[OutsiderFan]

Prince, I hope your take on UCLA being overhyped is right - but with decent OL play (it's been bad the past couple years), the Bruins could be a monster.

Also, not sure we watched the same 2012 conference championship game.  Stanford was very fortunate to escape that day with a W.  And the Bruins just torched that Cardinal defense, especially early.  I recall being shocked at how pedestrian the Bruins made the Stanford D look that day.

David Lombardi had a very good analysis on this topic in one of his stories in the last week.  It pointed out how Stanford was torched on short passing to RBs by UCLA in the 2012 CG, and through the Utah game, and then how Stanford's D basically shut down that tactic after Utah.  Neither UCLA or ASU gained hardly anything with that tactic after the Utah loss.

I don't think the home-road thing is going to be that big of a deal for Stanford, and here's why:

Stanford has suffered brutal losses in its last four regular season defeats:  At UW and ND in 2012, at Utah and SC in 2013, all games Stanford really should have won, for various reasons.  The next step for the program is to win these big road contests.  David Shaw has been hammering his team about playing on the road, leading up to this season.  They know they have tough road games, but they also know if they win them, they have a chance to get to the playoff.  They also have a strong defense and special teams, plus an experienced QB who by accounts has become better, as both a passer and team leader.  Plus, the receivers, who will be relied on to make the big plays, have a lot of experience.

Stanford also has more margin for error than any team in the country as well, because nobody seems to have a tougher schedule.

The scary thing for Stanford is losing to Oregon because that is the tie-breaker to get into the CG, which seems to be a prerequisite for earning a playoff berth.  It sure would suck to go 11-1 and miss the playoff with a schedule tougher than anyone's, because basically Oregon refused to lose to Stanford 3x in a row.

[OutsiderFan]

Prince, I hope your take on UCLA being overhyped is right - but with decent OL play (it's been bad the past couple years), the Bruins could be a monster.

Also, not sure we watched the same 2012 conference championship game.  Stanford was very fortunate to escape that day with a W.  And the Bruins just torched that Cardinal defense, especially early.  I recall being shocked at how pedestrian the Bruins made the Stanford D look that day.

David Lombardi had a very good analysis on this topic in one of his stories in the last week.  It pointed out how Stanford was torched on short passing to RBs by UCLA in the 2012 CG, and through the Utah game, and then how Stanford's D basically shut down that tactic after Utah.  Neither UCLA or ASU gained hardly anything with that tactic after the Utah loss.

I don't think the home-road thing is going to be that big of a deal for Stanford, and here's why:

Stanford has suffered brutal losses in its last four regular season defeats:  At UW and ND in 2012, at Utah and SC in 2013, all games Stanford really should have won, for various reasons.  The next step for the program is to win these big road contests.  David Shaw has been hammering his team about playing on the road, leading up to this season.  They know they have tough road games, but they also know if they win them, they have a chance to get to the playoff.  They also have a strong defense and special teams, plus an experienced QB who by accounts has become better, as both a passer and team leader.  Plus, the receivers, who will be relied on to make the big plays, have a lot of experience.

Stanford also has more margin for error than any team in the country as well, because nobody seems to have a tougher schedule.

The scary thing for Stanford is losing to Oregon because that is the tie-breaker to get into the CG, which seems to be a prerequisite for earning a playoff berth.  It sure would suck to go 11-1 and miss the playoff with a schedule tougher than anyone's, because basically Oregon refused to lose to Stanford 3x in a row.