[washingtonismoney]

One notable stat: with the 2-to-1 TO margin, we're now at exactly 0 at turnover margin. Last year we were +9. In 2011 we were +5. In 2010 we were +13. Not sure to what extent this reflects bad luck (TOs and by extension TO margin is notoriously volatile and luck-driven), or whether there's something deeper going on, but it's another problem for this team.

[washingtonismoney]

One notable stat: with the 2-to-1 TO margin, we're now at exactly 0 at turnover margin. Last year we were +9. In 2011 we were +5. In 2010 we were +13. Not sure to what extent this reflects bad luck (TOs and by extension TO margin is notoriously volatile and luck-driven), or whether there's something deeper going on, but it's another problem for this team.

[scorecard]

You can look at this in two different ways. One is that we won a road game  against a ranked team in a tough Pac-12 venue. The other is that it's very difficult to believe that a sketchy offense like ours will be good enough for us to beat the No. 3 team in the country next month. And, sadly, these views are not mutually exclusive.

I feel slightly more optimistic about the possibility of beating Oregon than I did at this same time last year.  Of course, I thought we had ZERO chance last year, so hoping to be surprised again this year.  Regardless, it sure would help to get healthy.

Couple other thoughts:
- Rhyne's final punt was rushed because of a low snap.  At least he made up for it by tackling tripping up Cooks.  It would have won the Best Trip Of The Day award if it wasn't for that other Cardinal(s) game tonight
- I wish we would stop faking injuries with our best players during important drives.  Why do Shaw and Randy Hart teach this?  [/sarcasm]  If Sarkisian was any kind of man or role model as a coach, he should reach out personally to apologize to Ben Gardner in particular.  As others have stated, I won't hold my breath.  Hope Gardner gets right soon, but a pinched nerve is a tough injury.

[scorecard]

You can look at this in two different ways. One is that we won a road game  against a ranked team in a tough Pac-12 venue. The other is that it's very difficult to believe that a sketchy offense like ours will be good enough for us to beat the No. 3 team in the country next month. And, sadly, these views are not mutually exclusive.

I feel slightly more optimistic about the possibility of beating Oregon than I did at this same time last year.  Of course, I thought we had ZERO chance last year, so hoping to be surprised again this year.  Regardless, it sure would help to get healthy.

Couple other thoughts:
- Rhyne's final punt was rushed because of a low snap.  At least he made up for it by tackling tripping up Cooks.  It would have won the Best Trip Of The Day award if it wasn't for that other Cardinal(s) game tonight
- I wish we would stop faking injuries with our best players during important drives.  Why do Shaw and Randy Hart teach this?  [/sarcasm]  If Sarkisian was any kind of man or role model as a coach, he should reach out personally to apologize to Ben Gardner in particular.  As others have stated, I won't hold my breath.  Hope Gardner gets right soon, but a pinched nerve is a tough injury.

[JohnR34231]

I recall Shaw saying before last year's Oregon game that it would take our best, and less than their best for a Stanford victory. True again, I believe.

Actually, I feel about the same concerning our chances against them as I did last year. Slim, but not zero. Of course, just as it was last year, if you look at our comparative performance against common opponents it is difficult to be too sanguine about our chances.

The advantage is that we get them at home, and our guys know from last year that they are not invincible. The downside is that, while we perhaps caught them taking us a bit lightly last year, this year they will come in foaming at the bills to avenge last year's defeat.

P.S. DeAnthony Thomas came out of the UCLA game with his ankle still bothering him. so there is a chance he will be at less than 100% for us. However, the amazing thing about the Oregon offense is that it doesn't seem to matter who is in there. They are still a machine, especially in the second half.

[JohnR34231]

I recall Shaw saying before last year's Oregon game that it would take our best, and less than their best for a Stanford victory. True again, I believe.

Actually, I feel about the same concerning our chances against them as I did last year. Slim, but not zero. Of course, just as it was last year, if you look at our comparative performance against common opponents it is difficult to be too sanguine about our chances.

The advantage is that we get them at home, and our guys know from last year that they are not invincible. The downside is that, while we perhaps caught them taking us a bit lightly last year, this year they will come in foaming at the bills to avenge last year's defeat.

P.S. DeAnthony Thomas came out of the UCLA game with his ankle still bothering him. so there is a chance he will be at less than 100% for us. However, the amazing thing about the Oregon offense is that it doesn't seem to matter who is in there. They are still a machine, especially in the second half.

[gocard14]

I'm less pessimistic about our Oregon chances then most of you folks.  It really seems to me that the Oregon offense is amazing at rolling overmatched foes, but struggles against a team that can go toe to toe with them in the trenches, tackle well in the open field, and play disciplined.  When they are gashing teams for 7 yards/play, the tempo makes them even harder to stop.  Force 3rd and long situations and that takes the tempo out of play. We did it last year, and to a lesser extent Auburn and LSU did it in their games against the ducks. 

That being said, our chances hinge on the performance of our D-line, so if gardner and anderson are both out we may be SOL.

[gocard14]

I'm less pessimistic about our Oregon chances then most of you folks.  It really seems to me that the Oregon offense is amazing at rolling overmatched foes, but struggles against a team that can go toe to toe with them in the trenches, tackle well in the open field, and play disciplined.  When they are gashing teams for 7 yards/play, the tempo makes them even harder to stop.  Force 3rd and long situations and that takes the tempo out of play. We did it last year, and to a lesser extent Auburn and LSU did it in their games against the ducks. 

That being said, our chances hinge on the performance of our D-line, so if gardner and anderson are both out we may be SOL.

[JohnR34231]

Well, Oregon has yet to score less than 40 points a game, or win by less than three touchdowns. Their wins have included two top 25 teams.

So other than perhaps our game with them last year, I'm not sure where you get the notion that they struggle against good teams that can go toe to toe with them in the trenches, unless you concede that there are only a few teams in the country capable of doing that.

Anyway, we were last year. Here's hoping that's going to be true again this year.

[JohnR34231]

Well, Oregon has yet to score less than 40 points a game, or win by less than three touchdowns. Their wins have included two top 25 teams.

So other than perhaps our game with them last year, I'm not sure where you get the notion that they struggle against good teams that can go toe to toe with them in the trenches, unless you concede that there are only a few teams in the country capable of doing that.

Anyway, we were last year. Here's hoping that's going to be true again this year.

[Kathy]

The Ducks get revved up for the second half. Only way we stop them is with a tremendous offensive performance for a brobdingnagian lead by halftime so that our defense is still fairly fresh in the second half to shut them down.

[Kathy]

The Ducks get revved up for the second half. Only way we stop them is with a tremendous offensive performance for a brobdingnagian lead by halftime so that our defense is still fairly fresh in the second half to shut them down.

[JohnR34231]

The Ducks get revved up for the second half. Only way we stop them is with a tremendous offensive performance for a brobdingnagian lead by halftime so that our defense is still fairly fresh in the second half to shut them down.

Unfortunately that's just not going to happen, at least IMO.

So if that's what it's going to take for us to win, let's start talking about our chances of getting to the Rose Bowl after losing to the Ducks.

[JohnR34231]

The Ducks get revved up for the second half. Only way we stop them is with a tremendous offensive performance for a brobdingnagian lead by halftime so that our defense is still fairly fresh in the second half to shut them down.

Unfortunately that's just not going to happen, at least IMO.

So if that's what it's going to take for us to win, let's start talking about our chances of getting to the Rose Bowl after losing to the Ducks.

[Kathy]

Yep. Based on the past few games, our offense isn't going to make that leap. But they have a week & a half to try ... hope springs eternal in my heart.

[Kathy]

Yep. Based on the past few games, our offense isn't going to make that leap. But they have a week & a half to try ... hope springs eternal in my heart.

[stupac2]

The Ducks get revved up for the second half. Only way we stop them is with a tremendous offensive performance for a brobdingnagian lead by halftime so that our defense is still fairly fresh in the second half to shut them down.

That's not how we beat them last year...

[stupac2]

The Ducks get revved up for the second half. Only way we stop them is with a tremendous offensive performance for a brobdingnagian lead by halftime so that our defense is still fairly fresh in the second half to shut them down.

That's not how we beat them last year...

[Kathy]

Oregon isn't the same team as last year, and neither is Stanford ...

[Kathy]

Oregon isn't the same team as last year, and neither is Stanford ...

[gocard14]

So other than perhaps our game with them last year, I'm not sure where you get the notion that they struggle against good teams that can go toe to toe with them in the trenches, unless you concede that there are only a few teams in the country capable of doing that.

Exactly right.  The ducks have a very good o-line, excellent execution, and athletes to spare to make you pay for any mistake. Add that to a very underrated defense and they're tough to beat. I agree that there are very few teams that can control the line of scrimmage sufficiently to contain Oregon.  We did last year.  LSU did. Alabama could. Cal did a few years back. Nick fairly did almost single-handedly at Auburn.  It takes a pretty elite front 7.  We have that when healthy, the question is do we still without henry anderson and ben gardner.

[gocard14]

So other than perhaps our game with them last year, I'm not sure where you get the notion that they struggle against good teams that can go toe to toe with them in the trenches, unless you concede that there are only a few teams in the country capable of doing that.

Exactly right.  The ducks have a very good o-line, excellent execution, and athletes to spare to make you pay for any mistake. Add that to a very underrated defense and they're tough to beat. I agree that there are very few teams that can control the line of scrimmage sufficiently to contain Oregon.  We did last year.  LSU did. Alabama could. Cal did a few years back. Nick fairly did almost single-handedly at Auburn.  It takes a pretty elite front 7.  We have that when healthy, the question is do we still without henry anderson and ben gardner.

[Roberton3]

[quote author=JPRI link=topic=8687.msg72743#msg72743 date=1382882504]
So other than perhaps our game with them last year, I'm not sure where you get the notion that they struggle against good teams that can go toe to toe with them in the trenches, unless you concede that there are only a few teams in the country capable of doing that.

Exactly right.  The ducks have a very good o-line, excellent execution, and athletes to spare to make you pay for any mistake. Add that to a very underrated defense and they're tough to beat. I agree that there are very few teams that can control the line of scrimmage sufficiently to contain Oregon.  We did last year.  LSU did. Alabama could. Low APR U did a few years back. Nick fairly did almost single-handedly at Auburn.  It takes a pretty elite front 7.  We have that when healthy, the question is do we still without henry anderson and ben gardner.
[/quote]

This is right on the nose.  Oregon's offense has really struggled against teams with great front 7s, and the defensive line seems to be particularly important.  They haven't faced a team like that yet this year (UCLA is the closest, with top-notch linebackers, but their d-line isn't at the same level).  But given the injuries, it's not clear how good Stanford's d-line is right now.

[Roberton3]

[quote author=JPRI link=topic=8687.msg72743#msg72743 date=1382882504]
So other than perhaps our game with them last year, I'm not sure where you get the notion that they struggle against good teams that can go toe to toe with them in the trenches, unless you concede that there are only a few teams in the country capable of doing that.

Exactly right.  The ducks have a very good o-line, excellent execution, and athletes to spare to make you pay for any mistake. Add that to a very underrated defense and they're tough to beat. I agree that there are very few teams that can control the line of scrimmage sufficiently to contain Oregon.  We did last year.  LSU did. Alabama could. Low APR U did a few years back. Nick fairly did almost single-handedly at Auburn.  It takes a pretty elite front 7.  We have that when healthy, the question is do we still without henry anderson and ben gardner.
[/quote]

This is right on the nose.  Oregon's offense has really struggled against teams with great front 7s, and the defensive line seems to be particularly important.  They haven't faced a team like that yet this year (UCLA is the closest, with top-notch linebackers, but their d-line isn't at the same level).  But given the injuries, it's not clear how good Stanford's d-line is right now.

[fullmetal]

The Ducks get revved up for the second half. Only way we stop them is with a tremendous offensive performance for a brobdingnagian lead by halftime so that our defense is still fairly fresh in the second half to shut them down.

So...let's talk about other ways we can stop them  :-[

[fullmetal]

The Ducks get revved up for the second half. Only way we stop them is with a tremendous offensive performance for a brobdingnagian lead by halftime so that our defense is still fairly fresh in the second half to shut them down.

So...let's talk about other ways we can stop them  :-[

[JohnR34231]

The Ducks get revved up for the second half. Only way we stop them is with a tremendous offensive performance for a brobdingnagian lead by halftime so that our defense is still fairly fresh in the second half to shut them down.

Actually that strategy did work a couple of years ago when U$C played them. The Tro.jans built up a big lead and manged to stave off a late Oregon rally (thanks to a missed Duck FG, sound familar?).

So despite all Kiffi.n's flaws, he has coached the only conference team besides us to beat the Ducks in the Kelly/ Helfrich era.

[JohnR34231]

The Ducks get revved up for the second half. Only way we stop them is with a tremendous offensive performance for a brobdingnagian lead by halftime so that our defense is still fairly fresh in the second half to shut them down.

Actually that strategy did work a couple of years ago when U$C played them. The Tro.jans built up a big lead and manged to stave off a late Oregon rally (thanks to a missed Duck FG, sound familar?).

So despite all Kiffi.n's flaws, he has coached the only conference team besides us to beat the Ducks in the Kelly/ Helfrich era.