[gailtate]

To your point about the wayward days of running power: that was 100% Jim Harbaugh. I could be wrong, but I don't think we ever ran it after he left. Or, at least we ran it a lot less.

I seem to remember a certain Rose Bowl against Michigan State where we ran the ball, was four straight times, into the middle of the line when we were trying to drive for a winning score. I think our coach, when pressed afterwards about the play calling, replied" "It's what we do". . . .

Of course, my memory is a bit hazy. . . .

No, your memory is fine. And, yes, Shaw hammered home the "2 yard gains become 6 yard gains in the 4th quarter mantra."  I wonder what the mantra is today?  "Slow players need a slow mesh."

It starts and ends with the OL.  There is nothing intrinsically wrong with the slow mesh RPO (Wake Forest seems to run it just fine), except that our OL doesn’t push anyone back, so on many occasions a defensive linemen is up on the QB as soon as he pulls it down.  It reminds me a bit of the old Buddy Teabens shotgun draw. It’s the same offense that largely got Florida to a national title, but the problem was that while Florida’s linemen could put up gaping holes for their running backs, when we tried it, we often faced a linebacker in the backfield.

Ironically, a few years ago, I remember this board clamoring for Shawvita to institute an RPO and claiming he was stubborn for not doing so.

I’m not particularly enamored with the slow mesh, or RPO’s generally, but until we re-develop an offensive line that can push people back and keep passing lanes clear, we’re going to be hosed regardless of scheme.  We could go back to power, and realize that all our runs are getting stuffed at the line of scrimmage.  We could go to a a “raid” offense and McKee will get sacked 10 times a game.

We need to start winning the wars in the trenches, and you can draw a straight line between Stanford’s decline and our inability to do so on both offense and defense.

BC

It is no secret that McKee does NOT have the skill set to make a living on RPO.  Of course, opponent DCs know this an figured it out post haste. It's the new "jet-sweep", remember that club in Teevens' bag?  Stanford (AKA McKee) needs a O-line that can pass block and receivers who can catch, shake and bake every time that ball is close enough to touch. Oh, yes, and a big, fast, mean-ass front 7 on defense that can force turnovers, jar fillings loose from molars and terrorize hotshots like Pix and DTR. Stanford is a LONG way from those kind of studs... but there's no future without 'em.

[gailtate]

To your point about the wayward days of running power: that was 100% Jim Harbaugh. I could be wrong, but I don't think we ever ran it after he left. Or, at least we ran it a lot less.

I seem to remember a certain Rose Bowl against Michigan State where we ran the ball, was four straight times, into the middle of the line when we were trying to drive for a winning score. I think our coach, when pressed afterwards about the play calling, replied" "It's what we do". . . .

Of course, my memory is a bit hazy. . . .

No, your memory is fine. And, yes, Shaw hammered home the "2 yard gains become 6 yard gains in the 4th quarter mantra."  I wonder what the mantra is today?  "Slow players need a slow mesh."

It starts and ends with the OL.  There is nothing intrinsically wrong with the slow mesh RPO (Wake Forest seems to run it just fine), except that our OL doesn’t push anyone back, so on many occasions a defensive linemen is up on the QB as soon as he pulls it down.  It reminds me a bit of the old Buddy Teabens shotgun draw. It’s the same offense that largely got Florida to a national title, but the problem was that while Florida’s linemen could put up gaping holes for their running backs, when we tried it, we often faced a linebacker in the backfield.

Ironically, a few years ago, I remember this board clamoring for Shawvita to institute an RPO and claiming he was stubborn for not doing so.

I’m not particularly enamored with the slow mesh, or RPO’s generally, but until we re-develop an offensive line that can push people back and keep passing lanes clear, we’re going to be hosed regardless of scheme.  We could go back to power, and realize that all our runs are getting stuffed at the line of scrimmage.  We could go to a a “raid” offense and McKee will get sacked 10 times a game.

We need to start winning the wars in the trenches, and you can draw a straight line between Stanford’s decline and our inability to do so on both offense and defense.

BC

It is no secret that McKee does NOT have the skill set to make a living on RPO.  Of course, opponent DCs know this an figured it out post haste. It's the new "jet-sweep", remember that club in Teevens' bag?  Stanford (AKA McKee) needs a O-line that can pass block and receivers who can catch, shake and bake every time that ball is close enough to touch. Oh, yes, and a big, fast, mean-ass front 7 on defense that can force turnovers, jar fillings loose from molars and terrorize hotshots like Pix and DTR. Stanford is a LONG way from those kind of studs... but there's no future without 'em.