[81alum]

We have played some good teams, but there is the possibility that none of them have been elite competition.  This makes it hard to benchmark how well we are doing.

Here is one benchmark:  how would we do against a composite team made up of Washington's defense and WSU's offense?  That would be a formidable opponent.  If we can score more points against the league's best defense than we allow against the league's best offense, then I would conclude we are pretty good.

So I will be a happy camper if we beat WSU at all....and happier yet if we do so by holding them to 30 or fewer points.

[81alum]

We have played some good teams, but there is the possibility that none of them have been elite competition.  This makes it hard to benchmark how well we are doing.

Here is one benchmark:  how would we do against a composite team made up of Washington's defense and WSU's offense?  That would be a formidable opponent.  If we can score more points against the league's best defense than we allow against the league's best offense, then I would conclude we are pretty good.

So I will be a happy camper if we beat WSU at all....and happier yet if we do so by holding them to 30 or fewer points.

[ThePassionOfTheChryst]

An interesting question comes to mind.  Who would win in a hypothetical matchup between a team of UW's defense with WSU's offense, and a team of 2014 Stanford's defense with 2015 Stanford's offense?

[ThePassionOfTheChryst]

An interesting question comes to mind.  Who would win in a hypothetical matchup between a team of UW's defense with WSU's offense, and a team of 2014 Stanford's defense with 2015 Stanford's offense?

[BostonCard]

An interesting question comes to mind.  Who would win in a hypothetical matchup between a team of UW's defense with WSU's offense, and a team of 2014 Stanford's defense with 2015 Stanford's offense?

Pretty sure the 2014/2015 Stanford team would win, easily.  That would be a combination of a top-10 offense and a top-10 defense.  I would put that team up against anyone.

BC

[BostonCard]

An interesting question comes to mind.  Who would win in a hypothetical matchup between a team of UW's defense with WSU's offense, and a team of 2014 Stanford's defense with 2015 Stanford's offense?

Pretty sure the 2014/2015 Stanford team would win, easily.  That would be a combination of a top-10 offense and a top-10 defense.  I would put that team up against anyone.

BC

[StanfordIndians1]

who would you take out if this years Offense and 2014 Defense? I would take this years O. 

[StanfordIndians1]

who would you take out if this years Offense and 2014 Defense? I would take this years O. 

[BostonCard]

who would you take out if this years Offense and 2014 Defense? I would take this years O. 

What do you mean?  I would take this year's team over last year's team, because although this year's defense is above average, while for most of the year, last year's offense was below average.

If this year's offense went up against last year's defense, I could see it scoring in the 20's.  Oregon scored 45, but it had tempo; ASU scored 26, Maryland 21, and nobody else over 20.

BC

[BostonCard]

who would you take out if this years Offense and 2014 Defense? I would take this years O. 

What do you mean?  I would take this year's team over last year's team, because although this year's defense is above average, while for most of the year, last year's offense was below average.

If this year's offense went up against last year's defense, I could see it scoring in the 20's.  Oregon scored 45, but it had tempo; ASU scored 26, Maryland 21, and nobody else over 20.

BC

[washingtonismoney]

The 2014 Stanford D + 2015 Stanford O would be, by some distance, the best team in the country.

[washingtonismoney]

The 2014 Stanford D + 2015 Stanford O would be, by some distance, the best team in the country.

[cardcoug]

[quote author=ThePassionOfTheChryst link=topic=13351.msg137022#msg137022 date=1445810703]
An interesting question comes to mind.  Who would win in a hypothetical matchup between a team of UW's defense with WSU's offense, and a team of 2014 Stanford's defense with 2015 Stanford's offense?

Pretty sure the 2014/2015 Stanford team would win, easily.  That would be a combination of a top-10 offense and a top-10 defense.  I would put that team up against anyone.

BC
[/quote]

I completely agree. It's not even close. Our 2014 defense was elite nationally and led the PAC 12 by a very wide margin in basically every single category. Washington's defense is one of the good defenses in the conference this year.  I haven't checked, but after last night I think that either we or Utah will have moved above them in several categories; their 1st place position in many stats was by a very small margin. And if what folks have to say in the safeties and WSU thread is accurate, their offense is good, but not elite. Our offense, on the other hand, has been utterly and completely dominant in conference play. WIM is right; I think that team would go 15-0.

We have some actual evidence availble, in fact: our offense just had its way with Washington's defense last night. They slowed us down a bit, but we still got 31 points (and if it had been a close game we would not have milked the clock as we did, thus likely scoring much more). So we know how things would go on that side of this hypothetical matchup. on the other side, our defense didn't yield much to them last year, certainly nothing like what we did to Washington last night, and it doesn't sound like their offense this year is significantly better than its predecessor, though here things are more speculative.

[cardcoug]

[quote author=ThePassionOfTheChryst link=topic=13351.msg137022#msg137022 date=1445810703]
An interesting question comes to mind.  Who would win in a hypothetical matchup between a team of UW's defense with WSU's offense, and a team of 2014 Stanford's defense with 2015 Stanford's offense?

Pretty sure the 2014/2015 Stanford team would win, easily.  That would be a combination of a top-10 offense and a top-10 defense.  I would put that team up against anyone.

BC
[/quote]

I completely agree. It's not even close. Our 2014 defense was elite nationally and led the PAC 12 by a very wide margin in basically every single category. Washington's defense is one of the good defenses in the conference this year.  I haven't checked, but after last night I think that either we or Utah will have moved above them in several categories; their 1st place position in many stats was by a very small margin. And if what folks have to say in the safeties and WSU thread is accurate, their offense is good, but not elite. Our offense, on the other hand, has been utterly and completely dominant in conference play. WIM is right; I think that team would go 15-0.

We have some actual evidence availble, in fact: our offense just had its way with Washington's defense last night. They slowed us down a bit, but we still got 31 points (and if it had been a close game we would not have milked the clock as we did, thus likely scoring much more). So we know how things would go on that side of this hypothetical matchup. on the other side, our defense didn't yield much to them last year, certainly nothing like what we did to Washington last night, and it doesn't sound like their offense this year is significantly better than its predecessor, though here things are more speculative.

[TheFarm07]

Maybe one of these years we can combine an elite offense and an elite defense in the same year and go 15-0. 

It seems that whenever our offense picks up, our defense takes a back seat like this year and in other years, like last year, when our defense is stellar, our offense is mediocre.

It would be nice to actually have the 2014 defense and the 2015 offense be the same team one of these times.

[TheFarm07]

Maybe one of these years we can combine an elite offense and an elite defense in the same year and go 15-0. 

It seems that whenever our offense picks up, our defense takes a back seat like this year and in other years, like last year, when our defense is stellar, our offense is mediocre.

It would be nice to actually have the 2014 defense and the 2015 offense be the same team one of these times.

[washingtonismoney]

Maybe one of these years we can combine an elite offense and an elite defense in the same year and go 15-0. 

It seems that whenever our offense picks up, our defense takes a back seat like this year and in other years, like last year, when our defense is stellar, our offense is mediocre.

It would be nice to actually have the 2014 defense and the 2015 offense be the same team one of these times.

Yeah, this has been the classic timing problem. I think it's due to two factors:

1) we're talented enough that we lose players early to the pros: for instance, imagine how good the 2013 team would've been with Toilolo and Terrence Brown staying on for another year. Additionally, the coaches have made some questionable decisions with respect to redshirting (would've been nice to have Terrence Stephens in 2013, or Aziz Shittu in 2016). Our roster churn isn't optimal; some of it is self-inflicted.

2) Then there's the incoming talent. It's easier to sustain when you're bringing in five-stars and combining it with elite coaching/development -- like Alabama or Ohio State. We've got the latter part, or reasonably close; it's the former that challenges us. If you look at our teams, every year seems to have a key talent gap; 2015 (defensive line), 2013 (tight end), 2012 (QB, WR), 2011 (WR, DB). Those talent gaps are partially due to waiting for guys to develop, and partially due to gaps in recruiting. For instance, the 2013 TE talent gap is due to failing to recruit TEs in 2011 + 2012.

Other than that, we're just kind of stuck with waiting for everything to come together -- like 2010 -- and hoping we aren't waylaid.

[washingtonismoney]

Maybe one of these years we can combine an elite offense and an elite defense in the same year and go 15-0. 

It seems that whenever our offense picks up, our defense takes a back seat like this year and in other years, like last year, when our defense is stellar, our offense is mediocre.

It would be nice to actually have the 2014 defense and the 2015 offense be the same team one of these times.

Yeah, this has been the classic timing problem. I think it's due to two factors:

1) we're talented enough that we lose players early to the pros: for instance, imagine how good the 2013 team would've been with Toilolo and Terrence Brown staying on for another year. Additionally, the coaches have made some questionable decisions with respect to redshirting (would've been nice to have Terrence Stephens in 2013, or Aziz Shittu in 2016). Our roster churn isn't optimal; some of it is self-inflicted.

2) Then there's the incoming talent. It's easier to sustain when you're bringing in five-stars and combining it with elite coaching/development -- like Alabama or Ohio State. We've got the latter part, or reasonably close; it's the former that challenges us. If you look at our teams, every year seems to have a key talent gap; 2015 (defensive line), 2013 (tight end), 2012 (QB, WR), 2011 (WR, DB). Those talent gaps are partially due to waiting for guys to develop, and partially due to gaps in recruiting. For instance, the 2013 TE talent gap is due to failing to recruit TEs in 2011 + 2012.

Other than that, we're just kind of stuck with waiting for everything to come together -- like 2010 -- and hoping we aren't waylaid.