[fullmetal]

Mandel lists his AQ conference leader evaluations after the first week of nominal conference play.  He had U$C as his preseason favorite, but he's now tabbing Oregon as the favorite, as most sane pundits would.  Fair enough.  His dark horse, however, is Oregon State.  Really, not Stanford?  Exactly what does he mean by dark horse anyway?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/wr...t=hp_wr_a2

Pac-12

Preseason favorite: USC

Current favorite: Oregon. Don't say I didn't warn you about the Ducks' defense. Saturday, coordinator Nick Aliotti's group shut out an Arizona team that came in averaging 46 points and 605 yards by notching two pick-sixes and denying six Wildcat trips to the red zone in a 49-0 win. Chip Kelly's normally seamless offense wasn't particularly crisp, and Arizona contained SI cover boy De'Anthony Thomas. But, through four games, first-year quarterback Marcus Mariota is completing nearly 70 percent of his passes.

Dark horse: Oregon State. The Beavers have played two games. They've beaten two ranked opponents (Wisconsin and UCLA). Oregon State's defense has shut down two renowned running backs, Monteé Ball and Johnathan Franklin, and its offense suddenly has a bevy of weapons. Let's see if Mike Riley's team can keep it up.

[fullmetal]

Mandel lists his AQ conference leader evaluations after the first week of nominal conference play.  He had U$C as his preseason favorite, but he's now tabbing Oregon as the favorite, as most sane pundits would.  Fair enough.  His dark horse, however, is Oregon State.  Really, not Stanford?  Exactly what does he mean by dark horse anyway?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/wr...t=hp_wr_a2

Pac-12

Preseason favorite: USC

Current favorite: Oregon. Don't say I didn't warn you about the Ducks' defense. Saturday, coordinator Nick Aliotti's group shut out an Arizona team that came in averaging 46 points and 605 yards by notching two pick-sixes and denying six Wildcat trips to the red zone in a 49-0 win. Chip Kelly's normally seamless offense wasn't particularly crisp, and Arizona contained SI cover boy De'Anthony Thomas. But, through four games, first-year quarterback Marcus Mariota is completing nearly 70 percent of his passes.

Dark horse: Oregon State. The Beavers have played two games. They've beaten two ranked opponents (Wisconsin and UCLA). Oregon State's defense has shut down two renowned running backs, Monteé Ball and Johnathan Franklin, and its offense suddenly has a bevy of weapons. Let's see if Mike Riley's team can keep it up.

[socalstanfan1]

First, I respect Mike Riley and everything he has been able to do at Oregon State during his time there. 

But while lauding the OSU defense's ability to shut down elite runners (though I believe Montee Ball was just coming back from injury, so that might have helped in that case), Stew missed the fact that OSU gave up about 350 passing yards to the Bruins.

Time will tell if Mandel correctly tabbed OSU as dark horse candidates; Riley certainly has a history of getting his teams to improve as the year goes on.  But right now I'd say the difference between Stanford and OSU on the defensive side of the ball is that Stanford was able to shut down USC's running game while primarily playing nickel and dime packages to also control the passing game.  Just judging from the box score it looks like Oregon sacrificed some pass defense to shut down the Bruin's run game. 

[socalstanfan1]

First, I respect Mike Riley and everything he has been able to do at Oregon State during his time there. 

But while lauding the OSU defense's ability to shut down elite runners (though I believe Montee Ball was just coming back from injury, so that might have helped in that case), Stew missed the fact that OSU gave up about 350 passing yards to the Bruins.

Time will tell if Mandel correctly tabbed OSU as dark horse candidates; Riley certainly has a history of getting his teams to improve as the year goes on.  But right now I'd say the difference between Stanford and OSU on the defensive side of the ball is that Stanford was able to shut down USC's running game while primarily playing nickel and dime packages to also control the passing game.  Just judging from the box score it looks like Oregon sacrificed some pass defense to shut down the Bruin's run game. 

[fullmetal]

Oregon State won by 7 pts, so I'd agree that they played a dangerous game allowing UCLA to pass more easily on them.  Hundley's a freshman though, so I suppose they could afford to do that.  UCLA's last two drives ended in a missed FG and a made FG.  If both of them had been touchdowns, there would be a much different tune being sung by the pundits (one about the resurgence of UCLA and a drama-filled LA school showdown).

[fullmetal]

Oregon State won by 7 pts, so I'd agree that they played a dangerous game allowing UCLA to pass more easily on them.  Hundley's a freshman though, so I suppose they could afford to do that.  UCLA's last two drives ended in a missed FG and a made FG.  If both of them had been touchdowns, there would be a much different tune being sung by the pundits (one about the resurgence of UCLA and a drama-filled LA school showdown).

[jayasena]

My guess: if/when we see Nunes deliver a performance like the 25-of-36 for 384 yards OSU's Mannion delivered, especially against a ranked opponent, we'll get more respect.

Mandel is local. I believe he was the at the Stanford-SC game. So he's at least somewhat informed about Stanford. And I wouldn't be surprised if questions about QB is making a lot of observers somewhat hesitant about us. Heck, we see similar sentiments on this board even among Stanford fans.

But, honestly, who cares at this point in the season?

[jayasena]

My guess: if/when we see Nunes deliver a performance like the 25-of-36 for 384 yards OSU's Mannion delivered, especially against a ranked opponent, we'll get more respect.

Mandel is local. I believe he was the at the Stanford-SC game. So he's at least somewhat informed about Stanford. And I wouldn't be surprised if questions about QB is making a lot of observers somewhat hesitant about us. Heck, we see similar sentiments on this board even among Stanford fans.

But, honestly, who cares at this point in the season?

[washingtonismoney]

I don't believe this reflects a lack of respect; if anything, it reflects respect. We're not a darkhorse because we're too familiar. It's hard to call a top-ten team a darkhorse for anything.

[washingtonismoney]

I don't believe this reflects a lack of respect; if anything, it reflects respect. We're not a darkhorse because we're too familiar. It's hard to call a top-ten team a darkhorse for anything.

[dabigv13]

I was about to post the same thing as WIM. The 8th ranked team in the nation being a dark horse would probably only be the case in the SEC.

[dabigv13]

I was about to post the same thing as WIM. The 8th ranked team in the nation being a dark horse would probably only be the case in the SEC.

[Gauss]

Make that three in support of the definitional argument. "Dark horse" means little-known or unexpected. When the team Under Stanford Control was still everybody's choice for the conference championship, somebody picking Oregon instead would never have referred to the Ducks as a dark-horse candidate.

That's exactly what it is. Preseason, there was a big 2 (U.SC, Oregon), and Stanford stood like the third alternative. Now there is a big 1, and U.SC and Stanford waiting for an Oregon mishap. Neither of the 3 can be considered dark horses, and he actually refers to something like this when he picks Georgia as the SEC darkhorse, but adds "It's hard to label a top-five team a dark horse".

I think Stanford is getting adequate respect, and if they are able to win the next 3 games convincingly, we'll be talking about top-5 soon enough.  :)

[Gauss]

Make that three in support of the definitional argument. "Dark horse" means little-known or unexpected. When the team Under Stanford Control was still everybody's choice for the conference championship, somebody picking Oregon instead would never have referred to the Ducks as a dark-horse candidate.

That's exactly what it is. Preseason, there was a big 2 (U.SC, Oregon), and Stanford stood like the third alternative. Now there is a big 1, and U.SC and Stanford waiting for an Oregon mishap. Neither of the 3 can be considered dark horses, and he actually refers to something like this when he picks Georgia as the SEC darkhorse, but adds "It's hard to label a top-five team a dark horse".

I think Stanford is getting adequate respect, and if they are able to win the next 3 games convincingly, we'll be talking about top-5 soon enough.  :)