[msqueri]

Shaw lied and then got caught in a lie and knew it. Watch through Harold Gutmann's question. There is no explaining Shaw's comment in light of USC's offense not being challenged to even get to third down. I'll copy below what I wrote about this exchange in my morning after thoughts and offer one new thought: I think the way to read Shaw's comments is that you can't judge the defense as being as bad as it was because the offense's turnovers knee-capped the defense; Shaw was saying something negative about the offense more than something positive about the defense, it's just that his wording came out as a moronic lie. And then he bristled when a young buck reporter "contradicted" him, because it's embarrassing for the Great Man Stanford Football GOAT to be called out for a very stupid comment. But saying the defense was not terrible in the first half is very, very stupid. Anyway, what I wrote Sunday: 

6. Shaw's post-game comments about the defense not being terrible in the first half do not hold up to scrutiny and Harold Gutmann was quite right to point out that there was no evidence to support Shaw's assertion. Yes, we handed USC short fields but if the defense weren't terrible there would have been more positive plays. Two tackles for loss and a pass defended in a half is not putting up much resistance, no matter where you are on the field. The brightest spot for the defense was third down, only giving up two conversions....but USC didn't even have to try a third down until the last plays of the first half! We didn't actually stop them until the third quarter, and because the second half started with another bomb to Addison USC scored on that drive anyway. No, the defense was terrible. The culprit, contrary to our norm, was the pass defense, which was absolutely roasted to the tune of 12.6 yards per attempt, the most we've given up since the conference championship against USC in 2017 and the third most ever given up by a Shaw team. The enemy gets a vote and USC's passing attack is spectacular, but not that spectacular. 12.6 yards per attempt is worse than Rice allowed and worse than all but two Oklahoma opponents in 2021. Several DBs were victimized (and lack of pass rush plays a role too) but Kelly really stands out. I know Addison is the Biletnikoff winner and incredible, but a DB even close to the totally undeserved hype Kelly gets wouldn't give up a bomb every other game, which is his norm going back a long while now. In contrast, I will eat some crow, at least for a week, on Bonner, who had a very nice (totally quiet, as one likes to see for a corner) game. Granted, that may have been because Williams didn't need to target Bonner since Kelly and Wyrick were proving vulnerable, but still a very nice game for Bonner.

[msqueri]

Shaw lied and then got caught in a lie and knew it. Watch through Harold Gutmann's question. There is no explaining Shaw's comment in light of USC's offense not being challenged to even get to third down. I'll copy below what I wrote about this exchange in my morning after thoughts and offer one new thought: I think the way to read Shaw's comments is that you can't judge the defense as being as bad as it was because the offense's turnovers knee-capped the defense; Shaw was saying something negative about the offense more than something positive about the defense, it's just that his wording came out as a moronic lie. And then he bristled when a young buck reporter "contradicted" him, because it's embarrassing for the Great Man Stanford Football GOAT to be called out for a very stupid comment. But saying the defense was not terrible in the first half is very, very stupid. Anyway, what I wrote Sunday: 

6. Shaw's post-game comments about the defense not being terrible in the first half do not hold up to scrutiny and Harold Gutmann was quite right to point out that there was no evidence to support Shaw's assertion. Yes, we handed USC short fields but if the defense weren't terrible there would have been more positive plays. Two tackles for loss and a pass defended in a half is not putting up much resistance, no matter where you are on the field. The brightest spot for the defense was third down, only giving up two conversions....but USC didn't even have to try a third down until the last plays of the first half! We didn't actually stop them until the third quarter, and because the second half started with another bomb to Addison USC scored on that drive anyway. No, the defense was terrible. The culprit, contrary to our norm, was the pass defense, which was absolutely roasted to the tune of 12.6 yards per attempt, the most we've given up since the conference championship against USC in 2017 and the third most ever given up by a Shaw team. The enemy gets a vote and USC's passing attack is spectacular, but not that spectacular. 12.6 yards per attempt is worse than Rice allowed and worse than all but two Oklahoma opponents in 2021. Several DBs were victimized (and lack of pass rush plays a role too) but Kelly really stands out. I know Addison is the Biletnikoff winner and incredible, but a DB even close to the totally undeserved hype Kelly gets wouldn't give up a bomb every other game, which is his norm going back a long while now. In contrast, I will eat some crow, at least for a week, on Bonner, who had a very nice (totally quiet, as one likes to see for a corner) game. Granted, that may have been because Williams didn't need to target Bonner since Kelly and Wyrick were proving vulnerable, but still a very nice game for Bonner.