I am an optimist. Instead of looking for the bad in tough situations, I search for the good. Although the Stanford football team is on the verge of being eliminated from bowl contention after losing to Washington — their second bad loss in as many weeks — there is reason for hope.

The cause? The Cardinal freshmen.

Last week, I wrote about the heralded 2008 recruiting class. Ranked highly, they will come to the Farm with great hype and expectations. Their predecessors faced the opposite: no fan expected much production from the freshmen — or, for that matter, the entire team — this year. And they have exceeded expectations, some as starters, many as key backups. They are part of a core group of players that is ushering in a new age of Stanford football.

Eighteen freshmen joined the Cardinal this year. Many are redshirting, but six are making their presence felt. Let’s start with one whose recent impact is perhaps most surprising: cornerback-turned-running back Corey Gatewood.

Gatewood came to Stanford as both a wide receiver and a defensive back but was made exclusively into a corner. He played sparingly in the team’s first eight games, registering only two total tackles. But when injuries began to deplete the running back corps, coach Jim Harbaugh called on Gatewood to become an emergency substitute. The result? He rushed for 63 yards on five carries against Washington on Saturday, including a beautiful 43-yard rush down the left sideline.

Gatewood’s success, though, was coupled with disappointment: he fumbled on Washington’s 1-yard line, ending Stanford’s best scoring opportunity of the afternoon. And, once junior and starter Anthony Kimble returns to the lineup, Gatewood might once again find himself on the defensive side of the ball. But in a dire situation, Gatewood stepped up and, in the process, personified the Harbaugh ideal of striving to win by all means necessary, no matter the circumstances.

Perhaps the most impressive freshman is Chike Amojoyi, who was profiled briefly last week for also switching positions, from running back to linebacker. An occasional starter on the weak side, Amajoyi is coming off two impressive games, in which he amassed 15 total tackles, two sacks, three tackles for a loss and an interception. He seems destined to be a defensive fixture for the Cardinal: his blitzing ability is already outstanding, and he has the speed to roam across the entire field in coverage.

Safety Taylor Skaufel has also seen his fair share of action. He is the primary backup behind starting sophomores Bo McNally and Austin Yancy at both free and strong safety. He began his Cardinal career with four tackles against UCLA, and against Oregon, the best opponent Stanford has faced to date (sorry, USC), Skaufel had 10 tackles, including five solo stops.

Owen Marecic has started all nine games at fullback. Used primarily for his blocking (he only has five rushes and two receptions on the year), he has paved the way for a number of runners, including Jeremy Stewart.

Stewart began the year buried on the running back depth chart, but after injuries to Kimble, sophomore Toby Gerhart and senior Jason Evans, Stewart was thrust into a more prominent role. On the year, he has rushed for 151 yards, including one score. He led the team in rushing against Oregon State — albeit, for a total of 16 yards — and as a kick returner, he has averaged a solid 20 yards per return.

Another key member of the return team has been wideout Doug Baldwin. Used primarily as a fourth receiver, Baldwin has excelled as a kick returner, averaging close to 24 yards a return.

Most stunning about the freshmen’s success is that the top recruits coming in — kicker David Green, tight end Kellen Kiilsgaard and defensive lineman Matt Masifilo — are redshirting this year and have yet to see the field. Stewart, Skaufel, Gatewood and Marecic weren’t even ranked in the top 100 at their positions by the recruiting service Scout.com.

The young Cardinal athletes are both the last remnants of Walt Harris’s tenure and Harbaugh’s first building blocks for a new era of Stanford football. They have already beaten the learning curve — the team has accomplished more in nine games than many thought it would all season.

Many surprising players — the prime example being sophomore quarterback Tavita Pritchard — have helped them reach this plateau. But no performance has been more unexpected than that of the freshmen, the unheralded recruiting class of 2007.

Wyndam Makowsky is a freshman and proud to say that these guys are in his class.