[needle]

I thought Mariotta looked pretty good passing the ball, all things considered. That scares me. While I completely buy into the heroic narrative of the Stanford defense against the Ducks last year, Mariotta did miss some passes. Any growth as a passer is a scary proposition.

However, I also thought maybe the play calling maybe wasn't quite as inspired (or at least as successful) as under Kelly. In particular, the Wahoos got a fourth-down stop at the end of the first half near the goal line. It's much more likely I don't know what I'm talking about here.

The defensive line looked really good to me. Armstead is scary. Secondary very good. LBs? Maybe not so great.

Overall, their offense is probably going to be as good as last year, but this Duck team may be a bit more vulnerable defensively than last year. We'll see.

[needle]

I thought Mariotta looked pretty good passing the ball, all things considered. That scares me. While I completely buy into the heroic narrative of the Stanford defense against the Ducks last year, Mariotta did miss some passes. Any growth as a passer is a scary proposition.

However, I also thought maybe the play calling maybe wasn't quite as inspired (or at least as successful) as under Kelly. In particular, the Wahoos got a fourth-down stop at the end of the first half near the goal line. It's much more likely I don't know what I'm talking about here.

The defensive line looked really good to me. Armstead is scary. Secondary very good. LBs? Maybe not so great.

Overall, their offense is probably going to be as good as last year, but this Duck team may be a bit more vulnerable defensively than last year. We'll see.