In my eyes, Gulbranson lost the starting job after the first two games. This game, I think the coaches have finally started calling enough run plays to take the heat off Gulbranson a bit (QBR 55.4). I still think his consistent mistakes are a liability...but starting this game, they might not lose games. It irks me that the first two games of the season seem to have been thrown away by the coaching staff as they tried to find out what this team and this staff are all about. Every game counts.
In my less-informed opinion, the game came down to a couple of factors: timezone difference, BC's unforced errors (and Stanford's ability to take advantage of the unforced errors), and the newfound reliance on the run game. Running the ball with commitment against a team whose bodies are taking punishment at 1:00AM or so is indeed a great way to win, and I was pleased to see the commitment to wearing down that BC run defense.
Patterson did an amazing job knifing through the BC OL to pick up Lonergan's fumble. Truly superlative work.
Roush did a great job with the TD reception. I do think the BC defender took a terrible angle in pass defense and could have pushed Roush out of bounds or even break up the pass, but the defender was too slow by a hair on both counts. Roush caught the ball and watched the defender sail out of bounds as he spun around up field and turned on the jets. That defender gambled, lost, and gave up the TD.
Lonergan's INT was just completely boneheaded. It wasn't a very long pass, and the receiver was tightly bracketed by Stanford defenders. I'm just glad Stanford didn't drop that gift! The resulting TD was an amazing momentum shift.
Do I remember correctly that someone on the Stanford defense broke up another likely interception by another Stanford defender? Sigh...
Ford might not have the jets that a previous #20 had (all love to Love), but he ran through tackles and broke into the open field enough times to really tip the balance of the game toward Stanford. BUILT FORD TOUGH. He needs a massive NIL deal. Surely someone in Ford Motor Company's leadership has a Stanford connection...
On the flip side, the Stanford defense definitely whiffed on too many tackles and allowed a lot of YAC. But they did enough, and toward the end of the game, they put the hurt on that OL and got to Lonergan. Maybe body clock, maybe not. They nullified the strength of the BC offense, holding BC scoreless during the entire second half. In fact, the only points BC scored (all 20) were in the second quarter. Quite a unique performance.
In fact, a total of 34 points were scored in that second quarter...part of it was a lot of really short possessions (three and punt, or quick scores). What a crazy quarter.
It is what it is. Stanford finally seized on all the chances going our way and got a solid, first win. No reason to change anything right now except to improve the tackling and improve the run blocking. Oh, and the defense needs to know that if a DL/LB on the edge gets an unimpeded path to the QB, the alert receiver is probably right behind them and needs to be covered.
In my less-informed opinion, the game came down to a couple of factors: timezone difference, BC's unforced errors (and Stanford's ability to take advantage of the unforced errors), and the newfound reliance on the run game. Running the ball with commitment against a team whose bodies are taking punishment at 1:00AM or so is indeed a great way to win, and I was pleased to see the commitment to wearing down that BC run defense.
Patterson did an amazing job knifing through the BC OL to pick up Lonergan's fumble. Truly superlative work.
Roush did a great job with the TD reception. I do think the BC defender took a terrible angle in pass defense and could have pushed Roush out of bounds or even break up the pass, but the defender was too slow by a hair on both counts. Roush caught the ball and watched the defender sail out of bounds as he spun around up field and turned on the jets. That defender gambled, lost, and gave up the TD.
Lonergan's INT was just completely boneheaded. It wasn't a very long pass, and the receiver was tightly bracketed by Stanford defenders. I'm just glad Stanford didn't drop that gift! The resulting TD was an amazing momentum shift.
Do I remember correctly that someone on the Stanford defense broke up another likely interception by another Stanford defender? Sigh...
Ford might not have the jets that a previous #20 had (all love to Love), but he ran through tackles and broke into the open field enough times to really tip the balance of the game toward Stanford. BUILT FORD TOUGH. He needs a massive NIL deal. Surely someone in Ford Motor Company's leadership has a Stanford connection...
On the flip side, the Stanford defense definitely whiffed on too many tackles and allowed a lot of YAC. But they did enough, and toward the end of the game, they put the hurt on that OL and got to Lonergan. Maybe body clock, maybe not. They nullified the strength of the BC offense, holding BC scoreless during the entire second half. In fact, the only points BC scored (all 20) were in the second quarter. Quite a unique performance.
In fact, a total of 34 points were scored in that second quarter...part of it was a lot of really short possessions (three and punt, or quick scores). What a crazy quarter.
It is what it is. Stanford finally seized on all the chances going our way and got a solid, first win. No reason to change anything right now except to improve the tackling and improve the run blocking. Oh, and the defense needs to know that if a DL/LB on the edge gets an unimpeded path to the QB, the alert receiver is probably right behind them and needs to be covered.