[Goose]

We try so many running plays that seem complicated. Pulling lineman. 
And often slower to develop
Never seems to fool any defenders 
So vulnerable to a tackle for loss
I would hope to see more quick hitter / off tackle where it is a fast developing total line surge
The running back hopes to hit a gap even a small one, get through to linebacker level. So maybe 2 or 3 yards by then and RB maybe carry’s tackler another 1 or 2.
Possible 4 yard gain.
The simplest of all plays
Almost never see the Cards pull it off regularly for bout 3 or 4 years

Actually it goes back further than that. This "simplest of all plays" requires the line to "win" at the point of attack with straight ahead blocking. Our OL can't do that. Our "total line surge" at best yields a stalemate. The back has nowhere to go. Stanford has not had a back that could move the pile forward two yards since before CMac. Shaw always argued CMac could run inside and move the pile, but in reality it was his quickness and ability to read the blocking that allowed him to avoid the pile. Love absolutely relied on quickness. Our OL would get stuffed much of the time, but if they got even a crease he was gone. Those lines, bad as they were, were arguably better than what we have now (and have had for at least the last four years). We run the "complicated" running plays because it is hoped that the defense will make a mistake. We can't push them out of the way, so we hope they will take themselves out of the play. Sometimes it works, but generally it doesn't.

Unless and until we have an OL that can attack at the LOS and move somebody, we aren't going to be a very good football team. No mystery there. This is the reason "everybody" was hoping for a marked improvement in our OL play. So far, we haven't seen that. We can argue about how much "improvement" we see this year over last. IMO we have actually regressed ever so slightly, but we have only two games worth of data. Things can get better. Lets hope it does.

[Goose]

We try so many running plays that seem complicated. Pulling lineman. 
And often slower to develop
Never seems to fool any defenders 
So vulnerable to a tackle for loss
I would hope to see more quick hitter / off tackle where it is a fast developing total line surge
The running back hopes to hit a gap even a small one, get through to linebacker level. So maybe 2 or 3 yards by then and RB maybe carry’s tackler another 1 or 2.
Possible 4 yard gain.
The simplest of all plays
Almost never see the Cards pull it off regularly for bout 3 or 4 years

Actually it goes back further than that. This "simplest of all plays" requires the line to "win" at the point of attack with straight ahead blocking. Our OL can't do that. Our "total line surge" at best yields a stalemate. The back has nowhere to go. Stanford has not had a back that could move the pile forward two yards since before CMac. Shaw always argued CMac could run inside and move the pile, but in reality it was his quickness and ability to read the blocking that allowed him to avoid the pile. Love absolutely relied on quickness. Our OL would get stuffed much of the time, but if they got even a crease he was gone. Those lines, bad as they were, were arguably better than what we have now (and have had for at least the last four years). We run the "complicated" running plays because it is hoped that the defense will make a mistake. We can't push them out of the way, so we hope they will take themselves out of the play. Sometimes it works, but generally it doesn't.

Unless and until we have an OL that can attack at the LOS and move somebody, we aren't going to be a very good football team. No mystery there. This is the reason "everybody" was hoping for a marked improvement in our OL play. So far, we haven't seen that. We can argue about how much "improvement" we see this year over last. IMO we have actually regressed ever so slightly, but we have only two games worth of data. Things can get better. Lets hope it does.