[ATLCard]

dabigv nailed it on the biggest three reasons we lost -- coaching decisions, Montgomery, Nunes.  I don't agree on the order though (other than counting Nunes as a coaching decision).  UW sold out to stop the run and dared Stanford to throw over the top -- we wouldn't be arguing about play-calling if Nunes/Montgomery had made UW pay.  Unfortunately UW didn't pay for their strategy and we will continue to see it from everyone else we play until we can consistently hit passes.  While most of Montgomery's misses were tough catches not flat-out drops, a good receiver needs to come up with at least one of them.

I'm not a Nunes hater; there was a lot of "who's got the better arm" chatter before but Nunes' arm seems fine and he appears to throw an okay deep ball.  However, the Shaw QB decision as announced as being around consistency and execution and I don't think I have ever seen more delay penalties from Stanford (maybe > 10 so far?), including first play of games, first play of quarters, etc where it is all about just getting the team lined up and going.  Also, while the deep balls are generally not bad the short 10yd and in passes are inconsistent -- the occasional Cordivot passes are frustating but even the connections are often tough catches (high, low, behind) that don't put the receiver in position to gain yardage.

The combination of the delay penalties and missing on the relatively easy short/open passes means the Shaw offense can't execute -- you can't do run-heavy ball-control offense if you need to get 15 yards in 3 plays because of penalties or 10 yards in 2 plays because you bounced a short pass.  In that regard Nunes reminds me of Tavita Pritchard -- good guy, good team player, but not a good enough QB to make the team successful (and it's mentally tough trying to lead the team knowing you are a weak link).  I agree with the sober commentors that it's not clear Nottingham or Hogen would be an improvement (might throw more interceptions, etc.), but why wouldn't you find out at this point?  How much worse can you do than mainly three and out drives and 6 pts total for a game?  And, since Nunes is a senior (redshirt junior) who has been in the program four years and hasn't substantially improved execution/consistency four games into the season, why would you expect anything different for the rest of the season?

So, while I don't think Shaw's play-calling/game plan was the #1 reason we lost, I do worry that his decision-making is too rigid and I wish he had the flexibility (or maybe self-confidence) to say "okay, I'm adjusting my thinking and we are going to do something different" -- i.e. play Nottingham the second quarter to see if he brings something new; rotate Hogan in on the wildcat to see if he brings something new; use the Kelsey Young flip on fourth and 1 from the 40 sometime and maybe get an unexpected score; decide that maybe we never will hit more than 30% of the Toilolo "I'm taller than you" plays and it shouldn't be our favorite pass play.

[ATLCard]

dabigv nailed it on the biggest three reasons we lost -- coaching decisions, Montgomery, Nunes.  I don't agree on the order though (other than counting Nunes as a coaching decision).  UW sold out to stop the run and dared Stanford to throw over the top -- we wouldn't be arguing about play-calling if Nunes/Montgomery had made UW pay.  Unfortunately UW didn't pay for their strategy and we will continue to see it from everyone else we play until we can consistently hit passes.  While most of Montgomery's misses were tough catches not flat-out drops, a good receiver needs to come up with at least one of them.

I'm not a Nunes hater; there was a lot of "who's got the better arm" chatter before but Nunes' arm seems fine and he appears to throw an okay deep ball.  However, the Shaw QB decision as announced as being around consistency and execution and I don't think I have ever seen more delay penalties from Stanford (maybe > 10 so far?), including first play of games, first play of quarters, etc where it is all about just getting the team lined up and going.  Also, while the deep balls are generally not bad the short 10yd and in passes are inconsistent -- the occasional Cordivot passes are frustating but even the connections are often tough catches (high, low, behind) that don't put the receiver in position to gain yardage.

The combination of the delay penalties and missing on the relatively easy short/open passes means the Shaw offense can't execute -- you can't do run-heavy ball-control offense if you need to get 15 yards in 3 plays because of penalties or 10 yards in 2 plays because you bounced a short pass.  In that regard Nunes reminds me of Tavita Pritchard -- good guy, good team player, but not a good enough QB to make the team successful (and it's mentally tough trying to lead the team knowing you are a weak link).  I agree with the sober commentors that it's not clear Nottingham or Hogen would be an improvement (might throw more interceptions, etc.), but why wouldn't you find out at this point?  How much worse can you do than mainly three and out drives and 6 pts total for a game?  And, since Nunes is a senior (redshirt junior) who has been in the program four years and hasn't substantially improved execution/consistency four games into the season, why would you expect anything different for the rest of the season?

So, while I don't think Shaw's play-calling/game plan was the #1 reason we lost, I do worry that his decision-making is too rigid and I wish he had the flexibility (or maybe self-confidence) to say "okay, I'm adjusting my thinking and we are going to do something different" -- i.e. play Nottingham the second quarter to see if he brings something new; rotate Hogan in on the wildcat to see if he brings something new; use the Kelsey Young flip on fourth and 1 from the 40 sometime and maybe get an unexpected score; decide that maybe we never will hit more than 30% of the Toilolo "I'm taller than you" plays and it shouldn't be our favorite pass play.