[Spiny_Norman]

I don't think anyone is subscribing to an Olympic Table Tennis style lose on purpose type effort.  Rather if Stanford is down by 14 points in the 3rd quarter the team will know it has got to find a way.  Conversely, if UCLA is down by 14 points in the 3rd quarter a fair number of the players on the  team will be thinking about that mulligan option.  Almost all Pac-12 teams are capable of winning on any given weekend, so that possibility of an unprecedented difference in motivation is noteworthy.

I read comments like this and think about the reverse situation.  What if Stanford had clinched the North while UCLA had everything riding on the game.  Would Chase Thomas, Shayne Skov, Stepfan Taylor, Zach Ertz, Jordan Richards, AJ Tarpley, Kevin Hogan, et al., give anything less than 100%?  If Stanford was down 2 TDs in the 3rd quarter, would those guys think about saving some effort for the apparent rematch a week later? 

No way!!  They play to win and I expect UCLA to do the same.  This game can be every bit as tough as Notre Dame and Oregon were.  Stanford had better bring their best effort for 60 minutes or it could be bye-bye Pac 12 championship game.

[Spiny_Norman]

I don't think anyone is subscribing to an Olympic Table Tennis style lose on purpose type effort.  Rather if Stanford is down by 14 points in the 3rd quarter the team will know it has got to find a way.  Conversely, if UCLA is down by 14 points in the 3rd quarter a fair number of the players on the  team will be thinking about that mulligan option.  Almost all Pac-12 teams are capable of winning on any given weekend, so that possibility of an unprecedented difference in motivation is noteworthy.

I read comments like this and think about the reverse situation.  What if Stanford had clinched the North while UCLA had everything riding on the game.  Would Chase Thomas, Shayne Skov, Stepfan Taylor, Zach Ertz, Jordan Richards, AJ Tarpley, Kevin Hogan, et al., give anything less than 100%?  If Stanford was down 2 TDs in the 3rd quarter, would those guys think about saving some effort for the apparent rematch a week later? 

No way!!  They play to win and I expect UCLA to do the same.  This game can be every bit as tough as Notre Dame and Oregon were.  Stanford had better bring their best effort for 60 minutes or it could be bye-bye Pac 12 championship game.