09-17-2018, 12:39 AM
Apologies if someone already created a thread to discuss this aspect; I didn't see one.
I was at the game, and just finished re-watching much of the game on DVR.
Usually, I think I'm a real cheerleader about the team and the stadium game experience, but for whatever reason, Saturday was my least enjoyable time in the recent 3 years of being a season ticket holder. It wasn't the most frustrating game (in terms of recent games, the TD-less Colorado game in 2016 was infuriating), but it just was not very fun for me. Maybe it's the 11:30 kickoff time (I only got 5 1/2 hours of sleep), maybe it's hard getting pumped up for an FCS game, maybe the offense laying an egg the opening 3 drives with a stalled drive, a pick, and a pick (with a pick-6 being called back, which would have made the game 10-0 Davis), and maybe it's the low energy from an empty stadium.
I don't know. Even with the rain during the Rice Game in 2016, I felt pumped up, but not Saturday. Probably a combination of those things, coupled with a sinking feeling, watching the offense struggle against a Davis team that let SJState score 38, thinking that maybe the season won't be as good as I had hoped.
Normally I list the good parts first, but I'll flip it for an FCS opponent.
1) I am really worried about the running game, the lack of the running game, and the penalties. I keep thinking back to how the team struggled in 2016 when Daniel Marx was out, and it kept struggling until Marx got back. Well, there's no Marx coming back now.
2) Also, so many holding penalties. Drive-killing penalties. And so many of them are dumb penalties, like pulling a defender down which is too obvious.
3) And still the false starts and delay of games. At home! In the library! How will they survive the deafening boom of Autzen, South Bend and Husky Stadium?
4) Right when I start thinking Costello has IT, he opens with two picks, against an FCS team. He does show growth -- I seem him going through his progressions and I like his spirit. But consistency is so key. It still feels like he could burst into the next level, and then maybe even the next, but then this.
5) And even though the special teams have been great, they need to be better (although the blocked kick was cool). Too many near blocks and rushed punts. Too many punts into the end zone, or drifting out of bounds too early. When a team has super-dominant special teams, they can win even when they've been outgained in yardage by 150 yards. That's what the team is capable of. Defense, a running game, and dominant special teams can hush a crowd and re-ignite a visiting team when you have away games at some of the toughest stadiums, but it's not there yet.
The good:
1) Paulsen Adebo.
2) Getting to see some of the lower-string guys get a chance to play.
3) The defensive line, from this game, looked legit. If they can handle Notre Dame and Oregon as well as they've been holding up so far, I'll feel pretty good about the rest of the regular season. Thomas Booker, wow, how fast will he develop as a true frosh?
3) Osiris St. Brown. A legitimate deep threat? Ready for prime-time or just a second-half stat-builder against an FCS team. I guess we will find out.
4) Of course, and the usual great play we've grown to expect this season. Great special teams. JJAW and the tight ends. The defense as a whole, even though there were some blown assignments by the LBs.
The main take-away, this is the point in the season where I feel exasperated. If the offense plays like this, even with Bryce Love back, Oregon blows us up 28-14.
But I think one of the reasons Stanford does so well against the spread is that right when you feel like you're gonna lose hope, the team does something spectacular. Stanford sometimes plays just good enough to win, and starts to make you wonder, and then they show something you were beginning to think wasn't possible. And if that happens, Stanford unleashes the beast and rips Oregon 35-14.
I was at the game, and just finished re-watching much of the game on DVR.
Usually, I think I'm a real cheerleader about the team and the stadium game experience, but for whatever reason, Saturday was my least enjoyable time in the recent 3 years of being a season ticket holder. It wasn't the most frustrating game (in terms of recent games, the TD-less Colorado game in 2016 was infuriating), but it just was not very fun for me. Maybe it's the 11:30 kickoff time (I only got 5 1/2 hours of sleep), maybe it's hard getting pumped up for an FCS game, maybe the offense laying an egg the opening 3 drives with a stalled drive, a pick, and a pick (with a pick-6 being called back, which would have made the game 10-0 Davis), and maybe it's the low energy from an empty stadium.
I don't know. Even with the rain during the Rice Game in 2016, I felt pumped up, but not Saturday. Probably a combination of those things, coupled with a sinking feeling, watching the offense struggle against a Davis team that let SJState score 38, thinking that maybe the season won't be as good as I had hoped.
Normally I list the good parts first, but I'll flip it for an FCS opponent.
1) I am really worried about the running game, the lack of the running game, and the penalties. I keep thinking back to how the team struggled in 2016 when Daniel Marx was out, and it kept struggling until Marx got back. Well, there's no Marx coming back now.
2) Also, so many holding penalties. Drive-killing penalties. And so many of them are dumb penalties, like pulling a defender down which is too obvious.
3) And still the false starts and delay of games. At home! In the library! How will they survive the deafening boom of Autzen, South Bend and Husky Stadium?
4) Right when I start thinking Costello has IT, he opens with two picks, against an FCS team. He does show growth -- I seem him going through his progressions and I like his spirit. But consistency is so key. It still feels like he could burst into the next level, and then maybe even the next, but then this.
5) And even though the special teams have been great, they need to be better (although the blocked kick was cool). Too many near blocks and rushed punts. Too many punts into the end zone, or drifting out of bounds too early. When a team has super-dominant special teams, they can win even when they've been outgained in yardage by 150 yards. That's what the team is capable of. Defense, a running game, and dominant special teams can hush a crowd and re-ignite a visiting team when you have away games at some of the toughest stadiums, but it's not there yet.
The good:
1) Paulsen Adebo.
2) Getting to see some of the lower-string guys get a chance to play.
3) The defensive line, from this game, looked legit. If they can handle Notre Dame and Oregon as well as they've been holding up so far, I'll feel pretty good about the rest of the regular season. Thomas Booker, wow, how fast will he develop as a true frosh?
3) Osiris St. Brown. A legitimate deep threat? Ready for prime-time or just a second-half stat-builder against an FCS team. I guess we will find out.
4) Of course, and the usual great play we've grown to expect this season. Great special teams. JJAW and the tight ends. The defense as a whole, even though there were some blown assignments by the LBs.
The main take-away, this is the point in the season where I feel exasperated. If the offense plays like this, even with Bryce Love back, Oregon blows us up 28-14.
But I think one of the reasons Stanford does so well against the spread is that right when you feel like you're gonna lose hope, the team does something spectacular. Stanford sometimes plays just good enough to win, and starts to make you wonder, and then they show something you were beginning to think wasn't possible. And if that happens, Stanford unleashes the beast and rips Oregon 35-14.