jim Harbaugh juggled the pieces on Stanford's offensive line following his first season on the sideline. (Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images)

It read: "But we're smarter.''

After John Elway led Stanford to a 21-21 tie, the fan amended his sign. He crossed out "but'' and replaced it with "and.''

Nobody argues that Stanford is still the smartest team in the Pac-10. It's as likely to compete for players with the Brown Bears as the Cal Bears. But in this season, when schools that are known more for their brains than their brawn could be headed for bowl games -- Northwestern, 23rd-ranked Vanderbilt, Duke and Rice are all at or above .500 -- Stanford has been the Pac-10's biggest surprise.

The Cardinal, who haven't won more than five games since 2001, scored a 24-23 upset of Arizona last week to improve to 4-3 overall and 3-1 in the conference race. The one loss puts them even with five teams behind unbeaten Cal. With a trip to struggling UCLA this week and a visit from woeful Washington State surrounding a bye, there's a decent chance Stanford will stay in the Pac-10 race into November.

Even more surprising than the Cardinal's conference standing is how they got there -- by hitting opponents as hard as they hit the books.

The Cardinal play sound, physical defense up front -- holding opponents to a solid 3.3 yards per rush, and are second in the conference with 19 sacks. Their offense moves behind one of the best offensive lines in the conference, one that has allowed the Cardinal -- behind hard-running tailback Toby Gerhart -- to rush for 184 yards per game, second-best in the Pac-10.

The finesse passing game, the soft defenses that might have defined Stanford in the past?

The Cardinal is last in the Pac-10 in passing offense and passing defense.

Bowl season roundup

Bowl recaps and analysis:

EagleBank: Wake 29, Navy 19 | CFN
New Mexico: Colo. St. 40, Fresno St. 35
St. Petersburg: S. Florida 41, Memphis 14
Las Vegas: Arizona 31, BYU 21 | CFN
New Orleans: SMU 30, Troy 27 (OT) | CFN
Poinsettia: TCU 17, Boise St. 16 | CFN
Hawaii: Notre Dame 49, Hawaii 21 | CFN
Motor City: FAU 24, Cen. Mich. 21 | CFN
Meineke: W. Virginia 31, UNC 30 | CFN
Champs Sports: Fla. St. 42, Wis. 13 | CFN
Emerald: Cal 24, Miami 17 | CFN
Independence: La. Tech 17, NIU 10 | CFN
Papajohns.com: Rutgers 29, N.C. St. 23
Alamo: Mizzou 30, N'west. 23 (OT) | CFN
Humanitarian: Maryland 42, Nevada 35
Texas: Rice 38, W. Michigan 14
Holiday: Oregon 42, Oklahoma St. 31 | CFN
Armed Forces: Houston 34, Air Force 28
Sun: Oregon St. 3, Pittsburgh 0 | CFN
Music City: Vandy 16, BC 14 | CFN
Insight: Kansas 42, Minnesota 21
Chick-fil-A: LSU 38, Georgia Tech 3
Outback: Iowa 31, South Carolina 10 | CFN
Capital One: Georgia 24, MSU 12 | CFN
Gator: Nebraska 26, Clemson 21
Rose: USC 38, Penn St. 24 | Analysis
Orange: Va. Tech 20, Cincinnati 7
Cotton: Ole Miss 47, Texas Tech 34
Liberty: Kentucky 25, East Carolina 19
Sugar: Utah 31, Alabama 17
International: UConn 38, Buffalo 20
Fiesta: Texas 24, Ohio St. 21 | Analysis
GMAC: Tulsa 45, Ball St. 13
BCS title: Florida 24, Oklahoma 14
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"If you say what is a good football team, or is a football team ready to play, you'll judge a defense by the way they tackle,'' Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh said. "On the offensive side, can they block? Can the backs block? Can the backs play physical? That's just any football team. If you're going to be a good football team, you better be able to tackle and you better be able to block.''

When Harbaugh arrived at Stanford a year ago, the Cardinal were coming off a 1-11 season in which they looked like blocking and tackling dummies. Though the Cardinal won just four games, two of them were huge -- the historic upset of USC, a 41-point favorite, and a win over Cal that snapped a five-game losing streak to their rivals.

Over the winter, Harbaugh was able to move guard Alex Fletcher, a four-year starter on the line, back to his natural position, center. That not only put his best player in the middle of the line, but his best leader.

"That was a real key for us,'' Harbaugh said. "I've been around a lot of captains in my career, but none as good as Alex Fletcher has been at leading a team. This goes back to the winter, the spring, especially the summer. Every single week, he's focused, he's locked in, he's determined to do whatever he can for this football team and lift up his teammates.''

Senior Alex Muth, who had become a starter at midseason, solidified the left tackle spot, and junior Chris Marinelli moved from right tackle to left guard. Sophomore Andrew Phillips emerged at right guard, a year after Harbaugh was thinking he'd never be good enough to get on the field. Junior Matt Kopa, a converted defensive lineman, has been steady at right tackle.

Fletcher, at 6-foot-3, 290 pounds, is the shortest and lightest of the lineman. Fullback Owen Maricic brings a lineman's attitude to the backfield.

They've taken well to the zone-blocking scheme implemented by Chris Dalman, a former Stanford and San Francisco 49ers lineman who spent two years as an assistant with the Atlanta Falcons, learning from zone-blocking guru Alex Gibbs.

"They're playing very physical, playing very good together,'' Harbaugh said. "It's a group that really trusts each other, that believes in each other. They've got a blue-collar mentality and are playing tough and physical. That's a talent.''

Nowhere was that more evident than against Arizona, when Stanford rushed for 286 yards, the final one a plunge into the end zone by Gerhart with 25 seconds left. Gerhart, who carried 24 times for 116 yards, was chosen the Pac-10 offensive player of the week.

With third-string quarterback Alex Loukas leading them, the Cardinal ran the ball on the final nine plays of the winning drive.

"They really controlled the line of scrimmage,'' Arizona coach Mike Stoops said. "That's where we lost the game.''

Stanford still is a work in progress. The pass defense is poor, the team is sitting at minus-eight in turnover margin, and starting quarterback Tavita Pritchard -- who is expected to start after suffering a concussion last week -- hasn't been able to consistently connect with receivers.

But things are looking up on The Farm, where the Cardinal are playing the type of football that might allow them to feel pretty good about themselves.

And they're smarter.