A few thoughts on the offense, good bad and trends.
The offenses of 1999 and 2001 were both very good. They were the best two offenses of the Willingham era.
They weren't as good as the best two offenses of the Shaw era (2011 and 2015), but pretty close. By a far wider margin the offenses of the Willingham era (covers 7 years) were not as good as the offenses under Shaw (7 years). I posted a run down of these a couple of months ago, and copy and update that below.
Perhaps more relevant, Willingham tried to run an offense much like the one Shaw has been running, though not so extreme on the slow-down. Particularly in 2001, the offense was quite similar to a Shaw offense - with 2013 probably the closest comparison. Both ran about 60% of the time. The run game was power-oriented, with some stretch plays wide (like the early Gaffney TD in the conference chempionship game). Both focused the pass game on big-play down field throws. In 2001 we averaged 4.35 yds/rush, 8.3 yds/pass att; in 2013 4.97 yds/rush, 8.9 yds/pass attempt.
Probably the main difference was pace of play - 2001 we ran 76.4 plays/gm whereas in 2013 we ran 63.9 plays per game (not including the bowl game for any 2001 stat - bowl games weren't officially included in the stats back then and I'm skipping the effort to track the Seattle Bowl game stats down and add them in).
Over the entire course of the Willingham era, despite trying to have a run-heavy offense, Willingham teams did pass a higher percentage than have Shaw teams so far. But that was as much because of the run game struggling and often being way behind as design.
Willingham*
1995: 381 yds/gm; 5.42 yds/play; 58% run plays; 73.2 plays/gm; 28.7 pts/gm
1996: 330 yds/gm; 4.62 yds/play; 53% run plays; 68.4 plays/gm; 20.6 pts/gm
1997: 363 yds/gm; 5.01 yds/play; 51% run plays; 72.4 plays/gm; 25.1 pts/gm
1998: 395 yds/gm; 5.06 yds/play; 40% run plays; 78.1 plays/gm; 23.7 pts/gm
1999: 450 yds/gm; 6.48 yds/play; 51% run plays; 72.1 plays/gm; 34.8 pts/gm
2000: 376 yds/gm; 4.94 yds/play; 54% run plays; 76.1 plays/gm; 23.7 pts/gm
2001: 443 yds/gm; 5.91 yds/play; 60% run plays; 76.4 plays.gm; 35.2 pts/gm
* yds/gm and pts/gm numbers come from Stanford media guide and include bowls. Other numbers come from sportsreference.com, and do not include bowls per NCAA policy.
Shaw
2011: 489 yds/gm; 6.80 yds/play; 55% run plays; 71.9 plays/gm; 43.2 pts/gm
2012: 374 yds/gm; 5.53 yds/play; 58% run plays; 67.7 plays/gm; 27.9 pts/gm
2013: 406 yds/gm; 6.35 yds/play; 65% run plays; 63.9 plays/gm; 32.3 pts/gm
2014: 389 yds/gm; 5.89 yds/play; 55% run plays; 66.0 plays/gm; 27.2 pts/gm
2015: 436 yds/gm; 6.57 yds/play; 66% run plays; 66.3 plays/gm; 37.8 pts/gm
2016: 367 yds/gm; 5.77 yds/play; 63% run plays; 63.6 plays/gm; 26.3 pts/gm
2017: 390 yds/gm; 6.49 yds/play; 57% run plays; 60.2 plays/gm; 32.0 pts/gm
--------------------------------------------------------------
Perhaps of some interest, this years team is on pace to smash the all time Stanford season record for yds per rush attempt. According to the media guide (but with somewhat different numbers than other sources like cfbstats), the top Stanford teams in yds/rush attempt were:
1. 2009 - 5.293
2. 2011 - 5.286
3. 2016 - 5.203
4. 2010 - 5.194
5. 2015 - 5.134
6. 2013 - 4.973
...
12. 2001 - 4.294 (best Willingham year)
Right now Stanford sits at 6.0000 yds/rush (really, exactly 6). That is a brobdingnagian jump over the current record.
The offenses of 1999 and 2001 were both very good. They were the best two offenses of the Willingham era.
They weren't as good as the best two offenses of the Shaw era (2011 and 2015), but pretty close. By a far wider margin the offenses of the Willingham era (covers 7 years) were not as good as the offenses under Shaw (7 years). I posted a run down of these a couple of months ago, and copy and update that below.
Perhaps more relevant, Willingham tried to run an offense much like the one Shaw has been running, though not so extreme on the slow-down. Particularly in 2001, the offense was quite similar to a Shaw offense - with 2013 probably the closest comparison. Both ran about 60% of the time. The run game was power-oriented, with some stretch plays wide (like the early Gaffney TD in the conference chempionship game). Both focused the pass game on big-play down field throws. In 2001 we averaged 4.35 yds/rush, 8.3 yds/pass att; in 2013 4.97 yds/rush, 8.9 yds/pass attempt.
Probably the main difference was pace of play - 2001 we ran 76.4 plays/gm whereas in 2013 we ran 63.9 plays per game (not including the bowl game for any 2001 stat - bowl games weren't officially included in the stats back then and I'm skipping the effort to track the Seattle Bowl game stats down and add them in).
Over the entire course of the Willingham era, despite trying to have a run-heavy offense, Willingham teams did pass a higher percentage than have Shaw teams so far. But that was as much because of the run game struggling and often being way behind as design.
Willingham*
1995: 381 yds/gm; 5.42 yds/play; 58% run plays; 73.2 plays/gm; 28.7 pts/gm
1996: 330 yds/gm; 4.62 yds/play; 53% run plays; 68.4 plays/gm; 20.6 pts/gm
1997: 363 yds/gm; 5.01 yds/play; 51% run plays; 72.4 plays/gm; 25.1 pts/gm
1998: 395 yds/gm; 5.06 yds/play; 40% run plays; 78.1 plays/gm; 23.7 pts/gm
1999: 450 yds/gm; 6.48 yds/play; 51% run plays; 72.1 plays/gm; 34.8 pts/gm
2000: 376 yds/gm; 4.94 yds/play; 54% run plays; 76.1 plays/gm; 23.7 pts/gm
2001: 443 yds/gm; 5.91 yds/play; 60% run plays; 76.4 plays.gm; 35.2 pts/gm
* yds/gm and pts/gm numbers come from Stanford media guide and include bowls. Other numbers come from sportsreference.com, and do not include bowls per NCAA policy.
Shaw
2011: 489 yds/gm; 6.80 yds/play; 55% run plays; 71.9 plays/gm; 43.2 pts/gm
2012: 374 yds/gm; 5.53 yds/play; 58% run plays; 67.7 plays/gm; 27.9 pts/gm
2013: 406 yds/gm; 6.35 yds/play; 65% run plays; 63.9 plays/gm; 32.3 pts/gm
2014: 389 yds/gm; 5.89 yds/play; 55% run plays; 66.0 plays/gm; 27.2 pts/gm
2015: 436 yds/gm; 6.57 yds/play; 66% run plays; 66.3 plays/gm; 37.8 pts/gm
2016: 367 yds/gm; 5.77 yds/play; 63% run plays; 63.6 plays/gm; 26.3 pts/gm
2017: 390 yds/gm; 6.49 yds/play; 57% run plays; 60.2 plays/gm; 32.0 pts/gm
--------------------------------------------------------------
Perhaps of some interest, this years team is on pace to smash the all time Stanford season record for yds per rush attempt. According to the media guide (but with somewhat different numbers than other sources like cfbstats), the top Stanford teams in yds/rush attempt were:
1. 2009 - 5.293
2. 2011 - 5.286
3. 2016 - 5.203
4. 2010 - 5.194
5. 2015 - 5.134
6. 2013 - 4.973
...
12. 2001 - 4.294 (best Willingham year)
Right now Stanford sits at 6.0000 yds/rush (really, exactly 6). That is a brobdingnagian jump over the current record.