I was struck by the success that we had during the final drive of the game. We lined up in Ogre and basically strayed that way (JJAW got in for one play as a decoy). Cal had been trying to emulate WSU on defense, at least to some degree, by stemming before the snap. When we were in Ogre, that stopped because it didn't matter. They had to play us "straight up". We got good push most of the time, and 22 made quite a few yards. We ran pretty much exactly the same play the entire time, certainly in the last series. I haven't found a replay of this yet, but I would really like to watch it.
Against WSU, many people, including Shaw himself, have indicated that he should have given KJ Costello more opportunities. Sounds like a good theory, and it certainly looked good against UW. However, I wondered, both during the game and now, why we didn't just try to do to WSU what we did to Cal? WSU is even smaller on the defensive line than Cal is. When we are in Ogre, there are no gaps for them to slant into. They can jump around all they want and you just block whoever is in front of you. Granted, 50 is a great player, but his speed doesn't help him as much against this kind of offense. I am not saying we should have done this all game, but I think it would have been interesting to try. It also wears down a defense, and if we could run it for several first downs, it demoralizes them too. We never tried this, and 22 had only one carry in the game.
Stanford can also run "normal" running plays from this formation. Against Cal, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVBW6XYvy7g and look at 0:48 in. You see the end zone view Love running a play off the corner. In this play, there are lots of "moving parts". 63 pulls all the way across the formation. While this play can work, it relies somewhat on the defense being where you expect them to be. But the only gaps are ones cause by pulling players. Now, look at 2:17 into the video. Notice the straight ahead, no complexity blocking. No way the running back can be brought down by somebody penetrating from the back side. Run this for a few first downs and WSU's defense becomes planted in straight ahead attack mode. Then, run the play off the edge. No stemming / slanting to worry about.
I would really like to see us do this against WSU. I think it will also give the line lots of confidence so that when we run from a 3 wide formation with "regular" line splits, they will play much more aggressively. We need something to defeat their defensive line. Thoughts?
Against WSU, many people, including Shaw himself, have indicated that he should have given KJ Costello more opportunities. Sounds like a good theory, and it certainly looked good against UW. However, I wondered, both during the game and now, why we didn't just try to do to WSU what we did to Cal? WSU is even smaller on the defensive line than Cal is. When we are in Ogre, there are no gaps for them to slant into. They can jump around all they want and you just block whoever is in front of you. Granted, 50 is a great player, but his speed doesn't help him as much against this kind of offense. I am not saying we should have done this all game, but I think it would have been interesting to try. It also wears down a defense, and if we could run it for several first downs, it demoralizes them too. We never tried this, and 22 had only one carry in the game.
Stanford can also run "normal" running plays from this formation. Against Cal, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVBW6XYvy7g and look at 0:48 in. You see the end zone view Love running a play off the corner. In this play, there are lots of "moving parts". 63 pulls all the way across the formation. While this play can work, it relies somewhat on the defense being where you expect them to be. But the only gaps are ones cause by pulling players. Now, look at 2:17 into the video. Notice the straight ahead, no complexity blocking. No way the running back can be brought down by somebody penetrating from the back side. Run this for a few first downs and WSU's defense becomes planted in straight ahead attack mode. Then, run the play off the edge. No stemming / slanting to worry about.
I would really like to see us do this against WSU. I think it will also give the line lots of confidence so that when we run from a 3 wide formation with "regular" line splits, they will play much more aggressively. We need something to defeat their defensive line. Thoughts?
