[BostonCard]

Am looking forward to watching the first three quarters - what I saw in Q4 was vintage Shaw, bailed out by uber-elite QB play from Mills (and a ridiculous catch by Fehoko).  I could not believe the run plays on 1st and second downs on the last drive - both led to third and longs.  It's okay to run - but in that formation where no one is out wide, Stanford runs to the heavy side every time.  It led to 1, 1, and 0 yards (the back-to-back same play after the first first down was especially exasperating).  Anyway, it all worked out in the end, but man, it felt like Stanford had some good fortune there (and elite QBs can make good fortune).


But perhaps watching the first 3 quarters will make those formations/plays more reasonable.



As stated elsewhere, I thought the best call of the last drive was the fourth down where Shaw again lined up in tight formation, heavy left. But the RB got the ball and ran right (presumably the called play) for the first down to ice the game.  Nice!  [BTW, right decisions to burn clock before snapping and to go for it on fourth down late, instead of kicking FG].



Congrats to team and coaching staff.  That one has to feel really good.

Who says Shaw doesn't change.  The old Shaw would have run it on third and 9, then punted on fourth and 6 (but we would have had a defense that would have stopped UW).

And I think going for it on fourth down was a no-brainer.  It would have been different if we had been up by 6, and a made field goal puts you up two scores with less than a minute left (though even then, going for it is probably the right call), but since we were up 5, UW would have had to score a touchdown regardless, a made field goal gives them an opportunity for a return, and a missed field goal gives them much better field position.  A made 4th down conversion clinches the game, while a missed one leaves UW 30 seconds to go 84 yards (of course Oregon went 75 yards against Cal in 23 seconds!)

BC

[BostonCard]

Am looking forward to watching the first three quarters - what I saw in Q4 was vintage Shaw, bailed out by uber-elite QB play from Mills (and a ridiculous catch by Fehoko).  I could not believe the run plays on 1st and second downs on the last drive - both led to third and longs.  It's okay to run - but in that formation where no one is out wide, Stanford runs to the heavy side every time.  It led to 1, 1, and 0 yards (the back-to-back same play after the first first down was especially exasperating).  Anyway, it all worked out in the end, but man, it felt like Stanford had some good fortune there (and elite QBs can make good fortune).


But perhaps watching the first 3 quarters will make those formations/plays more reasonable.



As stated elsewhere, I thought the best call of the last drive was the fourth down where Shaw again lined up in tight formation, heavy left. But the RB got the ball and ran right (presumably the called play) for the first down to ice the game.  Nice!  [BTW, right decisions to burn clock before snapping and to go for it on fourth down late, instead of kicking FG].



Congrats to team and coaching staff.  That one has to feel really good.

Who says Shaw doesn't change.  The old Shaw would have run it on third and 9, then punted on fourth and 6 (but we would have had a defense that would have stopped UW).

And I think going for it on fourth down was a no-brainer.  It would have been different if we had been up by 6, and a made field goal puts you up two scores with less than a minute left (though even then, going for it is probably the right call), but since we were up 5, UW would have had to score a touchdown regardless, a made field goal gives them an opportunity for a return, and a missed field goal gives them much better field position.  A made 4th down conversion clinches the game, while a missed one leaves UW 30 seconds to go 84 yards (of course Oregon went 75 yards against Cal in 23 seconds!)

BC