08-24-2025, 11:38 PM
I think the game was disappointing because it was winnable, and Stanford sort of gave the game away. The team didn't quite snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, but it was there for the taking in the second half. So that's disappointing, and it hurts a lot given that there will be precious few opportunities to match up well against opponents this year.
The offensive numbers looked bad because, I think, the offense wasn't put in a place to succeed. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting the same results, and when you throw the ball over and over again with this particular set of talent, I'm not sure how you'd expect different results. I'm beating the drum again: that last TD drive was run dominant (2:1 ratio, just about?), and we saw Hawai'i defenders gassed, taking injury timeouts to catch their breath, etc. We never went back to that after the INT. (Woody Hayes had something to say about the outcomes of passing the ball.) And again, I will point out that Hawai'i nearly had three more interceptions if their defensive players had good hands.
Finally, the last two minutes of the game: either get into range of Kenney's leg (and he's got range), or bleed out the clock so that Hawai'i doesn't have an eternity to short-pass and play the sidelines to get into FG range for themselves. Giving the ball back with 1:45 on the clock was foolish, imo. And if you call timeouts correctly (Stanford had three at the time), maybe you preserve enough clock to get the ball back and tie it back up or score a TD. Hawai'i did the smart thing and bled out the clock to hit a walk-off FG. Offensive playcalling failed in at least two strategic ways, and I don't know how you rectify a lack of strategic fundamentals in the coaching staff. The kids trust the coaches to put the team in a position to win. Yeah...no. But the kids almost won the game anyway. That sack-TD to start the game was an amazing play. This team wanted to win.
The offensive numbers looked bad because, I think, the offense wasn't put in a place to succeed. Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting the same results, and when you throw the ball over and over again with this particular set of talent, I'm not sure how you'd expect different results. I'm beating the drum again: that last TD drive was run dominant (2:1 ratio, just about?), and we saw Hawai'i defenders gassed, taking injury timeouts to catch their breath, etc. We never went back to that after the INT. (Woody Hayes had something to say about the outcomes of passing the ball.) And again, I will point out that Hawai'i nearly had three more interceptions if their defensive players had good hands.
Finally, the last two minutes of the game: either get into range of Kenney's leg (and he's got range), or bleed out the clock so that Hawai'i doesn't have an eternity to short-pass and play the sidelines to get into FG range for themselves. Giving the ball back with 1:45 on the clock was foolish, imo. And if you call timeouts correctly (Stanford had three at the time), maybe you preserve enough clock to get the ball back and tie it back up or score a TD. Hawai'i did the smart thing and bled out the clock to hit a walk-off FG. Offensive playcalling failed in at least two strategic ways, and I don't know how you rectify a lack of strategic fundamentals in the coaching staff. The kids trust the coaches to put the team in a position to win. Yeah...no. But the kids almost won the game anyway. That sack-TD to start the game was an amazing play. This team wanted to win.