Agree that 4th should be quite pessimistic.
As others have pointed out, what should have been a rebuilding year at wazoo was saved by a miracle find qb. I don’t think wazoo finds a guy like that again each year.
Wilner hinges a lot of Stanford’s prediction based on last year’s ol play. I would agree that If Stanford’s run blocking is like 2018’s, Stanford could come in fourth or worse. But, like many others here, I don’t expect that to be the case. Stanford has had so many years of dominant run blocking, and has so much talent, it’s reasonable to hope that 2018 proves an aberration rather than the new normal.
Also I don’t think Wilner recognizes enough that the challenge of Stanford’s schedule is its out-of-conference lineup. Stanford could go 8-4 or even 7-5 during the regular season and, with home games against UW, Oregon, and Cal(!), still conceivably go for Roses.
I also think Wilner is overoptimistic about Utah. Willingham is more of a “get some upsets” coach than a “conference champion” coach, and his reliance on a dual threat qb just compounds that tendency — a running qb can score some upsets, but they shouldn’t be surprised when they go 1-3 when their running qb inevitably gets injured.
As others have pointed out, what should have been a rebuilding year at wazoo was saved by a miracle find qb. I don’t think wazoo finds a guy like that again each year.
Wilner hinges a lot of Stanford’s prediction based on last year’s ol play. I would agree that If Stanford’s run blocking is like 2018’s, Stanford could come in fourth or worse. But, like many others here, I don’t expect that to be the case. Stanford has had so many years of dominant run blocking, and has so much talent, it’s reasonable to hope that 2018 proves an aberration rather than the new normal.
Also I don’t think Wilner recognizes enough that the challenge of Stanford’s schedule is its out-of-conference lineup. Stanford could go 8-4 or even 7-5 during the regular season and, with home games against UW, Oregon, and Cal(!), still conceivably go for Roses.
I also think Wilner is overoptimistic about Utah. Willingham is more of a “get some upsets” coach than a “conference champion” coach, and his reliance on a dual threat qb just compounds that tendency — a running qb can score some upsets, but they shouldn’t be surprised when they go 1-3 when their running qb inevitably gets injured.