[lex24]

I remember 69. Plunkett. Vatsha. Bob Moore. Bubba Brown. Howie Williams Jackie Brown Hillary Shockley. Jack Lassiter. Jeff Siemon.. Don Parish. Dave Tipton. Pete Lazitich. John Sande. A great team. I still remember listening to Don Klein call Ron Ayalas FG. I burst into tears. 11.  But then in ‘70- “Plunkett Keeps His Promise.”  My all-time favorite Chron/Examiner Sports headline.

[quote author=teejers1 link=topic=18293.msg218075#msg218075 date=1513128143]
As for the "riding the wave" comment which you term a backhanded compliment, do you not think Stanford is exceptionally hot right now? 

You don't really need an explanation do you?

A backhanded compliment does not rely upon things that are false.

2001 was pretty good - arguably a dropped pass away from being a dropped pass away from something.  But I don't recall it being otherworldly or worth dismantling what they do now for what they did then.  Wasn't is just pretty basic pro-set offense with decent balance?  They didn't constantly run the play clock down to 0:02, which drives me a little crazy; or use stacked formations when wider gap spacing is probably better; but I'm not getting the nostalgia to party like it's 1999. I really don't remember those offenses as particularly memorable.  Defenses were a little shaky IIRC.

We shouldn't get too revisionist here. 1999 and 2001 were very good offenses by Stanford's historical standards, they just fell apart in their bowl games. Up until the breakout year of 2009 (well, the offense broke out in 2009, the defense in 2010), those two teams were first and third in Stanford history in scoring per game, second and fifth in yds/game - I don't have rankings in better rate stats.

In general, Willingham tried to have an offense built around a power run game and a downfield passing game much like Shaw teams, though most of the time was not as successful at it - particularly the run game. The 2001 team was more successful in that regard. As I noted above, it was remarkably similar in style and production to the 2013 offense. Of course there were some differences. 2001 didn't play slow down so much (76 plays per game 2001, vs 64 in 2013). 2001 didn't use the very heavy sets or extreme close splits on short yardage. But those are relatively minor.

And for 1999 you're right about defense. That currently ranks the third worst in yds/game allowed and seventh worst in points per game. 2001 defense was a lot better: about 60 yds/game better and safely off the 10 worst defenses list.


By the way, does anyone here remember the 1969 offense?
It is Stanford's all time leader in yards per game at 492, edging out the 2011 team (Luck's last year). I guess that was Plunkett the year before making the Rose Bowl, but I was too young to remember it.

I thought the penalty was for illegal man downfield. One of the blocking linemen got too far down the field past the line of scrimmage.

It was. The box score is wrong.
The ref announced "Inelligible man downfield on the kicking team", but never specified the culprit.

None of the views shown on the TV feed ever showed an ineligible lineman past the 14 yard line (3 yards downfield), but it isn't quite definitive as there is about a second from the last full field view and when the pass was thrown. Garnett (#98) was the usual suspect, but he is last seen at the 16.
You can watch for yourself if you want.
https://youtu.be/luIXgJOwlFo?t=8145
[/quote]

[lex24]

I remember 69. Plunkett. Vatsha. Bob Moore. Bubba Brown. Howie Williams Jackie Brown Hillary Shockley. Jack Lassiter. Jeff Siemon.. Don Parish. Dave Tipton. Pete Lazitich. John Sande. A great team. I still remember listening to Don Klein call Ron Ayalas FG. I burst into tears. 11.  But then in ‘70- “Plunkett Keeps His Promise.”  My all-time favorite Chron/Examiner Sports headline.

[quote author=teejers1 link=topic=18293.msg218075#msg218075 date=1513128143]
As for the "riding the wave" comment which you term a backhanded compliment, do you not think Stanford is exceptionally hot right now? 

You don't really need an explanation do you?

A backhanded compliment does not rely upon things that are false.

2001 was pretty good - arguably a dropped pass away from being a dropped pass away from something.  But I don't recall it being otherworldly or worth dismantling what they do now for what they did then.  Wasn't is just pretty basic pro-set offense with decent balance?  They didn't constantly run the play clock down to 0:02, which drives me a little crazy; or use stacked formations when wider gap spacing is probably better; but I'm not getting the nostalgia to party like it's 1999. I really don't remember those offenses as particularly memorable.  Defenses were a little shaky IIRC.

We shouldn't get too revisionist here. 1999 and 2001 were very good offenses by Stanford's historical standards, they just fell apart in their bowl games. Up until the breakout year of 2009 (well, the offense broke out in 2009, the defense in 2010), those two teams were first and third in Stanford history in scoring per game, second and fifth in yds/game - I don't have rankings in better rate stats.

In general, Willingham tried to have an offense built around a power run game and a downfield passing game much like Shaw teams, though most of the time was not as successful at it - particularly the run game. The 2001 team was more successful in that regard. As I noted above, it was remarkably similar in style and production to the 2013 offense. Of course there were some differences. 2001 didn't play slow down so much (76 plays per game 2001, vs 64 in 2013). 2001 didn't use the very heavy sets or extreme close splits on short yardage. But those are relatively minor.

And for 1999 you're right about defense. That currently ranks the third worst in yds/game allowed and seventh worst in points per game. 2001 defense was a lot better: about 60 yds/game better and safely off the 10 worst defenses list.


By the way, does anyone here remember the 1969 offense?
It is Stanford's all time leader in yards per game at 492, edging out the 2011 team (Luck's last year). I guess that was Plunkett the year before making the Rose Bowl, but I was too young to remember it.

I thought the penalty was for illegal man downfield. One of the blocking linemen got too far down the field past the line of scrimmage.

It was. The box score is wrong.
The ref announced "Inelligible man downfield on the kicking team", but never specified the culprit.

None of the views shown on the TV feed ever showed an ineligible lineman past the 14 yard line (3 yards downfield), but it isn't quite definitive as there is about a second from the last full field view and when the pass was thrown. Garnett (#98) was the usual suspect, but he is last seen at the 16.
You can watch for yourself if you want.
https://youtu.be/luIXgJOwlFo?t=8145
[/quote]