[Hulk01]

It's close to a formula for college football.

If your running backs can average over five yards per carry, keep running.  You'll churn out first downs and take the legs out of the opposition's front seven.  And it's an axiom, too, that once their legs go out, they don't come back.

Mac and Love combined for 5.3 yards per carry.  And to try for the death blow, we ran seven consecutive times on our first drive of the seocnd half, and then our next two plays of the next.  Nine runs for 119 yards, two passes for -1 yard, ten points, 27-10:  Game all but over if you can run because the opponent is going to run out of possessions as long as you can run and work the clock.

Bloomgren knew--his offensive line guys almost certainly told him--that they could take over SC's front seven.  And we knew that was likely gping in because they were so depleted one their DL going in. 

We did this last year, but perhaps it seems less obvious  Mac averaged six yard per carry, Sanders 6.2, Love 7.8.  So we simply kept running,a 64%-36% split, similar to what we saw in 2013 with Gaffney. 

I also think fans view as tricky--deceptive and hard to defend--reverses, fake fumble/throw, and other "off" plays--when what is tricky to defend is an offense that throws a lot of looks and personnel groupings that force you to account for the group and the formation and what the hell you have to, as a defender, to defend:  Where do I align, what's my assignment?  Hell!! 

Stanford's offense is remarkably unusual this way--positively eccentric.  And it forces 20 year old guys defending, some with very little or no experience, to think.  And once you have to think first, you've lost a step. 

And if that offense has been grinding at you for over a half, you've lost yet another step and, it often happens, some of your heart too.

[Hulk01]

It's close to a formula for college football.

If your running backs can average over five yards per carry, keep running.  You'll churn out first downs and take the legs out of the opposition's front seven.  And it's an axiom, too, that once their legs go out, they don't come back.

Mac and Love combined for 5.3 yards per carry.  And to try for the death blow, we ran seven consecutive times on our first drive of the seocnd half, and then our next two plays of the next.  Nine runs for 119 yards, two passes for -1 yard, ten points, 27-10:  Game all but over if you can run because the opponent is going to run out of possessions as long as you can run and work the clock.

Bloomgren knew--his offensive line guys almost certainly told him--that they could take over SC's front seven.  And we knew that was likely gping in because they were so depleted one their DL going in. 

We did this last year, but perhaps it seems less obvious  Mac averaged six yard per carry, Sanders 6.2, Love 7.8.  So we simply kept running,a 64%-36% split, similar to what we saw in 2013 with Gaffney. 

I also think fans view as tricky--deceptive and hard to defend--reverses, fake fumble/throw, and other "off" plays--when what is tricky to defend is an offense that throws a lot of looks and personnel groupings that force you to account for the group and the formation and what the hell you have to, as a defender, to defend:  Where do I align, what's my assignment?  Hell!! 

Stanford's offense is remarkably unusual this way--positively eccentric.  And it forces 20 year old guys defending, some with very little or no experience, to think.  And once you have to think first, you've lost a step. 

And if that offense has been grinding at you for over a half, you've lost yet another step and, it often happens, some of your heart too.