[Goose]

We don't run on first down as often as 90% of Stanford fans think, for example,

Possibly true. I am not really sure how often people think we run on first down. You will, I think, grant that we run on first down quite frequently, probably more than most teams but not as much as Army.

and we pass far less successfully on first down than fans think, too.

And that is probably one reason we run as often as we do.  :) With Hogan and even more with Luck, we could do real damage on first down when we passed. The last two years, not as much. Hopefully, Costello changes this.

We're starting to see the same thinking on red zone fades.  By any measure in football, the play has been very effective.  Our heavy use of it, however, seems to be convincing some fans that defenses see the throw coming and that only miracle catches by AW rescue the play from certain failure.  But it's a bitch wicked play to defend to begin with,  When you have college football's equivalent of Dennis Rodman going up for the contested ball, it's almost unfair.

As long as a play is working, you should run it. It may not be "sexy", but it wins games. It was interesting that TCU  double covered JJAW as a reply, so we had to flank a slot receiver out on that side to prevent the double coverage. So, it is not like the coaching staff is unaware of the situation on the field. If and when somebody comes up with a good way to defend the play, like a 6'7" safety, we will have to do something else. The whole goal of play calling is to create a situation that puts the defense at a disadvantage that they can't overcome. As long as a certain play does that, changing is stupid.

[Goose]

We don't run on first down as often as 90% of Stanford fans think, for example,

Possibly true. I am not really sure how often people think we run on first down. You will, I think, grant that we run on first down quite frequently, probably more than most teams but not as much as Army.

and we pass far less successfully on first down than fans think, too.

And that is probably one reason we run as often as we do.  :) With Hogan and even more with Luck, we could do real damage on first down when we passed. The last two years, not as much. Hopefully, Costello changes this.

We're starting to see the same thinking on red zone fades.  By any measure in football, the play has been very effective.  Our heavy use of it, however, seems to be convincing some fans that defenses see the throw coming and that only miracle catches by AW rescue the play from certain failure.  But it's a bitch wicked play to defend to begin with,  When you have college football's equivalent of Dennis Rodman going up for the contested ball, it's almost unfair.

As long as a play is working, you should run it. It may not be "sexy", but it wins games. It was interesting that TCU  double covered JJAW as a reply, so we had to flank a slot receiver out on that side to prevent the double coverage. So, it is not like the coaching staff is unaware of the situation on the field. If and when somebody comes up with a good way to defend the play, like a 6'7" safety, we will have to do something else. The whole goal of play calling is to create a situation that puts the defense at a disadvantage that they can't overcome. As long as a certain play does that, changing is stupid.