Can a tiger change his stripes, a leopard his spots? Can a lion go vegan, a vulture organic? Highly doubtful.

Now, can David Shaw emerge from his typically conservative offensive play calling and open up Stanford’s attack?

The head coach, the 2017 Bobby Dodd Award winner as national coach of the year, has more wins (73) than any other football coach in the program’s 123-year history. This year he has explosive Bryce Love back for another run at the Heisman Trophy.

Shaw, who calls the plays, loves to keep cracking Love at the defense again and again, knowing it probably will lead to a 50-yard run or two eventually.

But consider that the pounding caught up with Love in 2017. Moreover, there are numerous playmakers besides Love. Stanford will have quarterback K.J. Costello for a full season, barring injury. And Costello has probably the best array of targets of the Cardinal’s bowl era, including 6-foot-3, 222-pound JJ Arcega-Whiteside, sure-handed Trent Irwin, dangerous Connor Wedington and underrated Donald Stewart, when he’s fully healthy.

Kaden Smith is the latest entry in the Stanford tradition of elite tight ends, a list that includes Coby Fleener, Zach Ertz, Austin Hooper and Dalton Schultz. And 6-7 Colby Parkinson looks a lot like Fleener, although not quite as speedy. The offensive line should be markedly improved from last year, offering Costello more protection.

Shaw’s willingness to open up the offense to some degree could be a significant factor in whether the Cardinal rise from a Pac-12 contender to something more. Last season, they won the North Division for the fourth time in six years but were a disappointing 9-5 overall, including a loss to TCU in the Alamo Bowl, Stanford’s ninth straight bowl game.

Now that Costello has recovered from last season’s hip injury — how much that bothered him is hard to say — he looks ready to roll. He’s confident, accurate and more than willing to take advantage of his receivers’ skills downfield.

Kirk Herbstreit, ESPN’s lead college football analyst, says Costello “could have a monster year.” Herbstreit’s not alone in that sentiment.

It’s worth recalling that even when Stanford had Andrew Luck from 2009 through ’11 (Shaw was the offensive coordinator under Jim Harbaugh for the first two of those years), the Cardinal ran nearly 60 percent of the time.

This is smash-mouth football: extra tight ends, extra offensive linemen and a fullback, a position many college teams eschew. Stanford’s strategy typically has been: run, run, run, run, play-action pass, run, run, run. On the goal line, it often has been run, run, alley-oop pass. Predictable? Perhaps. But understandable, given the players on hand and Shaw’s love of efficiency, his quest for line domination and his distaste for turnovers.

How Heisman runners-up fared next year Stanford’s Andrew Luck and Bryce Love are among just 16 runners-up in Heisman Trophy history who returned to play at least one more year of college football. Four of them won the trophy the next year. Name, school Runner-up Next-year Tom Harmon, Michigan 1939 Won Angelo Bertell, Notre Dame 1941 6th Glenn Davis, Army 1944 2nd Glenn Davis, Army 1945 Won Charlie Justice, North Carolina 1948 2nd Jim Swink, TCU 1955 Did not place O.J. Simpson, USC 1967 Won Herschel Walker, Georgia 1981 Won Keith Byars, Ohio State 1984 Did not place Marshall Faulk, San Diego State 1992 4th Rex Grossman, Florida 2001 Did not place Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma 2004 Did not place Darren McFadden, Arkansas 2006 2nd Colt McCoy, Texas 2008 3rd Andrew Luck, Stanford 2010 2nd Bryce Love, Stanford 2017 ? Source: Heisman.com Stanford schedule Date Opponent Time Aug. 31-x San Diego St. 6 p.m. Sept. 8 USC 5:30 p.m. Sept. 15 UC Davis 11 a.m. Sept. 22 at Oregon TBD Sept. 29 at N. Dame 4:30 p.m. Oct. 6 Utah TBD Oct. 18-y at Arizona St. 6 p.m. Oct. 27 WSU TBD Nov. 3 at Wash. TBD Nov. 10 Oregon State TBD Nov. 17 at Cal TBD Nov. 24 at UCLA TBD x - Friday; y - Thursday

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Maybe that conservatism helps explain why Stanford, despite having the nation’s most exciting player, was just 10th in the conference in total offense and sixth in scoring offense. In fairness, it should be stressed that the quarterback situation wasn’t settled until midseason, and the line took a while to get in gear.

On top of that, Love was far from 100 percent after injuring his ankle against Oregon in Week 7. He bravely amassed 2,118 yards rushing anyway.

To the surprise of some, Love decided not to turn pro and to return for his senior year. Partly, he said, it was to get his degree in human biology on his way to becoming a pediatrician. Partly, it was because he felt there was unfinished business, namely getting the Cardinal back to the Pac-12 title game and a shot at the College Football Playoff.

Love is 10 pounds heavier (203) and has spent considerable time getting stronger overall, not just his balky ankle. He consistently downplays the Heisman chase, but if he wins it, he would be just the fifth player to do so after being the runner-up the year before. The previous four were Michigan’s Tom Harmon, Army’s Glenn Davis, USC’s O.J. Simpson and Georgia’s Herschel Walker.

If, on the other hand, Love finishes second in the voting again, Stanford would “boast” the most runner-up finishes in Heisman history. It is tied with Oklahoma with five.

The Cardinal lost many of their defensive stalwarts from last year, and how they replace those individuals probably will tell the story of their 2018 season. Gone are Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year Harrison Phillips, who led the nation’s FBS linemen with 103 tackles, and second-team All-America safety Justin Reid. Cornerback Quenton Meeks and outside linebacker Peter Kalambayi were other significant losses.

It’s tempting to say that because Stanford lost four games by three points or fewer last year, it was inches shy of greatness. That ignores the fact that the Cardinal beat Utah by only three points, took advantage of a late fumble to pull out a one-point win over a bad Oregon State team and needed a fourth-quarter interception at their 6-yard line to preserve a three-point win over mediocre Cal.

As for this year, there’s the even-numbered-year schedule to consider. Typically much stronger at home than on the road, Stanford has to travel to Oregon, Notre Dame and Washington as well as to Arizona State, Cal and UCLA. In the past two even years, it went 8-5 (5-4 in conference) in 2014 and 10-3 (6-3) in 2016.

As tough as Washington looks, winning the North Division again, much less the Pac-12 title, would be a huge achievement for Stanford — but not out of the realm of possibility. This offense should make up for any defensive shortcomings.

Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @tomgfitzgerald