[lex24]

Unusually quiet.  There is always less traffic with a good win.   OF and I disagree on a whole host of things (civilly I believe) but we agree on the thought that Stanford would have at least one more win but/for the Pac-12’s incompetence.  If Mills plays they are in the game with Oregon.  If he has a game under his belt and normal practice time, they probably beat Colorado.

There was a whole lot of 0 for season (can’t put number of losses cause who knows how many they play) after Colo.  Cal didn’t count cause they were lucky.  But pretty hard to downgrade this one.  Under very tough circumstances (a walk through in a public park is not optimal) they go out and play their best game in years. The first half they played as close to a perfect half OFFENSIVELY (imagine that) as I’ve seen.

BTW -  good clock management both half’s.  Balanced attack - with even a few creative running plays thrown in. No DOG’s. No timeouts wasted with clock running down. Went for it twice on 4th.  Made both. Controlled LOS.  And made plays when they had to to run clock out - even without their top two receivers out. 

Hell of a performance under extremely difficult circumstances.  Says a lot for the resiliency of the team. And that comes from the top.

[lex24]

Unusually quiet.  There is always less traffic with a good win.   OF and I disagree on a whole host of things (civilly I believe) but we agree on the thought that Stanford would have at least one more win but/for the Pac-12’s incompetence.  If Mills plays they are in the game with Oregon.  If he has a game under his belt and normal practice time, they probably beat Colorado.

There was a whole lot of 0 for season (can’t put number of losses cause who knows how many they play) after Colo.  Cal didn’t count cause they were lucky.  But pretty hard to downgrade this one.  Under very tough circumstances (a walk through in a public park is not optimal) they go out and play their best game in years. The first half they played as close to a perfect half OFFENSIVELY (imagine that) as I’ve seen.

BTW -  good clock management both half’s.  Balanced attack - with even a few creative running plays thrown in. No DOG’s. No timeouts wasted with clock running down. Went for it twice on 4th.  Made both. Controlled LOS.  And made plays when they had to to run clock out - even without their top two receivers out. 

Hell of a performance under extremely difficult circumstances.  Says a lot for the resiliency of the team. And that comes from the top.

[81alum]

Unusually quiet.  There is always less traffic with a good win.   OF and I disagree on a whole host of things (civilly I believe) but we agree on the thought that Stanford would have at least one more win but/for the Pac-12’s incompetence.  If Mills plays they are in the game with Oregon.  If he has a game under his belt and normal practice time, they probably beat Colorado.

There was a whole lot of 0 for season (can’t put number of losses cause who knows how many they play) after Colo.  Cal didn’t count cause they were lucky.  But pretty hard to downgrade this one.  Under very tough circumstances (a walk through in a public park is not optimal) they go out and play their best game in years. The first half they played as close to a perfect half OFFENSIVELY (imagine that) as I’ve seen.

BTW -  good clock management both half’s.  Balanced attack - with even a few creative running plays thrown in. No DOG’s. No timeouts wasted with clock running down. Went for it twice on 4th.  Made both. Controlled LOS.  And made plays when they had to to run clock out - even without their top two receivers out. 

Hell of a performance under extremely difficult circumstances.  Says a lot for the resiliency of the team. And that comes from the top.

I agree.  I could hardly believe the team I was watching was the same team as we have seen all year--beating an undefeated team at home no less.  It looked like the power running teams of yesteryear, and the 3rd down conversions were fabulous.  And manhandling Washington's much ballyhooed DE.  And to do do this under the ridiculous COVID conditions?  It may not seem so given the wasted season, but this was one of Shaw's best coaching achievements.

[81alum]

Unusually quiet.  There is always less traffic with a good win.   OF and I disagree on a whole host of things (civilly I believe) but we agree on the thought that Stanford would have at least one more win but/for the Pac-12’s incompetence.  If Mills plays they are in the game with Oregon.  If he has a game under his belt and normal practice time, they probably beat Colorado.

There was a whole lot of 0 for season (can’t put number of losses cause who knows how many they play) after Colo.  Cal didn’t count cause they were lucky.  But pretty hard to downgrade this one.  Under very tough circumstances (a walk through in a public park is not optimal) they go out and play their best game in years. The first half they played as close to a perfect half OFFENSIVELY (imagine that) as I’ve seen.

BTW -  good clock management both half’s.  Balanced attack - with even a few creative running plays thrown in. No DOG’s. No timeouts wasted with clock running down. Went for it twice on 4th.  Made both. Controlled LOS.  And made plays when they had to to run clock out - even without their top two receivers out. 

Hell of a performance under extremely difficult circumstances.  Says a lot for the resiliency of the team. And that comes from the top.

I agree.  I could hardly believe the team I was watching was the same team as we have seen all year--beating an undefeated team at home no less.  It looked like the power running teams of yesteryear, and the 3rd down conversions were fabulous.  And manhandling Washington's much ballyhooed DE.  And to do do this under the ridiculous COVID conditions?  It may not seem so given the wasted season, but this was one of Shaw's best coaching achievements.

[Mick]

Unusually quiet.  There is always less traffic with a good win.   OF and I disagree on a whole host of things (civilly I believe) but we agree on the thought that Stanford would have at least one more win but/for the Pac-12’s incompetence.  If Mills plays they are in the game with Oregon.  If he has a game under his belt and normal practice time, they probably beat Colorado.

There was a whole lot of 0 for season (can’t put number of losses cause who knows how many they play) after Colo.  Cal didn’t count cause they were lucky.  But pretty hard to downgrade this one.  Under very tough circumstances (a walk through in a public park is not optimal) they go out and play their best game in years. The first half they played as close to a perfect half OFFENSIVELY (imagine that) as I’ve seen.

BTW -  good clock management both half’s.  Balanced attack - with even a few creative running plays thrown in. No DOG’s. No timeouts wasted with clock running down. Went for it twice on 4th.  Made both. Controlled LOS.  And made plays when they had to to run clock out - even without their top two receivers out. 

Hell of a performance under extremely difficult circumstances.  Says a lot for the resiliency of the team. And that comes from the top.

I agree.  I could hardly believe the team I was watching was the same team as we have seen all year--beating an undefeated team at home no less.  It looked like the power running teams of yesteryear, and the 3rd down conversions were fabulous.  And manhandling Washington's much ballyhooed DE.  And to do do this under the ridiculous COVID conditions?  It may not seem so given the wasted season, but this was one of Shaw's best coaching achievements.

And frankly, I thought Washington was supposed to have the speed advantage.  That may have been true, but it certainly didn't look like it.

[Mick]

Unusually quiet.  There is always less traffic with a good win.   OF and I disagree on a whole host of things (civilly I believe) but we agree on the thought that Stanford would have at least one more win but/for the Pac-12’s incompetence.  If Mills plays they are in the game with Oregon.  If he has a game under his belt and normal practice time, they probably beat Colorado.

There was a whole lot of 0 for season (can’t put number of losses cause who knows how many they play) after Colo.  Cal didn’t count cause they were lucky.  But pretty hard to downgrade this one.  Under very tough circumstances (a walk through in a public park is not optimal) they go out and play their best game in years. The first half they played as close to a perfect half OFFENSIVELY (imagine that) as I’ve seen.

BTW -  good clock management both half’s.  Balanced attack - with even a few creative running plays thrown in. No DOG’s. No timeouts wasted with clock running down. Went for it twice on 4th.  Made both. Controlled LOS.  And made plays when they had to to run clock out - even without their top two receivers out. 

Hell of a performance under extremely difficult circumstances.  Says a lot for the resiliency of the team. And that comes from the top.

I agree.  I could hardly believe the team I was watching was the same team as we have seen all year--beating an undefeated team at home no less.  It looked like the power running teams of yesteryear, and the 3rd down conversions were fabulous.  And manhandling Washington's much ballyhooed DE.  And to do do this under the ridiculous COVID conditions?  It may not seem so given the wasted season, but this was one of Shaw's best coaching achievements.

And frankly, I thought Washington was supposed to have the speed advantage.  That may have been true, but it certainly didn't look like it.

[Langdude]

One nit. I think Shaw's clock management at the end of the first half was incompetent. He let a whole bunch of seconds tick off under a minute before deciding to take the time out, and he was not (at that point) trying to run off clock. Would have had time for two more plays, I think.

Again, a nit.

I have a lot lot lot more positives about the game. Have not posted about them yet. I will.

-m.

[Langdude]

One nit. I think Shaw's clock management at the end of the first half was incompetent. He let a whole bunch of seconds tick off under a minute before deciding to take the time out, and he was not (at that point) trying to run off clock. Would have had time for two more plays, I think.

Again, a nit.

I have a lot lot lot more positives about the game. Have not posted about them yet. I will.

-m.

[Bampa]

I saw that too and yelled at the TV. That kind of delay could be crucial. Still, a great first half and a great W.

[Bampa]

I saw that too and yelled at the TV. That kind of delay could be crucial. Still, a great first half and a great W.

[old spanish trail]

The whole OL played better than in several years, but I think the power game is more successful because of one man, Hinton. He is pancaking guys when run to his side and is walling off when run to other side. He's pretty good.

[old spanish trail]

The whole OL played better than in several years, but I think the power game is more successful because of one man, Hinton. He is pancaking guys when run to his side and is walling off when run to other side. He's pretty good.

[Spiny_Norman]

Is UW just a good match-up for Stanford? Stanford has now won 10 of the last 13 over the Huskies. A win over a ranked UW team was the highlight of last season too. We thought maybe Stanford had turned a corner when it upset UW but then the Cardinal lost 5 of the last 6.

Stanford played a near perfect game offensively. The last drive to eat up the final 7:30+ of the 4Q was vintage and a thing of beauty. And yet, and yet - Stanford needed all of that to happen to just barely hang on for the W because the defense, while better the last two weeks, is still unreliable. Their improvement will determine how much better Stanford can be.

[Spiny_Norman]

Is UW just a good match-up for Stanford? Stanford has now won 10 of the last 13 over the Huskies. A win over a ranked UW team was the highlight of last season too. We thought maybe Stanford had turned a corner when it upset UW but then the Cardinal lost 5 of the last 6.

Stanford played a near perfect game offensively. The last drive to eat up the final 7:30+ of the 4Q was vintage and a thing of beauty. And yet, and yet - Stanford needed all of that to happen to just barely hang on for the W because the defense, while better the last two weeks, is still unreliable. Their improvement will determine how much better Stanford can be.

[martyup]

And frankly, I thought Washington was supposed to have the speed advantage.  That may have been true, but it certainly didn't look like it.

Except when Thunder was chasing the QB to the sideline.  :•(

[martyup]

And frankly, I thought Washington was supposed to have the speed advantage.  That may have been true, but it certainly didn't look like it.

Except when Thunder was chasing the QB to the sideline.  :•(

[lex24]

One nit. I think Shaw's clock management at the end of the first half was incompetent. He let a whole bunch of seconds tick off under a minute before deciding to take the time out, and he was not (at that point) trying to run off clock. Would have had time for two more plays, I think.

Again, a nit.

I have a lot lot lot more positives about the game. Have not posted about them yet. I will.

-m.

Yes he could have called that one TO quicker.  But the management overall was good.  They scored. And made certain UW didn’t get ball back - especially impt when they get second half KO.

[lex24]

One nit. I think Shaw's clock management at the end of the first half was incompetent. He let a whole bunch of seconds tick off under a minute before deciding to take the time out, and he was not (at that point) trying to run off clock. Would have had time for two more plays, I think.

Again, a nit.

I have a lot lot lot more positives about the game. Have not posted about them yet. I will.

-m.

Yes he could have called that one TO quicker.  But the management overall was good.  They scored. And made certain UW didn’t get ball back - especially impt when they get second half KO.

[magnus]

One nit. I think Shaw's clock management at the end of the first half was incompetent. He let a whole bunch of seconds tick off under a minute before deciding to take the time out, and he was not (at that point) trying to run off clock. Would have had time for two more plays, I think.

Again, a nit.

I have a lot lot lot more positives about the game. Have not posted about them yet. I will.

-m.

Adding to the nits, there was another poor clock management (I assume this one is on Mills) on (I believe) the final drive.  As opposed to our usual "why can't we snap the ball sooner" dilemma, in this case, with the lead, we snapped the ball with 10 seconds to go.  Fortunately, the rest of the plays all reverted back to our usual sub-5 second snap routine.

[magnus]

One nit. I think Shaw's clock management at the end of the first half was incompetent. He let a whole bunch of seconds tick off under a minute before deciding to take the time out, and he was not (at that point) trying to run off clock. Would have had time for two more plays, I think.

Again, a nit.

I have a lot lot lot more positives about the game. Have not posted about them yet. I will.

-m.

Adding to the nits, there was another poor clock management (I assume this one is on Mills) on (I believe) the final drive.  As opposed to our usual "why can't we snap the ball sooner" dilemma, in this case, with the lead, we snapped the ball with 10 seconds to go.  Fortunately, the rest of the plays all reverted back to our usual sub-5 second snap routine.

[Phogge]

Go back and look at the few slow motion replays. The entire line was knocking the snot out of the Huskies. On two plays Hornibrook took his guy back about seven yards. Gotta get healthy next year.

[Phogge]

Go back and look at the few slow motion replays. The entire line was knocking the snot out of the Huskies. On two plays Hornibrook took his guy back about seven yards. Gotta get healthy next year.

[CompSci87]

And frankly, I thought Washington was supposed to have the speed advantage.  That may have been true, but it certainly didn't look like it.

Except when Thunder was chasing the QB to the sideline.  :•(

Thunder is not as fast as lightning.

[CompSci87]

And frankly, I thought Washington was supposed to have the speed advantage.  That may have been true, but it certainly didn't look like it.

Except when Thunder was chasing the QB to the sideline.  :•(

Thunder is not as fast as lightning.

[winflop]

One nit. I think Shaw's clock management at the end of the first half was incompetent. He let a whole bunch of seconds tick off under a minute before deciding to take the time out, and he was not (at that point) trying to run off clock. Would have had time for two more plays, I think.

Again, a nit.

I have a lot lot lot more positives about the game. Have not posted about them yet. I will.

-m.

I think Shaw made the decision to not risk a throw into the end zone and take the FG. I don't agree with the decision when you're up 21-3 and QB1 is clearly on point, but that's the only explanation that makes sense to me.

[winflop]

One nit. I think Shaw's clock management at the end of the first half was incompetent. He let a whole bunch of seconds tick off under a minute before deciding to take the time out, and he was not (at that point) trying to run off clock. Would have had time for two more plays, I think.

Again, a nit.

I have a lot lot lot more positives about the game. Have not posted about them yet. I will.

-m.

I think Shaw made the decision to not risk a throw into the end zone and take the FG. I don't agree with the decision when you're up 21-3 and QB1 is clearly on point, but that's the only explanation that makes sense to me.

[lex24]

One nit. I think Shaw's clock management at the end of the first half was incompetent. He let a whole bunch of seconds tick off under a minute before deciding to take the time out, and he was not (at that point) trying to run off clock. Would have had time for two more plays, I think.

Again, a nit.

I have a lot lot lot more positives about the game. Have not posted about them yet. I will.

-m.

I think Shaw made the decision to not risk a throw into the end zone and take the FG. I don't agree with the decision when you're up 21-3 and QB1 is clearly on point, but that's the only explanation that makes sense to me.

Remember, the strength of UW’s defense is it’s backfield.  I didn’t have a problem with settling for three there.

[lex24]

One nit. I think Shaw's clock management at the end of the first half was incompetent. He let a whole bunch of seconds tick off under a minute before deciding to take the time out, and he was not (at that point) trying to run off clock. Would have had time for two more plays, I think.

Again, a nit.

I have a lot lot lot more positives about the game. Have not posted about them yet. I will.

-m.

I think Shaw made the decision to not risk a throw into the end zone and take the FG. I don't agree with the decision when you're up 21-3 and QB1 is clearly on point, but that's the only explanation that makes sense to me.

Remember, the strength of UW’s defense is it’s backfield.  I didn’t have a problem with settling for three there.

[JJJ]

And frankly, I thought Washington was supposed to have the speed advantage.  That may have been true, but it certainly didn't look like it.

Except when Thunder was chasing the QB to the sideline.  :•(

Thunder is not as fast as lightning.

well played, sir. :)

[JJJ]

And frankly, I thought Washington was supposed to have the speed advantage.  That may have been true, but it certainly didn't look like it.

Except when Thunder was chasing the QB to the sideline.  :•(

Thunder is not as fast as lightning.

well played, sir. :)

[Farm93]

The would've, could've stuff is tempting.

If Stanford was the only program impacted by COVID-19 challenges then it would be fair to imagine the Oregon game would have been closer, and no doubt that the Colorado game would have been a win.   Mills lost game time vs Oregon and practice time during the week pre-Colorado.  And, honestly WSU is not that good.   So easy to imagine a 4-1 team rather than a 2-2 squad.

However, COVID-19 has impacted everyone.   Lots of teams have had challenges and some teams even have players actively dealing with COVID.  Every team has some would've, could've stuff that has impacted their program thanks to COVID-19.

In the end, I am in the same place.   Enjoy the season while chillin' at home.  Try not to read too much into the wins or the losses.   Pray that everyone stays healthy and that they can use whatever happens in 2020 for the 2021 season.

Getting the Axe out of the 2020 season was an added (but expected/desired) bonus.

[Farm93]

The would've, could've stuff is tempting.

If Stanford was the only program impacted by COVID-19 challenges then it would be fair to imagine the Oregon game would have been closer, and no doubt that the Colorado game would have been a win.   Mills lost game time vs Oregon and practice time during the week pre-Colorado.  And, honestly WSU is not that good.   So easy to imagine a 4-1 team rather than a 2-2 squad.

However, COVID-19 has impacted everyone.   Lots of teams have had challenges and some teams even have players actively dealing with COVID.  Every team has some would've, could've stuff that has impacted their program thanks to COVID-19.

In the end, I am in the same place.   Enjoy the season while chillin' at home.  Try not to read too much into the wins or the losses.   Pray that everyone stays healthy and that they can use whatever happens in 2020 for the 2021 season.

Getting the Axe out of the 2020 season was an added (but expected/desired) bonus.

[BostonCard]

I think what hurts is that for Mills, it wasn’t that he tested positive or that he was exposed, it was an administrative error by the league.  Hey, if COVID-19 affects us because we aren’t taking precautions, that’s one thing, but the Stanford team looks to have done a pretty good job not getting COVID-19.

BC

[BostonCard]

I think what hurts is that for Mills, it wasn’t that he tested positive or that he was exposed, it was an administrative error by the league.  Hey, if COVID-19 affects us because we aren’t taking precautions, that’s one thing, but the Stanford team looks to have done a pretty good job not getting COVID-19.

BC

[teejers1]

Unusually quiet.  There is always less traffic with a good win.   
. . . 
BTW -  good clock management both halves.  Balanced attack - with even a few creative running plays thrown in. No DOG’s. No timeouts wasted with clock running down. Went for it twice on 4th.  Made both. Controlled LOS.  And made plays when they had to to run clock out - even without their top two receivers out. 

Hell of a performance under extremely difficult circumstances.  Says a lot for the resiliency of the team. And that comes from the top.

1.  Agree 100% on clock management - my only real time nit (and those are the only ones people should raise in retrospect) was taking the first timeout n Q2 when he did (want to make sure the other team actually punts, and more TOs means you can attack the middle of the field more readily).  But they had time to get off the FG, so all good.

2.  It was a great win for the players, coaches, and program . . . even in a "supposedly meaningless" year.

[teejers1]

Unusually quiet.  There is always less traffic with a good win.   
. . . 
BTW -  good clock management both halves.  Balanced attack - with even a few creative running plays thrown in. No DOG’s. No timeouts wasted with clock running down. Went for it twice on 4th.  Made both. Controlled LOS.  And made plays when they had to to run clock out - even without their top two receivers out. 

Hell of a performance under extremely difficult circumstances.  Says a lot for the resiliency of the team. And that comes from the top.

1.  Agree 100% on clock management - my only real time nit (and those are the only ones people should raise in retrospect) was taking the first timeout n Q2 when he did (want to make sure the other team actually punts, and more TOs means you can attack the middle of the field more readily).  But they had time to get off the FG, so all good.

2.  It was a great win for the players, coaches, and program . . . even in a "supposedly meaningless" year.

[slide]

Lex -- 1st half was a lot of fun to watch,and any win, especially against a team in purple, is alway a good win.  Mills was very efficient (and without the benefit of wide open WRs) and the OL was pretty clean especially in run blocking.  however, if wins require us to be 100% on 3rd down as in the 1st half (or 76% for the game), then our margin for error is very thin as such halves will be few and far between as will the wins.  

with all the WR injuries, it will be interesting to see the game plan going forward.  I am hopeful we will see one of the young TEs emerge (or Higgins is used as a TE) and that Humphreys is allowed to run another pattern.

[slide]

Lex -- 1st half was a lot of fun to watch,and any win, especially against a team in purple, is alway a good win.  Mills was very efficient (and without the benefit of wide open WRs) and the OL was pretty clean especially in run blocking.  however, if wins require us to be 100% on 3rd down as in the 1st half (or 76% for the game), then our margin for error is very thin as such halves will be few and far between as will the wins.  

with all the WR injuries, it will be interesting to see the game plan going forward.  I am hopeful we will see one of the young TEs emerge (or Higgins is used as a TE) and that Humphreys is allowed to run another pattern.

[BostonCard]

And that with our offensive line jelling (or gelling) that maybe we go towards a more balanced run/pass ratio.  We ran 40 times (including 2 Mills scrambles) and passed 31 (including one spike to stop the clock).  Compare that to, for example, Colorado where we ran 21 times and passed 56!

BC

[BostonCard]

And that with our offensive line jelling (or gelling) that maybe we go towards a more balanced run/pass ratio.  We ran 40 times (including 2 Mills scrambles) and passed 31 (including one spike to stop the clock).  Compare that to, for example, Colorado where we ran 21 times and passed 56!

BC