Good post, CTcard, but I'm a bit more charitable about the 2021 pass defense. The wheels fell off the last three games but the vast majority of the season the pass defense was playing better, albeit against mediocre pass offenses. Here's how I think about it:
We only played two good pass offenses all year, Notre Dame and UCLA. Both of those passing games roasted us. Oregon State, Utah, Arizona State, Oregon, Washington State, and USC were mediocre passing attacks and among that group we played very tough pass defense against Utah (run defense was the problem that game to put it very, very, very mildly), Arizona State, Oregon, and USC. Overall, among our 12 games we had five games when we defended the pass objectively well compared to the opponent's norm, five games in which the pass defense fell apart (and HEAVILY concentrated at the end of the schedule), and two games in which we basically defended the passing opponent like others typically did (Kansas State and Washington). It also bears mentioning that Kyu Blu Kelly and Zahran Manley, probably the most underrated player on the Stanford roster for my money, didn't play against Oregon State. To me the story of the pass defense was that it was a bit above-average for the majority of the year and then the Utah calamity was so dispiriting for the team generally that the pass defenders joined everybody else in losing all morale/motivation/cohesion, and the wheels fell off like they did for every unit.
Not a glowing picture by any means, but if the season ended November 5 we would have comfortably had an above-average pass defense. Considering the season as a whole and thinking contextually, I would call pass defense the biggest unit-wide bright spot of the 2021 season.
We only played two good pass offenses all year, Notre Dame and UCLA. Both of those passing games roasted us. Oregon State, Utah, Arizona State, Oregon, Washington State, and USC were mediocre passing attacks and among that group we played very tough pass defense against Utah (run defense was the problem that game to put it very, very, very mildly), Arizona State, Oregon, and USC. Overall, among our 12 games we had five games when we defended the pass objectively well compared to the opponent's norm, five games in which the pass defense fell apart (and HEAVILY concentrated at the end of the schedule), and two games in which we basically defended the passing opponent like others typically did (Kansas State and Washington). It also bears mentioning that Kyu Blu Kelly and Zahran Manley, probably the most underrated player on the Stanford roster for my money, didn't play against Oregon State. To me the story of the pass defense was that it was a bit above-average for the majority of the year and then the Utah calamity was so dispiriting for the team generally that the pass defenders joined everybody else in losing all morale/motivation/cohesion, and the wheels fell off like they did for every unit.
Not a glowing picture by any means, but if the season ended November 5 we would have comfortably had an above-average pass defense. Considering the season as a whole and thinking contextually, I would call pass defense the biggest unit-wide bright spot of the 2021 season.