[msqueri]

Reactions:

* I liked Taylor's answers/vibes just fine, but this mid-week, softball questions safe space is not where we'll get to see the main signs of his leadership (or lack thereof). We can try to find clues and insights but the main events are the game days. And of course in a rebuild the game days themselves can only tell us so much until his imprint is really on the program, which might take years.

* The kid gloves treatment sounds dissonant in the wake of two rough losses and contributes to the list of things that make us seem un-serious as a program (get in line.....a long line) but I generally side with those who think it's pointless, or even counterproductive, to make interviews with Taylor at this juncture be about critical dissection of his and the team's shortcomings. [Message board posts are a different matter, difference between media and fans and between public and private.] A bad team in need of a culture transplant still being a bad team in need of a culture transplant a few games in is not much of a story. The longer it drags on with signs of little or no progress the more fair game tough questions become, but even a wholly uncompetitive team all year could be par for the course. Real scrutiny should come with signs of bogeys (e.g., evidence of dissension or lack of effort, or lack of improvement next year). To that end, a question about whether Bailey not starting was linked to his evident lack of effort against USC probably would have been a fair question but I'm not too worked up about that, especially since Ben subsequently asked April (whether or not April gave a truthful answer).

* It still feels weird to me that Taylor doesn't give an opening statement during press conferences. I don't know if he thinks it's straightforward or no nonsense, but to me media availabilities exist to give quotes about the program to gin up media interest and, where there is limited interest, shape the stories that do get worked on. That and speaking directly to your very, very few fans. That being said, I just watched the beginning of a few others to get a sense to see if Taylor is out on an island and I found that Lincoln Riley and Justin Wilcox both seem to be straight to questions guys as well. I wish Taylor were more comfortable and adept at the face of the program stuff and attuned to developing goodwill among fans (mucking up The Walk is troubling) but the no opening statement in press conferences thing seems pretty minor. And we may come to a point where after a bunch of losses we appreciate Taylor not trying to spin us like Shaw did.

* I tend to do these reactions chronologically for efficiency but will make an exception for the news-breaking piece at the end that Taylor intends to play both Daniels and Lamson throughout the year. That's not much of a surprise and given what we've seen would be odd (and I think inappropriate) to end the competition now. Suggesting we don't intend to end the competition at all this year is a bit of an eye-opener, but Taylor has perhaps seen enough to know the two are pretty close (and also probably that protection may lead to health vulnerability and the need to have both confident/empowered/ready to go for whenever needed....which Taylor alluded to with "we're going to need them both"). I also think this is another data point that perhaps Taylor views Brown and/or Jackson as the QB of the future and has no interest in handling the 2023 QB competition in a way that makes 2024/2025 unnecessarily controversial. If the truth is that we have a QB room full of backups right now and that 2023 is a rebuilding year where the record is incidental, which I think is the truth, there's no point in crowning somebody just to crown somebody. We should probably expect a muddle and then a new competition in 2024. For the short term we have a somewhat interesting question about how Taylor intends to play both. I could dig more into how he did two QB sequencing at Sacramento State but for now I'll just wait for more data points and muse a little bit below on the role feel and circumstance will play.

[msqueri]

Reactions:

* I liked Taylor's answers/vibes just fine, but this mid-week, softball questions safe space is not where we'll get to see the main signs of his leadership (or lack thereof). We can try to find clues and insights but the main events are the game days. And of course in a rebuild the game days themselves can only tell us so much until his imprint is really on the program, which might take years.

* The kid gloves treatment sounds dissonant in the wake of two rough losses and contributes to the list of things that make us seem un-serious as a program (get in line.....a long line) but I generally side with those who think it's pointless, or even counterproductive, to make interviews with Taylor at this juncture be about critical dissection of his and the team's shortcomings. [Message board posts are a different matter, difference between media and fans and between public and private.] A bad team in need of a culture transplant still being a bad team in need of a culture transplant a few games in is not much of a story. The longer it drags on with signs of little or no progress the more fair game tough questions become, but even a wholly uncompetitive team all year could be par for the course. Real scrutiny should come with signs of bogeys (e.g., evidence of dissension or lack of effort, or lack of improvement next year). To that end, a question about whether Bailey not starting was linked to his evident lack of effort against USC probably would have been a fair question but I'm not too worked up about that, especially since Ben subsequently asked April (whether or not April gave a truthful answer).

* It still feels weird to me that Taylor doesn't give an opening statement during press conferences. I don't know if he thinks it's straightforward or no nonsense, but to me media availabilities exist to give quotes about the program to gin up media interest and, where there is limited interest, shape the stories that do get worked on. That and speaking directly to your very, very few fans. That being said, I just watched the beginning of a few others to get a sense to see if Taylor is out on an island and I found that Lincoln Riley and Justin Wilcox both seem to be straight to questions guys as well. I wish Taylor were more comfortable and adept at the face of the program stuff and attuned to developing goodwill among fans (mucking up The Walk is troubling) but the no opening statement in press conferences thing seems pretty minor. And we may come to a point where after a bunch of losses we appreciate Taylor not trying to spin us like Shaw did.

* I tend to do these reactions chronologically for efficiency but will make an exception for the news-breaking piece at the end that Taylor intends to play both Daniels and Lamson throughout the year. That's not much of a surprise and given what we've seen would be odd (and I think inappropriate) to end the competition now. Suggesting we don't intend to end the competition at all this year is a bit of an eye-opener, but Taylor has perhaps seen enough to know the two are pretty close (and also probably that protection may lead to health vulnerability and the need to have both confident/empowered/ready to go for whenever needed....which Taylor alluded to with "we're going to need them both"). I also think this is another data point that perhaps Taylor views Brown and/or Jackson as the QB of the future and has no interest in handling the 2023 QB competition in a way that makes 2024/2025 unnecessarily controversial. If the truth is that we have a QB room full of backups right now and that 2023 is a rebuilding year where the record is incidental, which I think is the truth, there's no point in crowning somebody just to crown somebody. We should probably expect a muddle and then a new competition in 2024. For the short term we have a somewhat interesting question about how Taylor intends to play both. I could dig more into how he did two QB sequencing at Sacramento State but for now I'll just wait for more data points and muse a little bit below on the role feel and circumstance will play.

[msqueri]

* The first question was a soft ball on evaluating new QBs that explicitly gave Taylor an out from having to evaluate his actual QBs, but Taylor took the question in an evaluative direction (albeit as a tandem rather than as individuals) anyway. It sort of felt like Taylor anticipated that subpar QB play, especially with an unresolved QB situation, would be an unavoidable subject and he had his shtick prepared. To wit, he said that for the most part Daniels and Lamson are making good decisions and throwing accurately but that so much depends on the play around the QB and everybody has to get better, including the QBs but also protection, running game, and avoiding third and long. I sense Taylor is working with the QBs to improve on certain things but also is giving them a bit of a pass for struggles due to the protection issues. Two weeks in a row Taylor has really emphasized protection more than QB issues, per se. I don't know what to make of Taylor being so generic about QB play. Given his background I have to believe he has a lot of technical knowhow and there are specific teaching points, so my guess is that the generic QB talk is just for public consumption and he sees no need to say much insightful publicly.

* The rationale on wanting to see Lamson, especially early in the season due to the particular insights that come from seeing QBs in live action, made sense. It feels to me that the same rationale would apply to Patu but we haven't yet gotten any indication Patu may be in the mix at any point. My guess is that the separation Taylor talked about in August was really Daniels and Lamson on one side and Patu on the other. Taylor may not have much faith in Patu. Still, as long as the QBs are struggling I will remain curious what Patu can do. By the way, the way Taylor talked about it being a feel thing how he integrated Lamson against Sacramento State makes me think that will be the case going forward as he continues to play multiple QBs. So far he's been able to have pretty clean breaks (post-injury, post halftime) in when he transitions from Daniels to Lamson. A macabre thought is that our prospects going forward increase the likelihood he'll continue to be able to use injuries or transition to garbage time to decide when to switch QBs. What I'm interested to see is if it remains Daniels then Lamson, in keeping with Taylor's instincts entering the season, or if it gets switched up so Lamson gets to go first. One question I wish somebody would ask is how practice reps get divided during the week.

* As ever, I like when people show vulnerability and admit mistakes and Taylor was admirable in that regard in this press conference. The first instance came when he talked about needing to be more cognizant to get Yurosek more involved in the game. [I had wondered if maybe there was cognizance in relying on TEs more for protection given OL struggles but PFF data doesn't really support that and this answer by Taylor suggests to me that the real issue is Taylor didn't call very many plays where Yurosek was prominent in the progression. With inexperienced QBs not very good in moving through progressions, that neutralizes our best offensive weapon.] Later on there were numerous examples of Taylor saying he could do a better job in play calling. I like to see it.

* One question that got into the critical territory some are calling for was the one about struggles defending dual threat QBs. This is relevant because Jayden de Laura is second among Pac-12 QBs in rushing and by far tops in yards per carry. Taylor acknowledged it's something we have to improve in defending because we're going to continue to see it, not only in terms of schematic QB runs but also scrambles and extended plays. He made an interesting comment that all of the key plays for Sacramento State's offense were undesigned QB scrambles and improvised plays (surely the winning touchdown the main thing front and center in his mind). As Taylor's answer made clear, stopping this is easier said than done since defenses have to worry about coverages, run fits, pressuring the QB, levels of the defense, etc. I didn't get any sense of what the plan to get better at this is (and that's probably more of a question for April anyway).

[msqueri]

* The first question was a soft ball on evaluating new QBs that explicitly gave Taylor an out from having to evaluate his actual QBs, but Taylor took the question in an evaluative direction (albeit as a tandem rather than as individuals) anyway. It sort of felt like Taylor anticipated that subpar QB play, especially with an unresolved QB situation, would be an unavoidable subject and he had his shtick prepared. To wit, he said that for the most part Daniels and Lamson are making good decisions and throwing accurately but that so much depends on the play around the QB and everybody has to get better, including the QBs but also protection, running game, and avoiding third and long. I sense Taylor is working with the QBs to improve on certain things but also is giving them a bit of a pass for struggles due to the protection issues. Two weeks in a row Taylor has really emphasized protection more than QB issues, per se. I don't know what to make of Taylor being so generic about QB play. Given his background I have to believe he has a lot of technical knowhow and there are specific teaching points, so my guess is that the generic QB talk is just for public consumption and he sees no need to say much insightful publicly.

* The rationale on wanting to see Lamson, especially early in the season due to the particular insights that come from seeing QBs in live action, made sense. It feels to me that the same rationale would apply to Patu but we haven't yet gotten any indication Patu may be in the mix at any point. My guess is that the separation Taylor talked about in August was really Daniels and Lamson on one side and Patu on the other. Taylor may not have much faith in Patu. Still, as long as the QBs are struggling I will remain curious what Patu can do. By the way, the way Taylor talked about it being a feel thing how he integrated Lamson against Sacramento State makes me think that will be the case going forward as he continues to play multiple QBs. So far he's been able to have pretty clean breaks (post-injury, post halftime) in when he transitions from Daniels to Lamson. A macabre thought is that our prospects going forward increase the likelihood he'll continue to be able to use injuries or transition to garbage time to decide when to switch QBs. What I'm interested to see is if it remains Daniels then Lamson, in keeping with Taylor's instincts entering the season, or if it gets switched up so Lamson gets to go first. One question I wish somebody would ask is how practice reps get divided during the week.

* As ever, I like when people show vulnerability and admit mistakes and Taylor was admirable in that regard in this press conference. The first instance came when he talked about needing to be more cognizant to get Yurosek more involved in the game. [I had wondered if maybe there was cognizance in relying on TEs more for protection given OL struggles but PFF data doesn't really support that and this answer by Taylor suggests to me that the real issue is Taylor didn't call very many plays where Yurosek was prominent in the progression. With inexperienced QBs not very good in moving through progressions, that neutralizes our best offensive weapon.] Later on there were numerous examples of Taylor saying he could do a better job in play calling. I like to see it.

* One question that got into the critical territory some are calling for was the one about struggles defending dual threat QBs. This is relevant because Jayden de Laura is second among Pac-12 QBs in rushing and by far tops in yards per carry. Taylor acknowledged it's something we have to improve in defending because we're going to continue to see it, not only in terms of schematic QB runs but also scrambles and extended plays. He made an interesting comment that all of the key plays for Sacramento State's offense were undesigned QB scrambles and improvised plays (surely the winning touchdown the main thing front and center in his mind). As Taylor's answer made clear, stopping this is easier said than done since defenses have to worry about coverages, run fits, pressuring the QB, levels of the defense, etc. I didn't get any sense of what the plan to get better at this is (and that's probably more of a question for April anyway).

[msqueri]

* One of the most insightful parts came on the question about Ayomanor and Reuben's mid-ball flight adjustments on deep catches. For one, you could really get a sense of Taylor's view of these WRs, which is to say tantalized but unsatisfied. He noted that moments like that are what really gets excited about them - implying pretty strongly that in other moments they aren't always showing up, which he made somewhat explicit by saying that "for a moment they'll make those plays where they're playing in a flow state, they're not thinking, they're just reacting." He then went right out and said that sometimes with those two they're thinking too much and that we all know that when we're thinking too much we're not that great at what we do. As I said, Taylor seems to see some ability in these guys but is not satisfied. Sounds like he shares my assessment that, outside of the three big plays these two had against Sacramento State, our WRs have not shown up yet. This is why in my Sunday thoughts I highlighted the big plays for Ayomanor and Reuben as by far the most positive development from Saturday. If these two can play more confidently, in a flow state as Taylor says, that opens up the offense much more than we've seen. And we should bear in mind that Ayomanor was an oft-injured, untested recruit who burst on the scene due to his size/speed combo and camps while Reuben is a former soccer player who is only in his fourth year or so playing football. Maybe some upside here.

* Another thing that was so interesting about Taylor's answer on that question was the props Taylor gave to Daniels for under-throwing the touchdown to Ayomanor. I think to most of us that looked like a hot air balloon - and to be real, it was and Taylor may be overly complimentary of his QBs, who I'm sure he's trying to instill confidence in - but Taylor went on at some length and with some passion in talking about how under throws are better than over throws. He views it as giving the receiver a chance to come down with the ball or draw a pass interference. If you couple this with Ayomanor's answer later in the press conference about remembering his coaching points about coming back to the ball, I think it's clear under throws are something we teach and Taylor was proud of his QBs' under throws on the big completions.

* The third part of that answer that shed light on Taylor's mentality was that even in that answer Taylor came back multiple times to needing to do a better job on protection so the QB has more time to make the throw. Clear what Taylor diagnoses as the number one issue for the offense. Taylor was careful to talk about protection as also involving the RBs and TEs, not just the OL. For what it's worth, PFF views Roush as essentially the one part of our pass protection that has held up so far. Among the OL, McLaughlin grades out sub-par and everybody else poorly, with Pale, Mayberry, Pogorelc, and Anderson disasters (Anderson #776 of 776 OL nationally in pass blocking).

* The fourth part of that answer that caught my attention was Taylor talking about how "connected" the offense is. This is the single comment I've heard from Taylor so far this season that to my mind most differentiates him from Shaw after an offensive under-performance. For Shaw it was all about "execution" and being a few elements away from success. Taylor similarly views football as a team game in that sense, but his concept of the offense being "connected" very self-consciously includes discussion of getting into the right play call at the right time (which he said he didn't always do, one of those examples of self-criticism/vulnerability). As I've said before I get 2002-2007 Stanford PTSD when I hear about the problems when one of the 11 guys are misfiring and I hope offensive competence going forward will not have to rely on the complete elimination of weak links, as we may be waiting a long time for that. But my main takeaway here is just that Taylor's concept of the offense being connected very explicitly includes more of a recognition on how Taylor's own play calling is pivotal. RIP all problems being "execution."

* Ok, realize I am parodying myself by highlighting so many things from one answer I found interesting but the fifth thing was that Taylor notably caveated that discussion by saying "the good thing is our guys realize that some of it is self-inflicted, we can eliminate those things, and some of it is playing against really good guys and we just got to get better." Read: I and our players have a healthy mindset and know this is a journey and that some of the failures are just because our opponents are better. Maybe others won't read this comment in that way but I don't think I'm being cynical. I think this quote evinces a mindset of steady improvement and self-awareness (one could say mindfulness) that we struggle right now because we have a young, inexperienced offense that will eventually be better than it is now.

[msqueri]

* One of the most insightful parts came on the question about Ayomanor and Reuben's mid-ball flight adjustments on deep catches. For one, you could really get a sense of Taylor's view of these WRs, which is to say tantalized but unsatisfied. He noted that moments like that are what really gets excited about them - implying pretty strongly that in other moments they aren't always showing up, which he made somewhat explicit by saying that "for a moment they'll make those plays where they're playing in a flow state, they're not thinking, they're just reacting." He then went right out and said that sometimes with those two they're thinking too much and that we all know that when we're thinking too much we're not that great at what we do. As I said, Taylor seems to see some ability in these guys but is not satisfied. Sounds like he shares my assessment that, outside of the three big plays these two had against Sacramento State, our WRs have not shown up yet. This is why in my Sunday thoughts I highlighted the big plays for Ayomanor and Reuben as by far the most positive development from Saturday. If these two can play more confidently, in a flow state as Taylor says, that opens up the offense much more than we've seen. And we should bear in mind that Ayomanor was an oft-injured, untested recruit who burst on the scene due to his size/speed combo and camps while Reuben is a former soccer player who is only in his fourth year or so playing football. Maybe some upside here.

* Another thing that was so interesting about Taylor's answer on that question was the props Taylor gave to Daniels for under-throwing the touchdown to Ayomanor. I think to most of us that looked like a hot air balloon - and to be real, it was and Taylor may be overly complimentary of his QBs, who I'm sure he's trying to instill confidence in - but Taylor went on at some length and with some passion in talking about how under throws are better than over throws. He views it as giving the receiver a chance to come down with the ball or draw a pass interference. If you couple this with Ayomanor's answer later in the press conference about remembering his coaching points about coming back to the ball, I think it's clear under throws are something we teach and Taylor was proud of his QBs' under throws on the big completions.

* The third part of that answer that shed light on Taylor's mentality was that even in that answer Taylor came back multiple times to needing to do a better job on protection so the QB has more time to make the throw. Clear what Taylor diagnoses as the number one issue for the offense. Taylor was careful to talk about protection as also involving the RBs and TEs, not just the OL. For what it's worth, PFF views Roush as essentially the one part of our pass protection that has held up so far. Among the OL, McLaughlin grades out sub-par and everybody else poorly, with Pale, Mayberry, Pogorelc, and Anderson disasters (Anderson #776 of 776 OL nationally in pass blocking).

* The fourth part of that answer that caught my attention was Taylor talking about how "connected" the offense is. This is the single comment I've heard from Taylor so far this season that to my mind most differentiates him from Shaw after an offensive under-performance. For Shaw it was all about "execution" and being a few elements away from success. Taylor similarly views football as a team game in that sense, but his concept of the offense being "connected" very self-consciously includes discussion of getting into the right play call at the right time (which he said he didn't always do, one of those examples of self-criticism/vulnerability). As I've said before I get 2002-2007 Stanford PTSD when I hear about the problems when one of the 11 guys are misfiring and I hope offensive competence going forward will not have to rely on the complete elimination of weak links, as we may be waiting a long time for that. But my main takeaway here is just that Taylor's concept of the offense being connected very explicitly includes more of a recognition on how Taylor's own play calling is pivotal. RIP all problems being "execution."

* Ok, realize I am parodying myself by highlighting so many things from one answer I found interesting but the fifth thing was that Taylor notably caveated that discussion by saying "the good thing is our guys realize that some of it is self-inflicted, we can eliminate those things, and some of it is playing against really good guys and we just got to get better." Read: I and our players have a healthy mindset and know this is a journey and that some of the failures are just because our opponents are better. Maybe others won't read this comment in that way but I don't think I'm being cynical. I think this quote evinces a mindset of steady improvement and self-awareness (one could say mindfulness) that we struggle right now because we have a young, inexperienced offense that will eventually be better than it is now.

[msqueri]

* With Shaw and his incorrigibly offensive-oriented mindset, I often noted how much of his comments on opponents focused on their defenses. That's where his mind went because it's what he coached against. Since Taylor is a similarly offense-focused coach I expect the same thing, but there was no hesitation whatsoever in beginning his comments on Arizona by talking about their "incredibly explosive" offense. It may be April's job to game plan against the Wildcat offense, but Taylor is keenly aware of the opponent's principal strength. The good news for us is that Arizona hasn't lit up scoreboards (31 points per game, which those who haven't updated their mental image of college football in 2023 may not realize is very mediocre, especially at this point of the season before conference play has begun in earnest). The bad news is that every other way you slice it this looks like Fisch may have a very good offense on his hands. Taylor was way off on his recollection of Arizona's yards per play (he said almost nine), but 7.69 is 11th in the nation. SP+ says the #25 offense in the country. FEI says #38. Points per drive is #40. Notably, when one dives into the yards per play it appears Arizona may be one of the very most consistent offenses in the nation, ranking #1 in drives that average at least four yards per play and #4 in drives that average at least seven yards per play. The main reason Arizona's points per game isn't reflective of their offense is that they've coughed the ball up a lot, both via fumbles and interceptions. We have to hope this is a chronic weakness and not an artifact of small sample sizes. Given the troubles of our defense so far and Arizona's highly consistent and efficient offense, we likely will need to win the turnover battle to have a chance Saturday.

* Taylor fulsomely praised pretty much all aspects of the Arizona offense except didn't mention the OL, and repeatedly highlighted QB play. Jayden de Laura is indeed the highest graded offensive player by PFF, the #22 passer rating in the country, the #24 QB in yards per attempt, and #7 in total offense (only #61 QB nationally in Total QBR though). Similar challenge to Kaiden Bennett last week but this time with Power Five teammates, most notably two of the top 50 yards from scrimmage monsters in America in WR Tetairoa McMillan and RB Michael Wiley. PFF doesn't think a single starter for Arizona's offense is sub-par. brobdingnagian challenge for our defense. Given the quality of Pac-12 offenses this year it's a pretty good barometer.

* Taylor talked about Arizona's defense playing eight or nine DL. This includes what PFF would call edge defenders. Semantics aside, there are nine Arizona DL/edge guys with 15+ snaps per game so far compared to seven for Stanford. By PFF's lights, the defense has a great many weak links compared to the offense, especially up the middle on all three levels. Taylor talked about how Arizona is a "one high team" (that means one high safety/Cover 1, right?) and defend the middle of the field, and I wonder if they scheme around personnel weaknesses to a degree. I haven't watched any Arizona this season nor do I remember anything from last year. Taylor called the big edge Taylor Upshaw "really exceptional," which is interesting because PFF views him as a weak link. Taylor also said "their linebacker is really good" but I can't be sure who he means (I'm guessing Jacob Manu). One thing that most stands out is that Taylor talked about the corners being super long (the two starting outside corners are both 6' 4") and that leading to very tight passing lanes and windows. I also watched Fisch's press conference and he had a long discussion of how this is very intentional and they've tried to build a defense consciously modeled off the legendary Seahawks defenses (and he specifically mentioned Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner as models.....by the way I had missed/forgotten that Browner is now in San Quentin for attempted murder, yikes). I wonder how we're going to game plan and play call against this. That size would seem to not be conducive for us to rely on as many contested catches. Arizona also has an excellent slot corner PFF thinks is the top defender. It seems to me that both Yurosek's quiet game/Taylor's desire to atone and the relative strengths and weaknesses of the Arizona defense (poor linebackers and safeties) have this shaping up to be a big Yurosek day. Aside from the matchup, the DB matchups also have particular meaning for us because Akina is now there.

[msqueri]

* With Shaw and his incorrigibly offensive-oriented mindset, I often noted how much of his comments on opponents focused on their defenses. That's where his mind went because it's what he coached against. Since Taylor is a similarly offense-focused coach I expect the same thing, but there was no hesitation whatsoever in beginning his comments on Arizona by talking about their "incredibly explosive" offense. It may be April's job to game plan against the Wildcat offense, but Taylor is keenly aware of the opponent's principal strength. The good news for us is that Arizona hasn't lit up scoreboards (31 points per game, which those who haven't updated their mental image of college football in 2023 may not realize is very mediocre, especially at this point of the season before conference play has begun in earnest). The bad news is that every other way you slice it this looks like Fisch may have a very good offense on his hands. Taylor was way off on his recollection of Arizona's yards per play (he said almost nine), but 7.69 is 11th in the nation. SP+ says the #25 offense in the country. FEI says #38. Points per drive is #40. Notably, when one dives into the yards per play it appears Arizona may be one of the very most consistent offenses in the nation, ranking #1 in drives that average at least four yards per play and #4 in drives that average at least seven yards per play. The main reason Arizona's points per game isn't reflective of their offense is that they've coughed the ball up a lot, both via fumbles and interceptions. We have to hope this is a chronic weakness and not an artifact of small sample sizes. Given the troubles of our defense so far and Arizona's highly consistent and efficient offense, we likely will need to win the turnover battle to have a chance Saturday.

* Taylor fulsomely praised pretty much all aspects of the Arizona offense except didn't mention the OL, and repeatedly highlighted QB play. Jayden de Laura is indeed the highest graded offensive player by PFF, the #22 passer rating in the country, the #24 QB in yards per attempt, and #7 in total offense (only #61 QB nationally in Total QBR though). Similar challenge to Kaiden Bennett last week but this time with Power Five teammates, most notably two of the top 50 yards from scrimmage monsters in America in WR Tetairoa McMillan and RB Michael Wiley. PFF doesn't think a single starter for Arizona's offense is sub-par. brobdingnagian challenge for our defense. Given the quality of Pac-12 offenses this year it's a pretty good barometer.

* Taylor talked about Arizona's defense playing eight or nine DL. This includes what PFF would call edge defenders. Semantics aside, there are nine Arizona DL/edge guys with 15+ snaps per game so far compared to seven for Stanford. By PFF's lights, the defense has a great many weak links compared to the offense, especially up the middle on all three levels. Taylor talked about how Arizona is a "one high team" (that means one high safety/Cover 1, right?) and defend the middle of the field, and I wonder if they scheme around personnel weaknesses to a degree. I haven't watched any Arizona this season nor do I remember anything from last year. Taylor called the big edge Taylor Upshaw "really exceptional," which is interesting because PFF views him as a weak link. Taylor also said "their linebacker is really good" but I can't be sure who he means (I'm guessing Jacob Manu). One thing that most stands out is that Taylor talked about the corners being super long (the two starting outside corners are both 6' 4") and that leading to very tight passing lanes and windows. I also watched Fisch's press conference and he had a long discussion of how this is very intentional and they've tried to build a defense consciously modeled off the legendary Seahawks defenses (and he specifically mentioned Richard Sherman and Brandon Browner as models.....by the way I had missed/forgotten that Browner is now in San Quentin for attempted murder, yikes). I wonder how we're going to game plan and play call against this. That size would seem to not be conducive for us to rely on as many contested catches. Arizona also has an excellent slot corner PFF thinks is the top defender. It seems to me that both Yurosek's quiet game/Taylor's desire to atone and the relative strengths and weaknesses of the Arizona defense (poor linebackers and safeties) have this shaping up to be a big Yurosek day. Aside from the matchup, the DB matchups also have particular meaning for us because Akina is now there.

[msqueri]

* I had the "benefit" (ha!) of well over a hundred data points of listening to Shaw talk about matchups with opposing defenses and eventually became very cynical, coming to the viewpoint that he used buzz words/jargon/familiar talking points to describe opponents rather than true insight into particular opponents. It was one of numerous things that led me to believe he was a pretender when it came to offensive acumen. In contrast, it's very early days with Taylor and I hesitate to opine anything. That said, the way he talked about passing windows and the "one high" defense sounded like insight, though on the other hand it also sounded cribbed from Fisch's self-description and maybe Taylor watched that press conference as it was a day earlier. Anyway, a big part of Taylor's theory of the case is that he can scheme advantage on offense in a way Shaw proved incapable, so it would be great to start seeing signs of Taylor knowing how to diagnose and exploit defenses. Obviously the Sacramento State success is an important body of evidence, but it's the big leagues now. Fingers crossed (not that this season is when we should expect to see advantage).

* For what it's worth, Arizona's defense is less touted than their offense. There's a discrepancy so far between conventional stats and advanced metrics - 27th in scoring and 43rd in yards per play (46th in points per drive), but 94th in SP+ and #103 in FEI. As I noted, PFF also thinks they have real vulnerabilities. If we're going to compete in this game, in addition to turnovers I think the offense/Karty need to put points on the board. I think a reasonable sign of progress would be scoring more than we did against Sacramento State (also about our average this season of 23.3).

* Taylor made a comment that as the year goes on people will see that Arizona is a really good team and that we need to play well to give ourselves a shot. This sounds like expectation management and understanding we're quite likely to be outclassed again. But I also find this interesting for Taylor's forecast of the kind of team Arizona is. I think they are the team in the Pac-12 nobody talks about. Fisch came in 2021 and, after inheriting an 0-5 team from the pandemic year, went 1-11/Sagarin #118 team in 2021, 5-7/Sagarin #68 in 2022, and now is, like I said, the team nobody is talking about at Sagarin #63 (which is still influenced by preseason expectations but could go up if Taylor and I are right about their promising trajectory). This is the trajectory we want out of Taylor and I think he is probably conscious to the comparison.

* I was somewhat encouraged by Taylor's answer about building the guys back up after a demoralizing loss. I fully expected the "I'm not worried about that" happy talk about the team's great attitude and how much it means to them. That was fine in the off-season but becomes decreasingly credible, drivel even, as losses mount (especially demoralizing losses like the last two, though to an important degree all losses are demoralizing). Instead, we got a different tune from Taylor, that he's always concerned about that given how much they put into it and how it's "definitely demoralizing" when it doesn't work out. I appreciate the candor and clear eyes. He was also honest that wins are energizing and defeats are deflating. He said what you want to focus on is that the hangover only lasts 24 hours. He also seemed clear eyed that there's a tradeoff between the Monday day off (important to heal physically) and getting back to work. Reading between the lines, I think Taylor knows that mounting losses and the inescapable effect on morale is one of the major challenges he faces, maybe the biggest one. It's one thing to understand intellectually that a rebuild takes time and we're slowly putting in place the building blocks, but it's another to emotionally ride it out. If fun and confidence and buy-in and willingness to stick it out get zapped, the window to effect change (i.e., rebuild) can close. Taylor has to guard against this. I don't know what the secret is for a rebuilding program to navigate that, which is one of many reasons Taylor gets paid the big bucks. Taylor talked about how emotionally tough, resilient, and hard fighting the players are, so part of this sounded a bit like a leap of faith that our players' constitutions will get us through this. That didn't work the last few years but at this point we can only have faith in Taylor and hope it turns out differently. If I picked up on any motivational tactic in this department, it may have been in Taylor's talk about the character and resiliency of our players and how character will define you and define the team. He may be challenging our players to be resilient and judging (and maybe playing?) players based on how they answer that call.

[msqueri]

* I had the "benefit" (ha!) of well over a hundred data points of listening to Shaw talk about matchups with opposing defenses and eventually became very cynical, coming to the viewpoint that he used buzz words/jargon/familiar talking points to describe opponents rather than true insight into particular opponents. It was one of numerous things that led me to believe he was a pretender when it came to offensive acumen. In contrast, it's very early days with Taylor and I hesitate to opine anything. That said, the way he talked about passing windows and the "one high" defense sounded like insight, though on the other hand it also sounded cribbed from Fisch's self-description and maybe Taylor watched that press conference as it was a day earlier. Anyway, a big part of Taylor's theory of the case is that he can scheme advantage on offense in a way Shaw proved incapable, so it would be great to start seeing signs of Taylor knowing how to diagnose and exploit defenses. Obviously the Sacramento State success is an important body of evidence, but it's the big leagues now. Fingers crossed (not that this season is when we should expect to see advantage).

* For what it's worth, Arizona's defense is less touted than their offense. There's a discrepancy so far between conventional stats and advanced metrics - 27th in scoring and 43rd in yards per play (46th in points per drive), but 94th in SP+ and #103 in FEI. As I noted, PFF also thinks they have real vulnerabilities. If we're going to compete in this game, in addition to turnovers I think the offense/Karty need to put points on the board. I think a reasonable sign of progress would be scoring more than we did against Sacramento State (also about our average this season of 23.3).

* Taylor made a comment that as the year goes on people will see that Arizona is a really good team and that we need to play well to give ourselves a shot. This sounds like expectation management and understanding we're quite likely to be outclassed again. But I also find this interesting for Taylor's forecast of the kind of team Arizona is. I think they are the team in the Pac-12 nobody talks about. Fisch came in 2021 and, after inheriting an 0-5 team from the pandemic year, went 1-11/Sagarin #118 team in 2021, 5-7/Sagarin #68 in 2022, and now is, like I said, the team nobody is talking about at Sagarin #63 (which is still influenced by preseason expectations but could go up if Taylor and I are right about their promising trajectory). This is the trajectory we want out of Taylor and I think he is probably conscious to the comparison.

* I was somewhat encouraged by Taylor's answer about building the guys back up after a demoralizing loss. I fully expected the "I'm not worried about that" happy talk about the team's great attitude and how much it means to them. That was fine in the off-season but becomes decreasingly credible, drivel even, as losses mount (especially demoralizing losses like the last two, though to an important degree all losses are demoralizing). Instead, we got a different tune from Taylor, that he's always concerned about that given how much they put into it and how it's "definitely demoralizing" when it doesn't work out. I appreciate the candor and clear eyes. He was also honest that wins are energizing and defeats are deflating. He said what you want to focus on is that the hangover only lasts 24 hours. He also seemed clear eyed that there's a tradeoff between the Monday day off (important to heal physically) and getting back to work. Reading between the lines, I think Taylor knows that mounting losses and the inescapable effect on morale is one of the major challenges he faces, maybe the biggest one. It's one thing to understand intellectually that a rebuild takes time and we're slowly putting in place the building blocks, but it's another to emotionally ride it out. If fun and confidence and buy-in and willingness to stick it out get zapped, the window to effect change (i.e., rebuild) can close. Taylor has to guard against this. I don't know what the secret is for a rebuilding program to navigate that, which is one of many reasons Taylor gets paid the big bucks. Taylor talked about how emotionally tough, resilient, and hard fighting the players are, so part of this sounded a bit like a leap of faith that our players' constitutions will get us through this. That didn't work the last few years but at this point we can only have faith in Taylor and hope it turns out differently. If I picked up on any motivational tactic in this department, it may have been in Taylor's talk about the character and resiliency of our players and how character will define you and define the team. He may be challenging our players to be resilient and judging (and maybe playing?) players based on how they answer that call.

[msqueri]

* The answer on corners, Wright and Manley specifically, was interesting. He talked about how this week is a tremendous challenge for them (I'd say so with McMillan) but that he's excited about them and it's a strength for our team. It is indeed. I'd put corner in the running for our best position, just as I predicted in the off-season. So why did Taylor's answer unsettle me so deeply? Without prompting, Taylor inserted Slocum into the conversation (implying that Slocum's complete absence against Sacramento State was health-related and that he will be healthy enough to "be in the mix and ready to roll" against Arizona) and pretty clearly delineating a drop from the top three to the rest of the room. Given Slocum's struggles, I have been very much hoping that it's a drop from the top two to the rest of the room and that somebody like Williams, Thompson, or a true freshman could challenge Slocum. Williams playing solidly against USC fueled those hopes. For Taylor to say in the same breath as hoping to get Slocum back in the mix that there's "not a ton of depth in that group" was depressing. For this season, I'd rather have somebody supplant Slocum. Beyond this season, Manley is a fifth year player right now and Slocum is a fourth year player, so if we don't have anybody pushing them that's a bad omen for who's around to help Wright. Paul Williams is a proven corners coach and is somewhat obsessed with athleticism, so I thought the plus on paper athleticism guys like Thompson and Morris (plus Frausto-Ramos, who we have fewer athletic data points for but he was a bigger recruit than anybody in the room) would be fun toys for him to work with. I'm really disturbed if Slocum is such clear separation from the younger guys. I can't decide if I'm hoping Taylor has a bad read - I'd like him to be wrong corner lacks depth, but I'd also like him to have a good read of his team.

* Shout out to Gregory and his assistants for the onside kick call and execution. Fun to see Taylor really gush (rightfully of course) about how remarkable Karty is. I'm glad Taylor gets at least one sublime national superstar to coach this season. I hope in future years we have more players Taylor can talk about like he talks about Karty. Yurosek is our closest. Would be nice to have several.

* Taylor said we'd like to get more explosive runs. Personally I think this is in the category of offensive coach perfectionism (which is good) and being steered into the answer by the question's framing. Explosive plays in the run game may be the single thing that is most going right for Stanford football in 2023. We are 17th in the nation in 20+ yard runs (and 15th on a per game basis), 16th in 30+ yard runs, 12th in 40+ yard runs, and 18th in 50+ yard runs. Smith and Filkins are running explosively. I took Ben's question more as saying this is going well so should we be giving these guys more touches, but Taylor took it in terms of wanting more explosive runs. I think this level of explosion with this level of offensive talent and experience is great. Single thing on the team (aside from Karty) we're getting most right and something I hope is leading to confidence-building attaboys for an OL that needs something positive. Nothing wrong with Taylor saying there have been good moments and we just need to do it on a more consistent basis, but I hope somebody is pointing out to the OL/RBs that despite our incredibly inexperienced OL we are one of the most explosive running teams in the nation so far and are 50th in yards per carry (really impressive when you consider both the OL inexperience but also that we are #103 in sacks allowed and that detracts from rushing stats). We need to encourage, nurture, and build on the successes and right now the run game is one of our successes.

* It's troubling that the press conference almost concluded without any questions on injuries. Professional media attending these should operate under the convention common elsewhere that the first person to be called on asks the obligatory question. It's the first question you ask in a football press conference. I appreciate Troy Clardy for making sure the topic did not go unaddressed. It would have been better if in addition to asking about Humphreys by name he also asked about Wyrick by name, but I can't fault Troy too much as he's often the guy asking about injuries and depth chart developments. Wyrick's absence is a big deal for the defense so it's a bummer I have literally no clue if he's playing Saturday or not. I've seen others disagree with this, but my read of Taylor's comments and body language on Humphreys was that he's going to be out on Saturday. That didn't sound like game-time decision to me. If so, hopefully Ayomanor and Reuben can continue to build on their good games against Sacramento State.

[msqueri]

* The answer on corners, Wright and Manley specifically, was interesting. He talked about how this week is a tremendous challenge for them (I'd say so with McMillan) but that he's excited about them and it's a strength for our team. It is indeed. I'd put corner in the running for our best position, just as I predicted in the off-season. So why did Taylor's answer unsettle me so deeply? Without prompting, Taylor inserted Slocum into the conversation (implying that Slocum's complete absence against Sacramento State was health-related and that he will be healthy enough to "be in the mix and ready to roll" against Arizona) and pretty clearly delineating a drop from the top three to the rest of the room. Given Slocum's struggles, I have been very much hoping that it's a drop from the top two to the rest of the room and that somebody like Williams, Thompson, or a true freshman could challenge Slocum. Williams playing solidly against USC fueled those hopes. For Taylor to say in the same breath as hoping to get Slocum back in the mix that there's "not a ton of depth in that group" was depressing. For this season, I'd rather have somebody supplant Slocum. Beyond this season, Manley is a fifth year player right now and Slocum is a fourth year player, so if we don't have anybody pushing them that's a bad omen for who's around to help Wright. Paul Williams is a proven corners coach and is somewhat obsessed with athleticism, so I thought the plus on paper athleticism guys like Thompson and Morris (plus Frausto-Ramos, who we have fewer athletic data points for but he was a bigger recruit than anybody in the room) would be fun toys for him to work with. I'm really disturbed if Slocum is such clear separation from the younger guys. I can't decide if I'm hoping Taylor has a bad read - I'd like him to be wrong corner lacks depth, but I'd also like him to have a good read of his team.

* Shout out to Gregory and his assistants for the onside kick call and execution. Fun to see Taylor really gush (rightfully of course) about how remarkable Karty is. I'm glad Taylor gets at least one sublime national superstar to coach this season. I hope in future years we have more players Taylor can talk about like he talks about Karty. Yurosek is our closest. Would be nice to have several.

* Taylor said we'd like to get more explosive runs. Personally I think this is in the category of offensive coach perfectionism (which is good) and being steered into the answer by the question's framing. Explosive plays in the run game may be the single thing that is most going right for Stanford football in 2023. We are 17th in the nation in 20+ yard runs (and 15th on a per game basis), 16th in 30+ yard runs, 12th in 40+ yard runs, and 18th in 50+ yard runs. Smith and Filkins are running explosively. I took Ben's question more as saying this is going well so should we be giving these guys more touches, but Taylor took it in terms of wanting more explosive runs. I think this level of explosion with this level of offensive talent and experience is great. Single thing on the team (aside from Karty) we're getting most right and something I hope is leading to confidence-building attaboys for an OL that needs something positive. Nothing wrong with Taylor saying there have been good moments and we just need to do it on a more consistent basis, but I hope somebody is pointing out to the OL/RBs that despite our incredibly inexperienced OL we are one of the most explosive running teams in the nation so far and are 50th in yards per carry (really impressive when you consider both the OL inexperience but also that we are #103 in sacks allowed and that detracts from rushing stats). We need to encourage, nurture, and build on the successes and right now the run game is one of our successes.

* It's troubling that the press conference almost concluded without any questions on injuries. Professional media attending these should operate under the convention common elsewhere that the first person to be called on asks the obligatory question. It's the first question you ask in a football press conference. I appreciate Troy Clardy for making sure the topic did not go unaddressed. It would have been better if in addition to asking about Humphreys by name he also asked about Wyrick by name, but I can't fault Troy too much as he's often the guy asking about injuries and depth chart developments. Wyrick's absence is a big deal for the defense so it's a bummer I have literally no clue if he's playing Saturday or not. I've seen others disagree with this, but my read of Taylor's comments and body language on Humphreys was that he's going to be out on Saturday. That didn't sound like game-time decision to me. If so, hopefully Ayomanor and Reuben can continue to build on their good games against Sacramento State.

[fullmetal]

Thanks again for the unique, deep-cut insights.  Looking forward to seeing our status as TE U reasserted this weekend...maybe in a shootout if the UA offense lives up to their billing.

[fullmetal]

Thanks again for the unique, deep-cut insights.  Looking forward to seeing our status as TE U reasserted this weekend...maybe in a shootout if the UA offense lives up to their billing.

[SkiBum80]

Thanks again for the unique, deep-cut insights.  Looking forward to seeing our status as TE U reasserted this weekend...maybe in a shootout if the UA offense lives up to their billing.

Agree, great insights. And yes hoping for a big game for Yurosek et al.
I look forward to these press conferences and am usually disappointed.
But it's my own fault. 
I keep thinking that Coach TT will give a frank and confidential private discussion to us as alumni and fans about the status of the team, who is injured and to what extent, why certain guys are playing and others are not, what broke down in the past game, who in particular really screwed up and why, and most importantly, what will be the specific game plan to come back not only better this week, but how to game plan against this particular upcoming opponent.
This is of course naive and ridiculous for me to expect.
I have to be reminded this is a public interview, watchable by not only his own staff and players, that he'd be unreasonably expected to throw under the bus in public, and more importantly, watchable by the opposing team's players and coaches.
So we rely on reading between the lines as much as possible as evidenced by msqueri's deep analysis.
A couple specific observations, yes I too was struck by Coach TT referring to himself as screwing up in the play calling area.
I don't recall Coach Shaw admitting such (he may have, I have imperfect memory), like with the repeated over and over slow meshes, that more often than not seemed to lead to a negative play.
Also as to defending against the scrambling QB's: I know there's sometimes a Spy assigned to hover around and track their QB and go for him if/when he sprints towards the line of scrimmage.  Seems like we had done that at least once during Sac State game. (I missed watching all of it, was preparing BBQ for out of town family visit). But it doesn't work well if the Spy can't tackle their QB in the open field, which is what I recall seeing.
So that's another challenge for Coach to deal with.

[SkiBum80]

Thanks again for the unique, deep-cut insights.  Looking forward to seeing our status as TE U reasserted this weekend...maybe in a shootout if the UA offense lives up to their billing.

Agree, great insights. And yes hoping for a big game for Yurosek et al.
I look forward to these press conferences and am usually disappointed.
But it's my own fault. 
I keep thinking that Coach TT will give a frank and confidential private discussion to us as alumni and fans about the status of the team, who is injured and to what extent, why certain guys are playing and others are not, what broke down in the past game, who in particular really screwed up and why, and most importantly, what will be the specific game plan to come back not only better this week, but how to game plan against this particular upcoming opponent.
This is of course naive and ridiculous for me to expect.
I have to be reminded this is a public interview, watchable by not only his own staff and players, that he'd be unreasonably expected to throw under the bus in public, and more importantly, watchable by the opposing team's players and coaches.
So we rely on reading between the lines as much as possible as evidenced by msqueri's deep analysis.
A couple specific observations, yes I too was struck by Coach TT referring to himself as screwing up in the play calling area.
I don't recall Coach Shaw admitting such (he may have, I have imperfect memory), like with the repeated over and over slow meshes, that more often than not seemed to lead to a negative play.
Also as to defending against the scrambling QB's: I know there's sometimes a Spy assigned to hover around and track their QB and go for him if/when he sprints towards the line of scrimmage.  Seems like we had done that at least once during Sac State game. (I missed watching all of it, was preparing BBQ for out of town family visit). But it doesn't work well if the Spy can't tackle their QB in the open field, which is what I recall seeing.
So that's another challenge for Coach to deal with.

[needle]

Interesting to compare and contrast TT with ASU's Dillingham, another first-year Pac coach playing with, ahem, challenges. After an embarrassing shut-out loss to Fresno State, Dillingham is behaving like the world is ending. Dillingham demoted his playcaller and assumed the role, and in media appearances he's come close to full lickspittle, emphasizing the importance of stamping out a losing mindset and declaring it bonkers for any Sun Devil to entertain the thought of a loss this coming Saturday against SC. Link: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/L_2Ln29QwdA

FWIW, I suspect Dillingham is destined to be this decade's Dan Hawkins ("It ain't intramurals !!!"). But time may well prove me wrong. Really bummed that ASU isn't on the schedule this year.

[needle]

Interesting to compare and contrast TT with ASU's Dillingham, another first-year Pac coach playing with, ahem, challenges. After an embarrassing shut-out loss to Fresno State, Dillingham is behaving like the world is ending. Dillingham demoted his playcaller and assumed the role, and in media appearances he's come close to full lickspittle, emphasizing the importance of stamping out a losing mindset and declaring it bonkers for any Sun Devil to entertain the thought of a loss this coming Saturday against SC. Link: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/L_2Ln29QwdA

FWIW, I suspect Dillingham is destined to be this decade's Dan Hawkins ("It ain't intramurals !!!"). But time may well prove me wrong. Really bummed that ASU isn't on the schedule this year.

[cardcrimson]

Interesting to compare and contrast TT with ASU's Dillingham, another first-year Pac coach playing with, ahem, challenges. After an embarrassing shut-out loss to Fresno State, Dillingham is behaving like the world is ending. Dillingham demoted his playcaller and assumed the role, and in media appearances he's come close to full lickspittle, emphasizing the importance of stamping out a losing mindset and declaring it bonkers for any Sun Devil to entertain the thought of a loss this coming Saturday against SC. Link: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/L_2Ln29QwdA

FWIW, I suspect Dillingham is destined to be this decade's Dan Hawkins ("It ain't intramurals !!!"). But time may well prove me wrong. Really bummed that ASU isn't on the schedule this year.

Thanks for a little perspective. Rare in these there parts.

[cardcrimson]

Interesting to compare and contrast TT with ASU's Dillingham, another first-year Pac coach playing with, ahem, challenges. After an embarrassing shut-out loss to Fresno State, Dillingham is behaving like the world is ending. Dillingham demoted his playcaller and assumed the role, and in media appearances he's come close to full lickspittle, emphasizing the importance of stamping out a losing mindset and declaring it bonkers for any Sun Devil to entertain the thought of a loss this coming Saturday against SC. Link: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/L_2Ln29QwdA

FWIW, I suspect Dillingham is destined to be this decade's Dan Hawkins ("It ain't intramurals !!!"). But time may well prove me wrong. Really bummed that ASU isn't on the schedule this year.

Thanks for a little perspective. Rare in these there parts.