No, it was not “virtually the same personnel “. Not even close. The injuries saw to that. They did not play one game with their projected o-line. And Love was hurt most of the year. If the line had stayed even relatively intact and they had the marked drop off that took place than you could point to coaching. But with injuries it’s impossible to know.
As for Anderson I find your comments relatively amazing. He’s been hailed as a terrific defensive coordinator for years. And he’s produced. Do you think he got dumb all of a sudden? How about Akina? I think he is considered one of if not the best defense of backfield coach in college football. The safeties did not perform well this year. Did he get them? Did he forget how to scheme? Did he forget how to teach? Did you forget how to coach?
If, as you always seem to want to do, you want to place blame entirely on the coaching staff for the four losses ( but no credit to them for the 8 wins) then I think the appropriate place to look is recruiting. It’s dropped off. That I grant you is a problem.
Yes. The surprise to me was how much the passing game changed. Became much more multi-dimensional.
One of you stat guys out there may have this: Id love to see YAC yards in 2018 compared to 2017. My perception is that they will be significantly higher because they ran more drag routes crossing routes screen passes (which they finally started to run quite well after a couple years of pure futility).
Believe I heard this, but admittedly I may have dreamed it: in 2017 every single touchdown pass they threw was to the end zone. In other words they did not have one touchdown pass that involved even one yard of YAC. Which to me was a brobdingnagian indictment on the passing game. That was not the case this year
As for Anderson I find your comments relatively amazing. He’s been hailed as a terrific defensive coordinator for years. And he’s produced. Do you think he got dumb all of a sudden? How about Akina? I think he is considered one of if not the best defense of backfield coach in college football. The safeties did not perform well this year. Did he get them? Did he forget how to scheme? Did he forget how to teach? Did you forget how to coach?
If, as you always seem to want to do, you want to place blame entirely on the coaching staff for the four losses ( but no credit to them for the 8 wins) then I think the appropriate place to look is recruiting. It’s dropped off. That I grant you is a problem.
(12-02-2018, 01:29 PM)OutsiderFan Wrote: It's great when you predict doom, but it's glory instead. It's frustrating when you correctly predict doom. Nothing is more maddening than predicting glory and the reality is doom, especially when the glory had been seen already.
Stanford went from #6 in FBS in YPC to #109, with virtually the same personnel. I don't know how this can be explained any other way than by coaching failure. Players don't all regress at once unless the coaching they are getting is sub-par. The only materially different guy not playing OL in 2017 was Dave Bright. Nobody can tell me this drop can any way be explained by losing one guy. By contrast, Notre Dame had two OL drafted in the Top 10 of the NFL draft and went from #3 to #57
There are problems with the Offense, but to me, the real issue is the Defense. Stanford has some very talented young defenders, but I just don't know if Lance Anderson should continue to be trusted. His unit has declined in performance steadily for years.
Pac-12 (FBS) YPP 2014: #1 (#2)
Pac-12 (FBS) YPP 2015: #4 (#64)
Pac-12 (FBS) YPP 2016: #4 (#41)
Pac-12 (FBS) YPP 2017: #7 (#90)
Pac-12 (FBS) YPP 2018: #9 (#69)
If Cal, with no better talent than Stanford has, can be #2 (#16), there really is no reason Stanford shouldn't be better on Defense.
If Shaw does prioritize getting better on Defense and running the ball more effectively, and mixes in a potent passing attack with the best QB he's had since Luck, maybe 2019 can be one of those odd year runs to a conference title. But there must be staff changes because it seems clear some new thinking needs to be infused into the program.
Yes. The surprise to me was how much the passing game changed. Became much more multi-dimensional.
One of you stat guys out there may have this: Id love to see YAC yards in 2018 compared to 2017. My perception is that they will be significantly higher because they ran more drag routes crossing routes screen passes (which they finally started to run quite well after a couple years of pure futility).
Believe I heard this, but admittedly I may have dreamed it: in 2017 every single touchdown pass they threw was to the end zone. In other words they did not have one touchdown pass that involved even one yard of YAC. Which to me was a brobdingnagian indictment on the passing game. That was not the case this year
(12-03-2018, 01:58 PM)Hulk01 Wrote: It gets into definitions that each of us have.
And perhaps I am romanticizing several past seasons, but let me take a shot at last season.
Love erupted. Vesuvius.
JJ broke out big.
Smith broke in, and then had a spectacular game against Notre Dame. So he didn't surprise me this year, just continued what I expected.
Costello broke in big.
Ditto Walker Little--freshman offensive player of the year in the Pac 12, no>
Herbig stepped way up: first team all conference. (He's honorable mention this year, likely--a break down.).
Okereke broke out, with that amazing game against the Huskies.
Reid broke out, with several highlight plays.
Phillips stepped up his game significantly, from HM to 1st team all conference.
That seems very different from what we saw this season. Was there a surprise other than Adebo? Just doesn't seem like the same, and relatively typical, Stanford season.