[Spiny_Norman]

Aren't teams more than just the sum total of the individual piece parts?  The 2010 team (playing in an even numbered year) had similar schedule challenges as this year's team.  The schedule included back-to-back trips to South Bend and Eugene followed by a home game vs. USC.  A brutally tough run.

The team recorded 3 conference shutouts, including 2 on the road (last done in 1935).  They dominated the Domers in South Bend and also won at Tempe.  The team got better as the season progressed and capped it off with a convincing victory over the ACC champs.  You can do player-by--player analyses, but that does not tell you about a team's motivation, how they will play under pressure, their resilience, coaching decisions, etc. 

I don't think that you can foretell this season's results based on comparison to 2010.  Like many here, I am excited at the prospects!  Stanford seems like they should be in the hunt for a conference championship.  But we'll just have to wait and see what this team does on the field.

Btw, say what you want about Nate Whitaker, but no kicker could have done better than this right here:
http://youtu.be/CzdqOWUwNJs?t=1m27s#aid=P-IEIeHIxA4

[Spiny_Norman]

Aren't teams more than just the sum total of the individual piece parts?  The 2010 team (playing in an even numbered year) had similar schedule challenges as this year's team.  The schedule included back-to-back trips to South Bend and Eugene followed by a home game vs. USC.  A brutally tough run.

The team recorded 3 conference shutouts, including 2 on the road (last done in 1935).  They dominated the Domers in South Bend and also won at Tempe.  The team got better as the season progressed and capped it off with a convincing victory over the ACC champs.  You can do player-by--player analyses, but that does not tell you about a team's motivation, how they will play under pressure, their resilience, coaching decisions, etc. 

I don't think that you can foretell this season's results based on comparison to 2010.  Like many here, I am excited at the prospects!  Stanford seems like they should be in the hunt for a conference championship.  But we'll just have to wait and see what this team does on the field.

Btw, say what you want about Nate Whitaker, but no kicker could have done better than this right here:
http://youtu.be/CzdqOWUwNJs?t=1m27s#aid=P-IEIeHIxA4