10-24-2012, 02:16 PM
The thing I remember about that Illinois game was that Benjamin had a high completion percentage in spite of the turnovers. The score was close at the half and some fans thought the interceptions were not his fault. When Benjamin was replaced by Cordova it marked the beginning of the controversy. Christensen adamantly stated that each quarterback deserved a whole game to show what they can do and Benjamin didn't get his. Putting in Cordova also pissed off the Illinois players. They stated after the game that it was an insult to them, like Stanford could put anyone in and they would still win. Illinois won by thirty points or so.
The controversy began in Ernest when Benjamin came in for one play during the WSU game and threw a forty plus yard pass for a touchdown. Christensen got on him because he had thrown into double coverage. Cordova, on the other hand, was booed when he had thrown a pass way out of bounds. He was avoiding a sack, but the fans thought it was simply another badly thrown ball. Christensen stated after the game that Cordova made the right play, but Stanford fans saw it differently. The next game there was a banner in the stands that read, "77% and still on the bench."
Christensen's reason for going with Cordova was, "He had better control of the offense, especially on running plays, and this was something that only the coaching staff could evaluate after many practices." In hind site, he was probably right. But, after watching Plunket, Bounce, and Boryla, Stanford fans, including myself, had a much different concept of what the offense should look like.
The controversy began in Ernest when Benjamin came in for one play during the WSU game and threw a forty plus yard pass for a touchdown. Christensen got on him because he had thrown into double coverage. Cordova, on the other hand, was booed when he had thrown a pass way out of bounds. He was avoiding a sack, but the fans thought it was simply another badly thrown ball. Christensen stated after the game that Cordova made the right play, but Stanford fans saw it differently. The next game there was a banner in the stands that read, "77% and still on the bench."
Christensen's reason for going with Cordova was, "He had better control of the offense, especially on running plays, and this was something that only the coaching staff could evaluate after many practices." In hind site, he was probably right. But, after watching Plunket, Bounce, and Boryla, Stanford fans, including myself, had a much different concept of what the offense should look like.