[teejers1]

No, head not exploding.

Stanford clearly has the most explosive offensive player in the conference in Bryce Love, who pretty much single-handedly (with OL help) makes Stanford's explosive plays on offense.  But just so you don't think I'm getting soft, here are the concerns:

1.  Chryst was excellent on Saturday night.  But I think expecting him to perform at (or even near) that level is a fool's errand.  Generally speaking, long throws down the sideline with decent-to-good coverage are low-percentage plays.  I still don't think the receivers are getting much in the way of separation; thus, it will take perfect throws to make those plays work.  We shall see.

2.  Love needs to be healthy and break a couple long runs (30+) each game, preferably with one of those being 50+ yards, for the running game to put up the numbers (225+) needed for this O to succeed.  The fact that I'm typing this - and being serious - just goes to show how extraordinary Bryce Love's season has been.  Haven't seen anything like it. 

3.  Stanford's run D is still mediocre.  I'm wondering when some team will just say "screw the pass - we're going to run it all game long?"  You know, follow the strategy Shaw did when Stanford ground out a W over Oregon a few years back at home.  I still have no confidence that this D could effectively counter such a strategy.

4.  Stanford misses a lot of tackles on D, especially in space.  Not sure why this is the case, as I think Stanford has been a good tackling team under Shaw.

For all these reasons, I still expect Stanford to lose at WSU and home against UW (and probably at home against ND).  Stanford should beat Oregon State, even on the road, but if there is reversion to form at QB position we could see a "too close" game there.  Big Game?  Stanford remains the better team, but I think Wilcox will have his team ready to go and it will be a tough W for the Cardinal.

P.S.  As talented as SC may be, I would welcome a rematch against them in CCG - mainly because that would mean Stanford had beaten the Washington schools (which I think only happens with good QB play).  Stanford with good QB play is a formidable team, even if the D isn't up to the level we've seen from a few years back.

[teejers1]

No, head not exploding.

Stanford clearly has the most explosive offensive player in the conference in Bryce Love, who pretty much single-handedly (with OL help) makes Stanford's explosive plays on offense.  But just so you don't think I'm getting soft, here are the concerns:

1.  Chryst was excellent on Saturday night.  But I think expecting him to perform at (or even near) that level is a fool's errand.  Generally speaking, long throws down the sideline with decent-to-good coverage are low-percentage plays.  I still don't think the receivers are getting much in the way of separation; thus, it will take perfect throws to make those plays work.  We shall see.

2.  Love needs to be healthy and break a couple long runs (30+) each game, preferably with one of those being 50+ yards, for the running game to put up the numbers (225+) needed for this O to succeed.  The fact that I'm typing this - and being serious - just goes to show how extraordinary Bryce Love's season has been.  Haven't seen anything like it. 

3.  Stanford's run D is still mediocre.  I'm wondering when some team will just say "screw the pass - we're going to run it all game long?"  You know, follow the strategy Shaw did when Stanford ground out a W over Oregon a few years back at home.  I still have no confidence that this D could effectively counter such a strategy.

4.  Stanford misses a lot of tackles on D, especially in space.  Not sure why this is the case, as I think Stanford has been a good tackling team under Shaw.

For all these reasons, I still expect Stanford to lose at WSU and home against UW (and probably at home against ND).  Stanford should beat Oregon State, even on the road, but if there is reversion to form at QB position we could see a "too close" game there.  Big Game?  Stanford remains the better team, but I think Wilcox will have his team ready to go and it will be a tough W for the Cardinal.

P.S.  As talented as SC may be, I would welcome a rematch against them in CCG - mainly because that would mean Stanford had beaten the Washington schools (which I think only happens with good QB play).  Stanford with good QB play is a formidable team, even if the D isn't up to the level we've seen from a few years back.