[JohnR34231]

Not sure whether it's Washington State playing that well, or us playing poorly, but they are giving us all we can handle.

The Coug defense is clearly fired up, and making AL & Co look very mortal.

We keep trying to go deep with zilch success.

I hope we continue our trend of improving our play as the game and the second half progresses. We're going to need to.

[JohnR34231]

Not sure whether it's Washington State playing that well, or us playing poorly, but they are giving us all we can handle.

The Coug defense is clearly fired up, and making AL & Co look very mortal.

We keep trying to go deep with zilch success.

I hope we continue our trend of improving our play as the game and the second half progresses. We're going to need to.

[estephan500]

Has anyone heard why Owusu is still out... concussion signs, I bet.

Hats off to WSU, their fans are into it and they are playing tough and connecting.

Odd and sketchy calls by the officials going in both directions. Repeated fumbles, thank god that last one rolled directly back into the runner's arms.

We need to get in the zone.

[estephan500]

Has anyone heard why Owusu is still out... concussion signs, I bet.

Hats off to WSU, their fans are into it and they are playing tough and connecting.

Odd and sketchy calls by the officials going in both directions. Repeated fumbles, thank god that last one rolled directly back into the runner's arms.

We need to get in the zone.

[bulldogbigred]

Our run defense has been stellar as usual. Our passing D is decent, less missed tackles. But turnovers are killing us especially the fumble which gave Wazzu great field position. The only reason that they scored was because of the field position. Take away that fumble from Taylor, this game could have been 17 or 13-0.

Clearly, WSU is sky high for this game, its their homecoming and it sounds pretty loud from the television.

The Coug defenders have been keying the tight ends well. But I expect a typical smash-mouth second half of football from Stanford, to grind out the Cougars. I think we will wear them down in the second half.

[bulldogbigred]

Our run defense has been stellar as usual. Our passing D is decent, less missed tackles. But turnovers are killing us especially the fumble which gave Wazzu great field position. The only reason that they scored was because of the field position. Take away that fumble from Taylor, this game could have been 17 or 13-0.

Clearly, WSU is sky high for this game, its their homecoming and it sounds pretty loud from the television.

The Coug defenders have been keying the tight ends well. But I expect a typical smash-mouth second half of football from Stanford, to grind out the Cougars. I think we will wear them down in the second half.

[JohnR34231]

......take away the Coug fumble that led to our TD, and maybe they are ahead.

Well, it's gut check time. Should be an interesting second half.

[JohnR34231]

......take away the Coug fumble that led to our TD, and maybe they are ahead.

Well, it's gut check time. Should be an interesting second half.

[estephan500]

TV guy said that the sideline told him that Owusu is out for the game.

[estephan500]

TV guy said that the sideline told him that Owusu is out for the game.

[Leftcoast]

Yes, we're in a game.  Of course the SCORE of that game is 37 to 7.  ;-)
Stanford squashes teams after the break.

[Leftcoast]

Yes, we're in a game.  Of course the SCORE of that game is 37 to 7.  ;-)
Stanford squashes teams after the break.

[Farm93]

That is pretty much how a second half looks like for a Top 10 team.  It was not good that Wazzu was in the game at half, but put them away.

The bad part is that Nottingham will not get too much time.  Hard to imagine I would be this disappointed with a 31 point win.  I bet Shaw will help the team understand that UW, SC and Oregon are all capable of winning games if Stanford plays a sub-par half.

Edit:  A little less hard to imagine I would be disappointed with a 24 point win.  But then I could be so excited by the last 14 seconds, and a 30 point win.  Hopefully Fleener is OK. 

[Farm93]

That is pretty much how a second half looks like for a Top 10 team.  It was not good that Wazzu was in the game at half, but put them away.

The bad part is that Nottingham will not get too much time.  Hard to imagine I would be this disappointed with a 31 point win.  I bet Shaw will help the team understand that UW, SC and Oregon are all capable of winning games if Stanford plays a sub-par half.

Edit:  A little less hard to imagine I would be disappointed with a 24 point win.  But then I could be so excited by the last 14 seconds, and a 30 point win.  Hopefully Fleener is OK. 

[Farm93]

O..BTW

Bowl eligible.  For whatever that is worth.  :)

[Farm93]

O..BTW

Bowl eligible.  For whatever that is worth.  :)

[JohnR34231]

We play somewhat pedestrian in the first half, and then shift into high gear in the second.

As long as the shifting happens in the second, I'm OK with the first.

[JohnR34231]

We play somewhat pedestrian in the first half, and then shift into high gear in the second.

As long as the shifting happens in the second, I'm OK with the first.

[bulldogbigred]

I noticed that our defense played well in both halves. In the first, the offense looked out of sync, which was the first time in the whole year it looked bad, but we came back in the second half.

This was a good win, especially for the starting offense because they now know they can overcome adversity when the game is on the line.

We also found our #1 return man, Ty Montgomery. Nice spin move and a good speed of burst to get our first KO return for a TD this year.

[bulldogbigred]

I noticed that our defense played well in both halves. In the first, the offense looked out of sync, which was the first time in the whole year it looked bad, but we came back in the second half.

This was a good win, especially for the starting offense because they now know they can overcome adversity when the game is on the line.

We also found our #1 return man, Ty Montgomery. Nice spin move and a good speed of burst to get our first KO return for a TD this year.

[yvonne]

We play somewhat pedestrian in the first half, and then shift into high gear in the second.

Pedestrian, that's an extremely generous description of the 1st half of play.

[yvonne]

We play somewhat pedestrian in the first half, and then shift into high gear in the second.

Pedestrian, that's an extremely generous description of the 1st half of play.

[Farm93]

The first half was clearly Stanford's worst of the year.  But Stanford had the lead, and really had a turnover taken away by a strange call reversal.  Made even more weird by the decision later in the game to uphold a similar play.

Still, Oregon has had three bad first halves this year (LSU, C.a.l. & ASU).  Perhaps more alarming for them would be that the last two were at home to seemingly inferior teams.  The next best team in the conference has had a lot of issues.

Every team has things to work on, but Stanford is 6-0.  Stanford is 6-0 ATS.  Stanford has not trailed for even a moment this year, and Luck has rarely been touched.  It really is going to be OK.

[Farm93]

The first half was clearly Stanford's worst of the year.  But Stanford had the lead, and really had a turnover taken away by a strange call reversal.  Made even more weird by the decision later in the game to uphold a similar play.

Still, Oregon has had three bad first halves this year (LSU, C.a.l. & ASU).  Perhaps more alarming for them would be that the last two were at home to seemingly inferior teams.  The next best team in the conference has had a lot of issues.

Every team has things to work on, but Stanford is 6-0.  Stanford is 6-0 ATS.  Stanford has not trailed for even a moment this year, and Luck has rarely been touched.  It really is going to be OK.

[yvonne]

Those things are all true. It is also true that we played poorly in the first half.

[yvonne]

Those things are all true. It is also true that we played poorly in the first half.

[washingtonismoney]

Probably the defense's best game of the year. Not sure what the comments about our pass defense are getting at--it was really superb and easily our best effort of the season. Even if you don't take sacks into account (all five of them), Tuel was limited to 4.8 yards per attempt. 4.8! That's really excellent. The DBs closed down with real alacrity and purpose. Loved it.

Ultimately, though, we'll go as far defensively as these two factors: 1) our pressure and 2) our ability to deal with constraint plays (i.e. screens and draws). We've had trouble with the latter point the past two weeks; this week, we snuffed those out. A really comprehensive effort defensively.
----

Offensively, the defense where we have the box stacked against us with the safeties pulled in tight gave us a lot of trouble. Some of that may have been Owusu being out. But our deep bombs haven't been great all season. Expect to see that defense more and more until we solve it satisfactorily. (My guess at the counter move: splitting Fleener out wide in motion.) I'm not particularly worried about the turnovers--Luck rarely underthrows for picks; Taylor is Mr. Reliable. (well, worried about the first not insofar as I think it'll recur, but as it may show a weakness in our offense--getting wideouts behind the coverage. Forgotten Man Jamal Patterson was on that play, and was targeted four other times, I believe, garnering no catches. Can we just accept that the recruiting hype was just wrong about him? In general the recruiting services have been pretty accurate about our guys, but Patterson is a miss. I think the public expects more from him than the coaches, at this point, and it might make us that little bit saner to think of him as some anonymous walk-on.)

---

Special teams, again, were not really sharp. In three instances, we looked like we would give away a fumble. Two of those involved live balls that could've bounced for anyone. That makes three live balls in two weeks. Since the only aspect of the special teams that have been performing is the punt return game, this is really unacceptable.

[washingtonismoney]

Probably the defense's best game of the year. Not sure what the comments about our pass defense are getting at--it was really superb and easily our best effort of the season. Even if you don't take sacks into account (all five of them), Tuel was limited to 4.8 yards per attempt. 4.8! That's really excellent. The DBs closed down with real alacrity and purpose. Loved it.

Ultimately, though, we'll go as far defensively as these two factors: 1) our pressure and 2) our ability to deal with constraint plays (i.e. screens and draws). We've had trouble with the latter point the past two weeks; this week, we snuffed those out. A really comprehensive effort defensively.
----

Offensively, the defense where we have the box stacked against us with the safeties pulled in tight gave us a lot of trouble. Some of that may have been Owusu being out. But our deep bombs haven't been great all season. Expect to see that defense more and more until we solve it satisfactorily. (My guess at the counter move: splitting Fleener out wide in motion.) I'm not particularly worried about the turnovers--Luck rarely underthrows for picks; Taylor is Mr. Reliable. (well, worried about the first not insofar as I think it'll recur, but as it may show a weakness in our offense--getting wideouts behind the coverage. Forgotten Man Jamal Patterson was on that play, and was targeted four other times, I believe, garnering no catches. Can we just accept that the recruiting hype was just wrong about him? In general the recruiting services have been pretty accurate about our guys, but Patterson is a miss. I think the public expects more from him than the coaches, at this point, and it might make us that little bit saner to think of him as some anonymous walk-on.)

---

Special teams, again, were not really sharp. In three instances, we looked like we would give away a fumble. Two of those involved live balls that could've bounced for anyone. That makes three live balls in two weeks. Since the only aspect of the special teams that have been performing is the punt return game, this is really unacceptable.

[Farm93]

Those things are all true. It is also true that we played poorly in the first half.

See, but it could be worse.  Oklahoma played poorly against KANSAS for almost a full three quarters.  ASU is making Oregon look bad in the second half too.

BTW - The defense played GREAT in the first half.  And the special teams were serviceable in the first half.  So really Stanford only played poorly on offense.  Adjustments were made on O, and the defense had another great game.  44-14!  No one watches Versus, so it will look good enough.

[Farm93]

Those things are all true. It is also true that we played poorly in the first half.

See, but it could be worse.  Oklahoma played poorly against KANSAS for almost a full three quarters.  ASU is making Oregon look bad in the second half too.

BTW - The defense played GREAT in the first half.  And the special teams were serviceable in the first half.  So really Stanford only played poorly on offense.  Adjustments were made on O, and the defense had another great game.  44-14!  No one watches Versus, so it will look good enough.

[terry]

Come on, folks. It was a 30-point win. Our 9th straight win by 25 points or more. No team in our conference has ever done that. Ever. Since 1916. Try to enjoy it!

[terry]

Come on, folks. It was a 30-point win. Our 9th straight win by 25 points or more. No team in our conference has ever done that. Ever. Since 1916. Try to enjoy it!

[estephan500]

We are doomed to the same old back and forth here. "we won by a big margin, so we rule." "no, there are problems."  Shaw is of the latter camp, and it's not just coach talk.

The people that see the problems are the ones that know that there are hard opponents ahead, and are interested in doing as well as possible against them.

[estephan500]

We are doomed to the same old back and forth here. "we won by a big margin, so we rule." "no, there are problems."  Shaw is of the latter camp, and it's not just coach talk.

The people that see the problems are the ones that know that there are hard opponents ahead, and are interested in doing as well as possible against them.

[estephan500]

Plus, I'm very  ;D .

[estephan500]

Plus, I'm very  ;D .

[Rando]

I watched the Oregon game very closely because I had money on Oregon (got the push).

They have so much damn speed. I know everybody knows that. But Thomas, in my opinion, isn't a big passing threat. Seems like sometimes he is on point and sometimes he's just not accurate at all, judging by the Kal and ASU games. Their biggest asset is obviously their rushing offense. Most of their yardage comes from BIG PLAYS that often go for touchdowns.

Seeing that we play a conservative defense where we don't allow big plays, and are one of the best run stopping defenses in NCAA, I really like how we match up against Oregon. I guess the biggest thing I'm worried about is the speed and no huddle. I think on paper, if we stuff their run, we can do well on defense.

[Rando]

I watched the Oregon game very closely because I had money on Oregon (got the push).

They have so much damn speed. I know everybody knows that. But Thomas, in my opinion, isn't a big passing threat. Seems like sometimes he is on point and sometimes he's just not accurate at all, judging by the Kal and ASU games. Their biggest asset is obviously their rushing offense. Most of their yardage comes from BIG PLAYS that often go for touchdowns.

Seeing that we play a conservative defense where we don't allow big plays, and are one of the best run stopping defenses in NCAA, I really like how we match up against Oregon. I guess the biggest thing I'm worried about is the speed and no huddle. I think on paper, if we stuff their run, we can do well on defense.

[Hurlburt88]

AL's interception:  I thought if ball was another yard downfield it is a catch.  A bit too much air. 
Owusu:  they took his helmet which means to me concern about concussion.  Glad he was walking/talking on sidelines for remainder of game. 

Did anyone see what happened to Fleener?  I just saw him fall backwards--could not see what happened down around his legs

[Hurlburt88]

AL's interception:  I thought if ball was another yard downfield it is a catch.  A bit too much air. 
Owusu:  they took his helmet which means to me concern about concussion.  Glad he was walking/talking on sidelines for remainder of game. 

Did anyone see what happened to Fleener?  I just saw him fall backwards--could not see what happened down around his legs