[CTcard]

The terminology "ball control offense" strikes me as a bit ironic, because obviously the best way to control the ball would be not to willingly give it away to the opponent on 4th down.  You guys are using it in the way everyone does, but maybe the term ought to be rethought.  


To me, letting the clock roll and being willing to pound the ball methodically down the field is a different decision than whether to go for it on 4th down.  It can be both/and rather than either/or.

To me the term "ball control offense" also strikes me as odd as Stanford hasn't been the kind of team most people mean by that for at least three, really four years now.

The one element of that traditional definition that still applies is Stanford generally huddles and runs the play clock. Thus, they tend to have fewer plays per game than most. (though last year for the first time in a while, Stanford didn't have the fewest plays per game in the Pac 12)

Stanford throws the ball a high percentage of the time now. The last time Stanford attempted run plays over 50% of the time was 2017, the last time 60% of the time was 2016. In 2018 through 2020 Stanford was second or third in the conference in pass attempts per game, on a team that runs fewer plays overall.

Stanford also doesn't run a WSU-type (Leach) short-pass, ball-control passing offense. Stanford's been near the top of the conference in yds/att and yds/completion - though in 2019 when everything was awful they were in the bottom half there.

As we all surmise, Stanford is typically towards the bottom of the conference in fourth down attempts. I was surprised to see that Stanford has been pretty good at it when they did try. Tops in the conference in fourth down conversion rate in 2020, typically pretty high, and only dismal in 2019 when everything was dismal. I suppose that means Stanford only tries when its relatively easy, though I might have thought it would mean Stanford would have a higher percentage of desperation fourth down attempts than most.

[CTcard]

The terminology "ball control offense" strikes me as a bit ironic, because obviously the best way to control the ball would be not to willingly give it away to the opponent on 4th down.  You guys are using it in the way everyone does, but maybe the term ought to be rethought.  


To me, letting the clock roll and being willing to pound the ball methodically down the field is a different decision than whether to go for it on 4th down.  It can be both/and rather than either/or.

To me the term "ball control offense" also strikes me as odd as Stanford hasn't been the kind of team most people mean by that for at least three, really four years now.

The one element of that traditional definition that still applies is Stanford generally huddles and runs the play clock. Thus, they tend to have fewer plays per game than most. (though last year for the first time in a while, Stanford didn't have the fewest plays per game in the Pac 12)

Stanford throws the ball a high percentage of the time now. The last time Stanford attempted run plays over 50% of the time was 2017, the last time 60% of the time was 2016. In 2018 through 2020 Stanford was second or third in the conference in pass attempts per game, on a team that runs fewer plays overall.

Stanford also doesn't run a WSU-type (Leach) short-pass, ball-control passing offense. Stanford's been near the top of the conference in yds/att and yds/completion - though in 2019 when everything was awful they were in the bottom half there.

As we all surmise, Stanford is typically towards the bottom of the conference in fourth down attempts. I was surprised to see that Stanford has been pretty good at it when they did try. Tops in the conference in fourth down conversion rate in 2020, typically pretty high, and only dismal in 2019 when everything was dismal. I suppose that means Stanford only tries when its relatively easy, though I might have thought it would mean Stanford would have a higher percentage of desperation fourth down attempts than most.