[socalstanfan1]

Moreover, for those of us who suffered through years of zone coverage on defense it is great to see us having the skills to consistently play man! 

Agreed! I think this is one of the things that Mason figured out when designing a defense to stop the spread offenses popping up everywhere. You simply cannot play zone, you have to get athletes who can match all the receivers running everywhere, and you need to have great tacklers to be sure the 3 yard catch doesn't become a 30 yard TD. Ever since last year's Oregon game, this defense has basically played that style to a T.  The challenge, it seems to me, is to get guys who can run with the small receivers, AND guys who are big and tall enough to match the big receivers around the PAC-12. Converting HS safeties to College CBs seems to be the strategy for Stanford (Lyons, Carter, Pippens, Carrington, Browning, were all either safeties in HS or assumed to be safeties for the college game by the recruiting services, who all became CBs at Stanford. I think you might be able to add Terrance Brown to that,list as well, and the incoming Alijah Holder).

[socalstanfan1]

Moreover, for those of us who suffered through years of zone coverage on defense it is great to see us having the skills to consistently play man! 

Agreed! I think this is one of the things that Mason figured out when designing a defense to stop the spread offenses popping up everywhere. You simply cannot play zone, you have to get athletes who can match all the receivers running everywhere, and you need to have great tacklers to be sure the 3 yard catch doesn't become a 30 yard TD. Ever since last year's Oregon game, this defense has basically played that style to a T.  The challenge, it seems to me, is to get guys who can run with the small receivers, AND guys who are big and tall enough to match the big receivers around the PAC-12. Converting HS safeties to College CBs seems to be the strategy for Stanford (Lyons, Carter, Pippens, Carrington, Browning, were all either safeties in HS or assumed to be safeties for the college game by the recruiting services, who all became CBs at Stanford. I think you might be able to add Terrance Brown to that,list as well, and the incoming Alijah Holder).