I was jumping with joy during last night's game, fully expecting some kind of shared euphoria here on the boards. So I go to sleep, wait til morning. The next day, threads covering things like what wasn't good, or areas of concern, or measured analyses of pros and cons.
I was confused. I know the standards and expectations are high, and people don't want to get too far ahead of themselves, but man, that was amazing!! And I think it certainly calls for some pure celebration.
Here are are my Top 10 Great Things From the Stanford-Rice Game:
#1. That is one of the best, if not the best, season opener I've ever seen. So often, I find myself trying to make excuses for a slow start (when they'd eke by SJSU or even lose to Northwestern). But not this year. The only start that could be argued was similar was the 2011 blowout of SJSU, and that kicked off a pretty great year.
#2. Although Rice clearly is not a good team, and was perhaps a bit distracted, they came looking to win and wanted to shock the world. They had a surprisingly complex offense. The false starts and sloppiness came in part came because Rice had a lot of surprises up its sleeves -- formation shifts, misdirection, shovel passes, jet sweeps, and some interesting uptemo switches. I think most defenses would've gotten caught a few times and gotten scored on. But Stanford's defense was remarkably sharp from day 1. This is a Stanford defense that is way more prepared to face the kind of looks Washington threw at us last year. And it's only game 1.
#3. So many offensive weapons. Brutal run blocking. Dynamic runners. As Chip Kelly said, about 17 great Tight Ends. A backup quarterback who can start and run some different looks and plays. A rocketship Frosh slot receiver. This could be the most balanced offensive arsenal Stanford has ever had. And I love that Shaw put all of this on tape. Is Wedington gonna play more or less? Will he get new plays or run only that one? Is Burns gonna play every game to change things up? Good luck analyzing all that tape, USC.
#4. Frosh! Wow, I remember at least 3 frosh playing. Did we ever see 3 frosh playing in the season opener? And all 3 (Wedington, Sarell, Little) look like they're going to see significant action.
#4. Bryce "Sweet Feet" Love. We expected him to be great, and he is even better than expected.
#5. Cameron Scarlett. Last year and during the Cardinal-White scrimmage, I gotta admit, I lost faith in Scarlett and thought he wasn't going to pan out. But wow! I love his power, his balance, his focus to eventually pull that pass down. And he surprised Rice a few times with that vertical burst that he's got. Now we have that power runner, who also has breakaway speed.
#6. The Love-Scarlett 1-2 punch. I argue, this point deserves a special place of its own. It is so, so hard to stop a great running game with 2 different gears on it with multiple elite runners. Many times in the past, Stanford has claimed to have a committee of starters, but I think this is the first time since Milburn-Vardell I have seen them have two elite different gear runners, and that by itself will make opposing coaches lose sleep. It's not quite the change-of-pace Alabama has with Scarbrough, but I think it will become one of the deadliest change-of-pace RB combos in the nation this year.
#7. A pantry full of elite tight ends. I knew they were going to be great, but come on, everyone has to admit they were even greater than expected. Even though Toilolo is doing well with the Falcons, he did seem to drop some balls. This looks like the best set of tight ends we've ever had, maybe the best any college has had in the modern era.
#8. Keller Chryst. OK, still room for improvement. But some great decisions. Some great vision. Some movement in the pocket. Some good running. Some instances where he moved, looked up, found his receiver and fired it in there. Another foreshadowing for me -- the 63 yards on the opening play was created by Chryst recognizing the defense, and calling an adjustment. Did that moment remind anyone else of that Washington game that Andrew Luck called his best because of the adjustments he called? Last week, David Shaw talked about Keller Chryst and said now he's now playing at the advanced AP Classes level and getting A's.
#9. Pancakes! On my second viewing, I saw many run plays where the Stanford players not only won their individuals matchups, they not only got their right man and drove their opponents, but they absolutely destroyed their opponents. There was one 10-ish yard run by Love where I saw like 3 Rice players absolutely blown up and pancaked. And even if you argue it was against Rice, A) we did nothing like this to them last year, and B) I think it's actually very, very hard to pancake linebackers in space.Last year early in the season, I saw some meandering linemen playing tentatively because they weren't sure of their assignments and weren't ready to deliver a blow. Yesterday was the opposite, and it is getting me excited.
#10. And all this was without JJAW, AT Hall, a limited Alfieri, and no Bryce Love kickoff or punt returns. And no blitzes (that I can recall), no fancy tight end packages, no offensive sets with all the weapons. YET.
Now of course, I saw areas of concern and areas needing improvement. But I want to be all positive here. Shaw has said a team improves the most between games 1 and 2. Think about how much that 2015 team improved after the Northwestern game. If this year's team can make a brobdingnagian improvement from game 1 to 2, and can improve like the 2015 team did, and can stay healthy like that 2015 team did, that Rice game -- with the stingy defense, the world of offensive daggers, the crisp, experienced defense, the elite athleticism, the depth, and the showcasing of star true frosh, that looked an awful lot like how a playoff contender opens its season.
I was confused. I know the standards and expectations are high, and people don't want to get too far ahead of themselves, but man, that was amazing!! And I think it certainly calls for some pure celebration.
Here are are my Top 10 Great Things From the Stanford-Rice Game:
#1. That is one of the best, if not the best, season opener I've ever seen. So often, I find myself trying to make excuses for a slow start (when they'd eke by SJSU or even lose to Northwestern). But not this year. The only start that could be argued was similar was the 2011 blowout of SJSU, and that kicked off a pretty great year.
#2. Although Rice clearly is not a good team, and was perhaps a bit distracted, they came looking to win and wanted to shock the world. They had a surprisingly complex offense. The false starts and sloppiness came in part came because Rice had a lot of surprises up its sleeves -- formation shifts, misdirection, shovel passes, jet sweeps, and some interesting uptemo switches. I think most defenses would've gotten caught a few times and gotten scored on. But Stanford's defense was remarkably sharp from day 1. This is a Stanford defense that is way more prepared to face the kind of looks Washington threw at us last year. And it's only game 1.
#3. So many offensive weapons. Brutal run blocking. Dynamic runners. As Chip Kelly said, about 17 great Tight Ends. A backup quarterback who can start and run some different looks and plays. A rocketship Frosh slot receiver. This could be the most balanced offensive arsenal Stanford has ever had. And I love that Shaw put all of this on tape. Is Wedington gonna play more or less? Will he get new plays or run only that one? Is Burns gonna play every game to change things up? Good luck analyzing all that tape, USC.
#4. Frosh! Wow, I remember at least 3 frosh playing. Did we ever see 3 frosh playing in the season opener? And all 3 (Wedington, Sarell, Little) look like they're going to see significant action.
#4. Bryce "Sweet Feet" Love. We expected him to be great, and he is even better than expected.
#5. Cameron Scarlett. Last year and during the Cardinal-White scrimmage, I gotta admit, I lost faith in Scarlett and thought he wasn't going to pan out. But wow! I love his power, his balance, his focus to eventually pull that pass down. And he surprised Rice a few times with that vertical burst that he's got. Now we have that power runner, who also has breakaway speed.
#6. The Love-Scarlett 1-2 punch. I argue, this point deserves a special place of its own. It is so, so hard to stop a great running game with 2 different gears on it with multiple elite runners. Many times in the past, Stanford has claimed to have a committee of starters, but I think this is the first time since Milburn-Vardell I have seen them have two elite different gear runners, and that by itself will make opposing coaches lose sleep. It's not quite the change-of-pace Alabama has with Scarbrough, but I think it will become one of the deadliest change-of-pace RB combos in the nation this year.
#7. A pantry full of elite tight ends. I knew they were going to be great, but come on, everyone has to admit they were even greater than expected. Even though Toilolo is doing well with the Falcons, he did seem to drop some balls. This looks like the best set of tight ends we've ever had, maybe the best any college has had in the modern era.
#8. Keller Chryst. OK, still room for improvement. But some great decisions. Some great vision. Some movement in the pocket. Some good running. Some instances where he moved, looked up, found his receiver and fired it in there. Another foreshadowing for me -- the 63 yards on the opening play was created by Chryst recognizing the defense, and calling an adjustment. Did that moment remind anyone else of that Washington game that Andrew Luck called his best because of the adjustments he called? Last week, David Shaw talked about Keller Chryst and said now he's now playing at the advanced AP Classes level and getting A's.
#9. Pancakes! On my second viewing, I saw many run plays where the Stanford players not only won their individuals matchups, they not only got their right man and drove their opponents, but they absolutely destroyed their opponents. There was one 10-ish yard run by Love where I saw like 3 Rice players absolutely blown up and pancaked. And even if you argue it was against Rice, A) we did nothing like this to them last year, and B) I think it's actually very, very hard to pancake linebackers in space.Last year early in the season, I saw some meandering linemen playing tentatively because they weren't sure of their assignments and weren't ready to deliver a blow. Yesterday was the opposite, and it is getting me excited.
#10. And all this was without JJAW, AT Hall, a limited Alfieri, and no Bryce Love kickoff or punt returns. And no blitzes (that I can recall), no fancy tight end packages, no offensive sets with all the weapons. YET.
Now of course, I saw areas of concern and areas needing improvement. But I want to be all positive here. Shaw has said a team improves the most between games 1 and 2. Think about how much that 2015 team improved after the Northwestern game. If this year's team can make a brobdingnagian improvement from game 1 to 2, and can improve like the 2015 team did, and can stay healthy like that 2015 team did, that Rice game -- with the stingy defense, the world of offensive daggers, the crisp, experienced defense, the elite athleticism, the depth, and the showcasing of star true frosh, that looked an awful lot like how a playoff contender opens its season.
