[Goose]

But enough of that.  Moving forward I think we tend to over analyze things quite honestly. To me it’s quite simple. If they can get back to having a above average to dominate offensive line they’ll be able to run  the football and have at least an efficient offense. If they don’t get that line  play, they won’t run the ball and they will struggle.



Passing games are more important these days no question about it. And the rules help passing games. But the bottom line is this: to win consistently you have to effectively run the ball on offense and you have to be able to stop the run defensively. Stanford did neither the last couple years. When they were successful they did both. Therein lies the difference.

I can totally agree with every bit of this. We need to be able to run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense. You are correct that this simple dictum is the heart of the matter. The rest is detail. The great thing about "Intellectual Brutality" is that Stanford dictates what will happen, whatever we chose that to be, not the opponent. To do that, we need a dominant OL and a defense that can get stops.

[Goose]

But enough of that.  Moving forward I think we tend to over analyze things quite honestly. To me it’s quite simple. If they can get back to having a above average to dominate offensive line they’ll be able to run  the football and have at least an efficient offense. If they don’t get that line  play, they won’t run the ball and they will struggle.



Passing games are more important these days no question about it. And the rules help passing games. But the bottom line is this: to win consistently you have to effectively run the ball on offense and you have to be able to stop the run defensively. Stanford did neither the last couple years. When they were successful they did both. Therein lies the difference.

I can totally agree with every bit of this. We need to be able to run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense. You are correct that this simple dictum is the heart of the matter. The rest is detail. The great thing about "Intellectual Brutality" is that Stanford dictates what will happen, whatever we chose that to be, not the opponent. To do that, we need a dominant OL and a defense that can get stops.