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Costello's first game as starting QB - SF_Cardinal_Fan - 10-01-2017

Yesterday , at home against ASU, redshirt freshman Stanford QB KJ Costello went 15-23 for a 173 yards, including one TD.
Stanford won the game 24-34. Early and often ASU's defense was vulnerable to Bryce Love's running skills, so Stanford's offensive yardage gains came mostly from Love's runs from scrimmage.
But it was a milestone day for Costello, marking the first time he started at QB for the Cardinal. I thought he looked comfortable out there and played with poise. Credit goes to Stanford's OL for allowing Costello to have time and not suffer from too intense of a pass rush.
Costello's throws were a mix of screens, sideline passes, and a few over the middle longer slant route completions. His accuracy and touch , while not perfect, was very respectable. I especially liked the way that he threw the more risky passes with a sense of making sure that if the Stanford receiver did not catch it, neither would a defender. And, like last week against UCLA, Costello's smooth , rhythmic mobility either moving within the pocket, or rolling out, was especially impressive.
Please post your thoughts about KJ's first game as a starter, either his overall performance or a particular play he made. Thanks.

Re: Costello's first game as starting QB - cardcrimson - 10-01-2017

I  thought he looked great, especially those handoffs. Without them, Love wouldn't have been able to do anything.

Re: Costello's first game as starting QB - UltimateCard - 10-01-2017

He certainly has an attention to detail. At the end of the first half, as we were trying to tack on a touchdown, Costello asked the ref to exchange the football... twice! Kind of like a pitcher looking for a baseball with seams he could grip better. Never seen that before (we happened to be sitting in the upper deck, right above the goal line). As it turned out, didn't help as we had to settle for a FG. Anyone else catch that?

Re: Costello's first game as starting QB - JohnR34231 - 10-01-2017

(10-01-2017, 08:13 AM)cardcrimson link Wrote:I  thought he looked great, especially those handoffs. Without them, Love wouldn't have been able to do anything.

Yeah, I think that's a reminder that we don't need great quarterbacking (although no one would complain if we had it), it just has to be good enough to keep the defense honest.

Re: Costello's first game as starting QB - washingtonismoney - 10-01-2017

Costello's got to keep the ball on one of those zone reads. The lane is open.

Re: Costello's first game as starting QB - Goose - 10-01-2017

(10-01-2017, 08:26 AM)washingtonismoney link Wrote:Costello's got to keep the ball on one of those zone reads. The lane is open.
I think he may have been under instructions to not carry the ball whenever possible. Especially yesterday, we really didn't want him to get hurt. It may be that the coaches think that Love with one man to beat is a better choice than Costello with an open field. Given Love's results, it is hard to argue  :). Yesterday, we could win without the risk factor. No point in giving Utah any idea that Costello can run on them.  Against Utah, any such restrictions probably will be lifted.

Re: Costello's first game as starting QB - cardcrimson - 10-01-2017

(10-01-2017, 08:25 AM)JPRI link Wrote:[quote author=cardcrimson link=topic=17553.msg203766#msg203766 date=1506870804]
I  thought he looked great, especially those handoffs. Without them, Love wouldn't have been able to do anything.

Yeah, I think that's a reminder that we don't need great quarterbacking (although no one would complain if we had it), it just has to be good enough to keep the defense honest.
[/quote]

I think Costello looked really good. A couple of bad decisions and a couple of grounders, but some drops as well. Have a lot of faith.

As for keeping the defense honest, you're completely correct. I was listening to the late evening guys on KNBR before the season. Of course they were commenting that Kaepernick should be in the NFL somewhere as he's a solid quarterback. Then they started talking about Carlos Hyde and how good he is, that his stats from last year were misleading because he was facing eight and nine in the box because Kaepernick was no threat to throw the ball. Made my head spin. So if Costello (or Chryst) can be enough of a threat to throw the ball, or to keep it on the read option, Love will continue to have a great year. Good quarterbacks make everyone else better.

Re: Costello's first game as starting QB - oman - 10-01-2017

Thought he looked great. 

Re: Costello's first game as starting QB - SF_Cardinal_Fan - 10-01-2017

(10-01-2017, 08:24 AM)UltimateCard link Wrote:He certainly has an attention to detail. At the end of the first half, as we were trying to tack on a touchdown, Costello asked the ref to exchange the football... twice! Kind of like a pitcher looking for a baseball with laces he could grip better. Never seen that before (we happened to be sitting in the upper deck, right above the goal line). As it turned out, didn't help as we had to settle for a FG. Anyone else catch that?

Last week against UCLA, while watching pre game warm-ups, I noticed that Chryst, Burns and Costello were particular about which ball they selected (from a storage  basket that an attendant held). For example, a QB would pick a ball, grip it, reject it, select another one etc...
Don't know what that's about.

Re: Costello's first game as starting QB - Row80Critic - 10-01-2017

(10-01-2017, 08:24 AM)UltimateCard link Wrote:He certainly has an attention to detail. At the end of the first half, as we were trying to tack on a touchdown, Costello asked the ref to exchange the football... twice! Kind of like a pitcher looking for a baseball with laces he could grip better. Never seen that before (we happened to be sitting in the upper deck, right above the goal line). As it turned out, didn't help as we had to settle for a FG. Anyone else catch that?

We were laughing.  Costello picked out the ball he liked and the ref swapped it out for him.  Then Costello turned his back on the ball to communicate with the sidelines before huddling up, and when his back was turned the ref (maybe a different guy) swapped out the ball for another one.  It almost looked intentional but I'm sure the refs were just doing what they do...

Re: Costello's first game as starting QB - csfoster - 10-01-2017

(10-01-2017, 08:13 AM)cardcrimson link Wrote:I  thought he looked great, especially those handoffs. Without them, Love wouldn't have been able to do anything.

Sorry, you got it opposite.  Costello played well though and should start next week.

Re: Costello's first game as starting QB - thunder_chik - 10-01-2017

KJ seemed very confident and, as others have said, fluid.  And, though a minor point, I believe we got through the game without any of those annoying delay penalties/wasted time outs.

Re: Costello's first game as starting QB - winflop - 10-02-2017

The offense is simply better with Costello at the helm
- no turnovers
- throwing to someone not named Trenton Irwin
- finding TEs!!
- rollouts
- EUTM

Re: Costello's first game as starting QB - cardcrimson - 10-02-2017

(10-01-2017, 10:48 AM)csfoster link Wrote:[quote author=cardcrimson link=topic=17553.msg203766#msg203766 date=1506870804]
I  thought he looked great, especially those handoffs. Without them, Love wouldn't have been able to do anything.

Sorry, you got it opposite.  Costello played well though and should start next week.
[/quote]

Huh?

Re: Costello's first game as starting QB - French Rage - 10-02-2017

(10-01-2017, 12:24 PM)thunder_chik link Wrote:KJ seemed very confident and, as others have said, fluid.  And, though a minor point, I believe we got through the game without any of those annoying delay penalties/wasted time outs.

Also we seemed to have more false starts than usual this weekend, especially for a home game (though I don't have the numbers in front of me).

Re: Costello's first game as starting QB - CTcard - 10-02-2017

(10-02-2017, 06:29 AM)winflop link Wrote:The offense is simply better with Costello at the helm
- no turnovers
vs Rice - 0 fumbles, 0 INTs
vs U$C - 0 fumbles, 0 INTs
vs SDSU - 1 fumble, 2 INTs
-----------------------------------
vs UCLA - 1 fumble, 0 INTs
vs ASU  - 1 fumble, 0 INTs

Quote:- throwing to someone not named Trenton Irwin
Irwin catches
vs Rice - 2 catches
vs U$C - 2 catches
vs SDSU - 6 catches
-------------------------
vs UCLA - 3 catches
vs ASU - 3 catches
[don't know where to find targets - I'm not gonna count]

Quote:- finding TEs!!
TE catches
vs Rice - 10 catches  (48%)
vs U$C - 5 catches    (33%)
vs SDSU - 2 catches (20%)
------------------------------
vs UCLA - 4 catches  (25%)
vs ASU  - 4 catches  (27%)



Re: Costello's first game as starting QB - cardcrimson - 10-02-2017

(10-02-2017, 08:48 AM)French Rage link Wrote:[quote author=thunder_chik link=topic=17553.msg203812#msg203812 date=1506885860]
KJ seemed very confident and, as others have said, fluid.  And, though a minor point, I believe we got through the game without any of those annoying delay penalties/wasted time outs.

Also we seemed to have more false starts than usual this weekend, especially for a home game (though I don't have the numbers in front of me).
[/quote]

Maybe we could blame the PA system . . . .