[d4cohn]

All great points, d4.

How about looking at all the wins that involved turtling? Why should I bother watching Stanford play when basically half the game is going to be boring? More to the point, why do I want to see my team constantly put its defense in positions where it must perform or the team will lose (or allowed opponent to tie), because the offense basically calls it quits? I want to occasionally see some throats stepped on so I can see the 2nd and 3rd team guys play. And I want to see defenses pay for ignoring all possibilities but a handoff to a RB.

Stanford should have won that game by two scores and coasted to an easy win, based on what I saw of the two teams. It was preposterous that Stanford's defense - and myself personally just watching - had to sweat it out until the final second. Yay, they won. But let me be clear.  I don't find any entertainment in watching my team get stuffed for 3, 4, 5, 6 yard losses on run plays I know the defense is expecting, and I really don't like relying on the defense to make stops to win games the offense could have otherwise won. This is especially the case given how many penalties can be called against the defense when the other team is passing.

My response would be if #74 doesn't commit a ridiculously unnecessary hold on the Scarlett screen pass, and Costello makes anything close to a good throw to OSB in first half, game is over after three, everyone gets to see the backups, and Coach Shaw doesn't have to risk anything. With a 14 point lead heading into the fourth (as opposed to a 22 point lead), Shaw's priority was getting out of Tempe with a win, which we weren't able to do in our last trip there in 2014. And Shaw's priority was also keeping us in the division/conference title race. If Stanford goes on to win the division/conference (cross fingers and knock on wood, even if it will be a tall order against UW), is anyone really going to care we only beat ASU by 7 instead of 14?

[d4cohn]

All great points, d4.

How about looking at all the wins that involved turtling? Why should I bother watching Stanford play when basically half the game is going to be boring? More to the point, why do I want to see my team constantly put its defense in positions where it must perform or the team will lose (or allowed opponent to tie), because the offense basically calls it quits? I want to occasionally see some throats stepped on so I can see the 2nd and 3rd team guys play. And I want to see defenses pay for ignoring all possibilities but a handoff to a RB.

Stanford should have won that game by two scores and coasted to an easy win, based on what I saw of the two teams. It was preposterous that Stanford's defense - and myself personally just watching - had to sweat it out until the final second. Yay, they won. But let me be clear.  I don't find any entertainment in watching my team get stuffed for 3, 4, 5, 6 yard losses on run plays I know the defense is expecting, and I really don't like relying on the defense to make stops to win games the offense could have otherwise won. This is especially the case given how many penalties can be called against the defense when the other team is passing.

My response would be if #74 doesn't commit a ridiculously unnecessary hold on the Scarlett screen pass, and Costello makes anything close to a good throw to OSB in first half, game is over after three, everyone gets to see the backups, and Coach Shaw doesn't have to risk anything. With a 14 point lead heading into the fourth (as opposed to a 22 point lead), Shaw's priority was getting out of Tempe with a win, which we weren't able to do in our last trip there in 2014. And Shaw's priority was also keeping us in the division/conference title race. If Stanford goes on to win the division/conference (cross fingers and knock on wood, even if it will be a tall order against UW), is anyone really going to care we only beat ASU by 7 instead of 14?