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Stanford Safeties and WSU - OutsiderFan - 10-25-2015

This unit is mucho unimpressive.  I can see why Reid is getting more reps.  Dallas Lloyd is missing far too many tackles and arriving at plays too late.  And he got trucked by a 190 pound True Frosh RB last night.  Whitfield takes bad angles too, but he's been able to get his hands on balls.

Against WSU, Stanford's DB depth will come in handy.  I'm hoping we see a lot more Terrence Alexander on the field and a lot less Lloyd.  In fact, to me, Lloyd looks like he should be the 8th DB option against The Cougs.

Meeks, Whitfield, Reid, Alexander, Holder, Murphy, Harris, and Edwards are all going to be better options against Falk, IMO.  Hell, I'd like to see what Brandon Simmons can do before I want to see more of Lloyd. 






Re: Stanford Safeties and WSU - winflop - 10-25-2015

No offense but I'm going to put my trust in the judgment of the best DB coach in college football.  If Coach Akina thought the players you mentioned were better they'd be playing instead of Lloyd.

I also think that last night both safeties' primary roles were in pass coverage since UW was playing from 14+ down almost the whole game.  I'd argue from that standpoint the entire defensive unit did very well.

Re: Stanford Safeties and WSU - OutsiderFan - 10-25-2015

Coaches are naturally risk-averse.  They tend to value guys who know the playbook more than younger and better athletes who maybe don't know the playbook as well, but are more athletically gifted and can make more plays.  I'm going to guess Akina saw last night's results and will be playing the Freshmen more.

Re: Stanford Safeties and WSU - Extra Point - 10-25-2015

I think that we need to remind ourselves once in a while that players, recruits, and parents of players and recruits read this board.

Re: Stanford Safeties and WSU - stupac2 - 10-25-2015

(10-25-2015, 11:51 AM)Extra Point link Wrote:I think that we need to remind ourselves once in a while that players, recruits, and parents of players and recruits read this board.

I think it's fair to be critical of performance as long as you're not attacking them. If Lloyd really is whiffing on tackles, then there's no harm in criticizing that. But doing what many other boards do and actually attacking player with things like "Player X sucks! Bench his ass! My grandma runs faster than that!" etc is clearly out of bounds. Fortunately I don't see any of that on this board.

Re: Stanford Safeties and WSU - 81alum - 10-25-2015

Without discussing any individual performances, I am worried about our ability to stop Wazoo at their home next week.  WSU's offense could make even the best defenses look bad at times.  When the ball is thrown accurately and the crossing routes are run precisely, there is almost nothing that can be done to stop it.  Our best hope is to keep their offense off the field for long stretches, to score each time we get the ball,  and to hope that they lose rhythm and stop themselves occasionally.  I think they will, but so much of it depends upon whether they are "on" in execution.  I'm not sure our defense can force them off the field.  Meanwhile, our offense not only has to be good, it may not be able to afford more than a couple of punts all game.



Re: Stanford Safeties and WSU - stupac2 - 10-25-2015

(10-25-2015, 02:55 PM)81alum link Wrote:WSU's offense could make even the best defenses look bad at times.

What good defense have they done that to?

Re: Stanford Safeties and WSU - cardcoug - 10-25-2015

(10-25-2015, 02:58 PM)stupac2 link Wrote:[quote author=81alum link=topic=13344.msg137018#msg137018 date=1445810130]WSU's offense could make even the best defenses look bad at times.

What good defense have they done that to?
[/quote]

Our great defenses of the past few years have made the air raid look bad. To those of you who have paid more attention to WSU than I have, how does WSU's offense this year stack up against that of the last ~3 years?

Re: Stanford Safeties and WSU - CornFed - 10-25-2015

We have been fairly successful at creating generalized pass rush pressure so far this season.  By that I mean we have harassed and hurried QB's and tipped a few passes, but it doesn't seem that we have accumulated a proportionate number of sacks.  Our pass rush is not chopped liver, but it sure would help if we could breakdown the opposition's protection more completely and rattle Falk more thoroughly.

WSU seems to favor the crossing route, as 81alum mentioned above.  Doesn't that play to our relative strength - that being our linebackers?  I haven't seen much of WSU and perhaps that was just their approach to Arizona.  But I would say that I would be more concerned if they were deadly deep down the middle.

Re: Stanford Safeties and WSU - washingtonismoney - 10-25-2015

Mostly agree with OutsiderFan's take. I had thought after the UCLA game that we were going to get progressively more Justin Reid as the season goes on. Perhaps that'll play out, but Reid didn't get a ton of time against Washington. Individual progress is rarely linear, so it's not shocking. Maybe disappointing relative to my wishful thinking.

Still, the clear weakness of the defense is the DL depth, which I suspect makes the DL who are playing conserve their energy a bit.

Re: Stanford Safeties and WSU - stupac2 - 10-25-2015

(10-25-2015, 03:06 PM)cardcoug link Wrote:Our great defenses of the past few years have made the air raid look bad. To those of you who have paid more attention to WSU than I have, how does WSU's offense this year stack up against that of the last ~3 years?

WSU's offense is ranked 43 in FEI this year (though last week, doubt it improves much after playing Arizona though) vs 35 last year. I think they're a team that looks good because they've played nobody with a pulse, aside from squeaking by an Oregon team that had obviously given up on the game (and not even looking good on offense while doing it).

Re: Stanford Safeties and WSU - washingtonismoney - 10-25-2015

If you prefer more transparent stats, Washington State is 4th in the conference (conference games only) in yards per play, with 6.34. (Stanford, at 7.21, is leading.) So they're pretty solid. Arizona is second, and UCLA is fifth, for comparison. I expect WSU to put up at least mid twenties, and more probably mid-thirties.

Re: Stanford Safeties and WSU - StanfordIndians1 - 10-25-2015

I totally disagree.  I think he DB's have done a great job.  Your comment on the safety's is way off.  I doubt you have ever played if you are criticizing Lloyd and Whitfield.  Both have played very well.  They both have more tackles than most the Defense and  are are close to the leaders in tackles (and being safety's they shouldn't get that many tackles as LB's get them).  Especially when your starting MLB is leading the nation in tackles.  Lloyd usually plays deep center field and most times Akina has him 20 yards deep and not in the TV screen.  He doesn't arrive late --when he as coming up that is his job.  He is one of the fasted kids on the team, bigger, and has tacked very we'll in open space. Go rewatch the OSU game.  When a kid is lower and is coming at a player full speed he will win the leverage battle because he is lower. Whitfield came up and made some good tackles last night and covers well. He also has good size and great hands obviously.  You have to play a Reid because he is good but also in case one of the safeties goes down and to get experience.  How many times have our safeties been beat deep over the top??? I can't remember that any (besides a broken coverage against UCLA with all the DB's).  I think the secondary has done very well and then being one of the top pass D units stat wise in the PAC is justified.



Re: Stanford Safeties and WSU - Hulk01 - 10-25-2015

WSU averages about 0.40 per play more than their opponents' defenses have allowed on average.  That would put the Cougs somewhere around 45th to 50th in the country.

They play hurry and run a lot of plays, which makes their point totals look more impressive.

And only Washington and Oregon State average fewer big plays per game than WSU--and no conference team allows more of them.  And they don't run the ball well.

They have looked better in their two most recent games, so they may be trending upward. 



Re: Stanford Safeties and WSU - Hey - 10-25-2015

(10-25-2015, 11:54 AM)stupac2 link Wrote:[quote author=Extra Point link=topic=13344.msg136977#msg136977 date=1445799063]
I think that we need to remind ourselves once in a while that players, recruits, and parents of players and recruits read this board.

I think it's fair to be critical of performance as long as you're not attacking them. If Lloyd really is whiffing on tackles, then there's no harm in criticizing that. But doing what many other boards do and actually attacking player with things like "Player X sucks! Bench his ass! My grandma runs faster than that!" etc is clearly out of bounds. Fortunately I don't see any of that on this board.
[/quote]

I second the reminder to remain respectful of everyone.  Things can spiral pretty quickly without it.  Thanks Extra Point.

More on WSU's offense - Hulk01 - 10-25-2015

WSU also has the remarkable luck of playing Portland State, plus five of the worst defenses in the NCAA, based on points allowed per game:  92d (Oregon State), 96th (Rutgers), 97th (Wyoming), 98th (Arizona), and 110th (Oregon).  Cal is the closest thing they’ve come to facing a credible defense—and they rank in the bottom half of the nation, too, at 66th.

The Cougs have managed to escape playing Utah, Washington, Stanford. USC, and Colorado, the top five teams in the Pac-12 for fewest points allowed.  But again, they seem to be playing better over their last three games.

Re: Stanford Safeties and WSU - StanfordIndians1 - 10-25-2015

I think WSU will score mid twenties.  They have been averaging 40 a game the last three games, 2 being in road against Oregon and Arizona's homecoming game, but good points by Hulk.  I just think being at home and peaking, they will find some cracks in the defense.  Especially whenthrowing it 70 times a game. 48-26 Stanford.

Re: More on WSU's offense - Papa John - 10-26-2015

(10-25-2015, 04:33 PM)Hulk01 link Wrote:WSU also has the remarkable luck of playing Portland State...

I'm not sure that WSU coaches, players and fans would agree with that statement:

http://www.oregonlive.com/vikings/index.ssf/2015/09/portland_state_vikings_shock_w.html

Re: Stanford Safeties and WSU - OutsiderFan - 10-26-2015

Just saw a guy on the Ca.l board - who claims a 37-20 record ATS this year & doesn't let Stanford hate blind his judgment like so many of his ilk do -  say Stanford will "absolutely crush WSU and cover (-13) easily."  So there is that.

As for Lloyd playing Safety versus others...  Just because a guy is 5th on the team in tackles it doesn't mean someone else wouldn't be better and be more productive if getting as many reps at the position.  I'm going to bet the reason the True Frosh are playing more is because Akina knows they are better players and he wants them to learn the defense more before giving them more snaps.  In particular, I expect Reid's snaps to continue increasing.

Re: Stanford Safeties and WSU - stupac2 - 10-26-2015

(10-26-2015, 01:09 PM)OutsiderFan link Wrote:Just saw a guy on the Ca.l board - who claims a 37-20 record ATS this year & doesn't let Stanford hate blind his judgment like so many of his ilk do -  say Stanford will "absolutely crush WSU and cover (-13) easily."  So there is that.

I mean, does anyone here think this will be even a two-score game? WSU is allowing 0.4 ypa more rushing than UCLA, while posting basically an identical ypp on offense (and that's with UCLA playing a much harder schedule, #22 vs #61). I know that we're going to be afraid of pretty much every remaining game because that's what we do, but this team really ought to stomp WSU. It seems that the only way WSU beats that spread is a garbage time score or two.