Although he doesn’t dwell on his stats, one of them rings Kevin Hogan’s chimes: his wins as Stanford’s starting quarterback.

There have been 31 of them, tying him with Andrew Luck for the top spot among Cardinal quarterbacks. Hogan also is tied with Michigan State’s Connor Cook for the most among active FBS quarterbacks.

“It means everything,” Hogan said. “That’s why you play the game, to win. You don’t care about the yards, the touchdowns — it’s to get wins. That’s the ultimate stat because it doesn’t reflect you. It reflects your team.”

The fifth-year senior is in the home stretch of a college career that has featured two Rose Bowls. Barring an injury, he’ll play in either his fourth bowl game or a national playoff game this season. He’s looking for his third Pac-12 championship.

On Saturday, when he can pass Luck for the school record for wins, the No. 9 Cardinal (7-1, 6-0 Pac-12) play Colorado (4-5, 1-4) in Boulder. That’s really where the Hogan saga began in 2012. Then a redshirt freshman, he had made brief appearances in previous games. Against the Buffs, though, he took off.

Josh Nunes started and played the first two series before Hogan moved in. The coaches had told both players they’d each get a crack before it was determined who would play the rest of the way. After a few series under Hogan, the decision was simple. He led Stanford on six straight scoring drives, five of them for touchdowns, in a 48-0 win.

“It was a glimpse of what Kevin has become,” head coach David Shaw said

That day, Hogan completed 18 of 23 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 48 yards, including a 27-yard scramble.

Young Kwak/Associated Press

“I remember it very vividly, a lot more so than a lot of other games,” Hogan said.

He remembered getting on the phone with then-offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton after directing an early drive that finished with a 26-yard touchdown run by Stepfan Taylor. “Get ready,” Hamilton told Hogan. “There’s no looking back. You’re going from here on out.”

Hogan became the starter, and Stanford won its next 10 games. By any standard, he has become one of the top quarterbacks in the history of a program that has nurtured numerous topflight quarterbacks. He’s near the top in every important career statistical category.

Last season, during which he underwent the wrenching experience of losing his father to cancer, Hogane struggled with his accuracy and turnovers as Stanford won just five of its first 10 games. He then rallied the team to three straight wins, including a rout of Maryland in the Foster Farms Bowl.

He considered turning pro but decided to return to Stanford, saying, “I wasn’t ready to leave this place.” Now he has the Cardinal in the thick of the competition for not only the conference title but a spot in the national semifinals. He’s not doing it with dink passes; his mark of 14.3 yards per completion leads the nation.

Shaw raves about Hogan’s leadership. The coach said that Jon Gruden, his former boss with the Raiders, used to make all his position coaches list the characteristics they’d want at their positions.

Shaw, the quarterbacks coach, valued leadership first and added, “Show it every single day. Under that is toughness — show it every single day.” Though not particularly vocal, Hogan consistently has demonstrated those qualities, he said.

On top of that, Shaw said, “He understands the game of football as well as any player in college football right now.”

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

One for the books

Here’s how Kevin Hogan stands among other Stanford quarterbacks in school career records:

Wins by a starting QB

1 31 Andrew Luck (2009-11) 31 Kevin Hogan (2012-present)

Completion percentage

1 .670 Andrew Luck (2009-11) 2 .652 Kevin Hogan (2012-present)

Passing efficiency

1 162.8 Andrew Luck (2009-11) 2 151.1 Kevin Hogan (2012-present)

Passing yards

1 10,911 Steve Stenstrom (1991-94) 2 9,430 Andrew Luck (2009-11) 3 9,349 John Elway (1979-82) 4 8,180 Kevin Hogan (2012-present)

Touchdown passes

1 82 Andrew Luck (2009-11) 2 77 John Elway (1979-82) 3 74 Steve Stenstrom (1991-94) 4 62 Kevin Hogan (2012-present)

Total offense