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Nice way to exorcise the demons - BostonCard - 08-30-2014

Stanford 45, the UC Voldermorts 0

I don't have all that much to add to the first half commentary, since not much happened in the second half, except that our back-ups more than held their own against the Aggies.

Christ McCaffrey was a revelation.  I listened to part of the radio broadcast, and in the first half, McCaffrey had been on the field for five plays.  He scored on a 52 yard touchdown catch and run (well thrown ball, but nonetheless not a trivial catch), had three tackles on special teams.  The fifth play he was in for was a touchback.  On standing back to receive the opening kickoff of the second half, the Aggies elected to pooch kick it, even though McCaffrey had never returned a kickoff in college.  He did return three punts, for 60 yards (including a 41 yard return).  All in all, between McCaffrey and Montgomery, 5 punt returns for 134 yards and 1 TD.

To the extent that no performance is perfect, I will note that we had three turnovers (1 INT, and two fumbles, one inside the five yard line).  We also had a couple of dumb penalties, including 2 holds (I think) on Garnett.  We might have had two holds all of last season.  Also, not the world's best day for the refs, who missed not one, but three delays of game on Stanford's part.  And not just delays where we got the ball off just a second too late; there was a full five seconds from when the play clock hit double zero and when we started the play.  That also reflects poorly on our part... we need to be ready to get the play off.

Three cheers for:
* Christian McCaffrey
* Our return game
* The defense pitching a shutout
* Kevin Hogan, save for that interception, quite a good day: three TD passes (all 40+ yards) and a TD scramble
* Our backups who played almost the entirety of the second half and still beat the Aggies 7-0
* Austin Hooper 4 catches, 63 yards (and a load to bring down)... ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the return of the tight end to the Stanford offense.

Grrr:
* Turnovers
* Holding penalties
* Getting the play off on time
* Wlat Harris... watching this game reminded me just how bad of a loss that was

And finally, thank you to the team for allowing us to get rid of the autocorrect.  Next week, the Circus comes into town.  They will be a bit better than the Aggies.  Hopefully their lack of depth and lack of game day experience (how many true frosh playing) will shine through... not to mention the off the field distractions.

BC

Re: Nice way to exorcise the demons - stupac2 - 08-30-2014

(08-30-2014, 05:12 PM)Boston Card link Wrote:Also, not the world's best day for the refs, who missed not one, but three delays of game on Stanford's part.  And not just delays where we got the ball off just a second too late; there was a full five seconds from when the play clock hit double zero and when we started the play.  That also reflects poorly on our part... we need to be ready to get the play off.

I think the stadium had the clock set incorrectly. There's just no way they missed a delay that flagrant. On the plus side, weren't those all after Hogan left? I don't mind so much if Crower has issues with the play clock.

Re: Nice way to exorcise the demons - 81alum - 08-30-2014

Did anyone else think that Hogan was a bit off on the first series or two?  It looked like he threw high, threw low, and threw behind his receivers on the first few throws.  But I have not seen the telecast, so perhaps my eyes deceived me--just how tight a window he was fitting it into is something you TV viewers probably could see better. 

On the plus side, I did see him go through his progression and hit his #2 receiver a couple of times, which was encouraging.

He did get sacked a couple of times and hurried a bit.  The O-line's protection looked pretty good, but it was not completely dominant, and considering the level of opposition they will need to pick it up a bit more for next week.

McCaffrey looked wonderful.  Sanders and Young and Wright looked good.  Seale...not sure if his lack of production was on him or on the plays.

I thought Crower looked pretty good once he settled down. 

It was SO good to see Hooper catching 4.  Our offense is looking much more diverse.

Was it just me, or did it seem like we ran a lot more from shotgun and less from proset?  Not that many power plays.  One would have thought a steady diet of power once we were up big--but it seemed like Shaw wanted to give the second and third strings something more to do.

Re: Nice way to exorcise the demons - dabomb1227 - 08-30-2014

So impressed with McCaffrey, especially on special teams where he had 3 tackles and was one of the first people down to the returner on all of the kickoffs.

Great to see the TEs involved (both Hooper and Cotton, with his early catch).

Think the team did a good job in the 2nd half of getting some guys playing time and trying a few different things away.  Also gave USC some things to look at that maybe we can run variations of to trick them.

Re: Nice way to exorcise the demons - pefloresjr - 08-30-2014

(08-30-2014, 05:59 PM)stupac2 link Wrote:[quote author=Boston Card link=topic=10485.msg95932#msg95932 date=1409443931]Also, not the world's best day for the refs, who missed not one, but three delays of game on Stanford's part.  And not just delays where we got the ball off just a second too late; there was a full five seconds from when the play clock hit double zero and when we started the play.  That also reflects poorly on our part... we need to be ready to get the play off.

I think the stadium had the clock set incorrectly. There's just no way they missed a delay that flagrant. On the plus side, weren't those all after Hogan left? I don't mind so much if Crower has issues with the play clock.
[/quote]
I agree.  After that play the ref walked up to the Davis coaches pointing to his watch indicating that he was keeping the time on the field.  The other two I saw looked pretty close. 

Cheers,
Pete F. 

Re: Nice way to exorcise the demons - CornFed - 08-30-2014

I am amped up about the performance of the football Cardinal today.  Parry made an outstanding showing.  The announcers were ga-ga over McCaffrey as well they should have been.  The first college level touch of his career and he takes it into the endzone (admittedly, the play call appeared to be responsible for a lot of that, combined with Hogan's calm read of the linebacker's decision to rush).  The sideline reporter said she asked Shaw about McCaffrey and he said he was most impressed that, after the TD, the coaches told him he didn't have to go out for the kickoff and the kid said,"No way!  I love kickoffs!"  Cool kid.

I am fretting about the running game.  I am certain that much of the cause of my unease probably stems from my underestimation of the quality of the Davis defense.  I guess I knew that the power running would be different, given the different personnel we have in the backfield.  I'm fairly certain that the USC defense will be dramatically tougher to run against.  I just didn't feel that the performance today will strike fear into the hearts (if they had such) of our opposition when they look at the game film.  Perhaps you all can provide me with a little input to soothe my worried, jittery senses.

Re: Nice way to exorcise the demons - 82 Card - 08-30-2014

(08-30-2014, 06:41 PM)81alum link Wrote:Did anyone else think that Hogan was a bit off on the first series or two?  ....

There were a lot of dropped passes. It seemed like Hogan's throws were not ideally placed. On a couple of throws, the pass was right at the receiver's head rather than in front of them. At the time, I thought the receivers should have caught the ball. That may have been unrealistic, given the angle.