[CTcard]

I think UW almost exposed us--they flow to the ball on run plays much faster than we were able to react, and I think only our explosive plays really made the difference (which exposed their defensive discipline and DC's chops). 

I know this may seem like piling on a bit, but it's really just using this note to explore the issue a little more.

I have generally been rather worried about what would happen to the offense against a team that had the personnel to not be simply bowled over by our OLine. That worry was partly based upon the Northwestern game, and partly based upon paranoia. Nevertheless - the question remained: if a team could more or less stop our bread and butter run game, could we beat them another way?

I take the UW result as a positive towards answering that question. UW has a stout front seven, probably the strongest on our schedule this year. That is mostly an observation, but also note that UW has the best yds/carry allowed of our opponents (3.24, #18 in the country). And to some extent they did slow down our run game (3.9 yds/carry including sacks). However, Stanford still managed to gain 478 yards in a limited possession game and score 31 points - and probably could have scored more if the issue were still in doubt towards the end. Mostly we did this by Hogan throwing for 290 yards, even with only 3 catches by the WRs.

In short, unlike 2013, it looks like this team has a chance to move the ball against a team that can hold up on the line and slow the run game. That seems pretty good.

[CTcard]

I think UW almost exposed us--they flow to the ball on run plays much faster than we were able to react, and I think only our explosive plays really made the difference (which exposed their defensive discipline and DC's chops). 

I know this may seem like piling on a bit, but it's really just using this note to explore the issue a little more.

I have generally been rather worried about what would happen to the offense against a team that had the personnel to not be simply bowled over by our OLine. That worry was partly based upon the Northwestern game, and partly based upon paranoia. Nevertheless - the question remained: if a team could more or less stop our bread and butter run game, could we beat them another way?

I take the UW result as a positive towards answering that question. UW has a stout front seven, probably the strongest on our schedule this year. That is mostly an observation, but also note that UW has the best yds/carry allowed of our opponents (3.24, #18 in the country). And to some extent they did slow down our run game (3.9 yds/carry including sacks). However, Stanford still managed to gain 478 yards in a limited possession game and score 31 points - and probably could have scored more if the issue were still in doubt towards the end. Mostly we did this by Hogan throwing for 290 yards, even with only 3 catches by the WRs.

In short, unlike 2013, it looks like this team has a chance to move the ball against a team that can hold up on the line and slow the run game. That seems pretty good.