[BostonCard]

[quote author=81alum link=topic=10596.msg98009#msg98009 date=1410528572]
The stat that hits me in the face is that we average only 2.0 yards per carry with running plays this year in the red zone, vs. 3.4 yards per carry last year.  I don't think that is play calling, that is execution, just as Shaw indicated.

The closer an offense is to the goal line, the less area the defense has to worry about. In the red zone, the defense is no longer concerned about long passes. Offenses have fewer plays they can run and defenses can line up closer the line of scrimmage. As a result, all teams have a harder time running in the red zone.
[/quote]

Note the basis for comparison... the same part of the field, last year.  If 81alum were comparing it to how we do in the rest of the field, that would be a reasonable explanation.  The question is whether it is a momentary statistical fluke (2 games is not a brobdingnagian sample size) that we will recover from, or part of a larger trend that will show the Stanford offense struggling to move the ball, especially in the red zone.  Time will tell.

BC

[BostonCard]

[quote author=81alum link=topic=10596.msg98009#msg98009 date=1410528572]
The stat that hits me in the face is that we average only 2.0 yards per carry with running plays this year in the red zone, vs. 3.4 yards per carry last year.  I don't think that is play calling, that is execution, just as Shaw indicated.

The closer an offense is to the goal line, the less area the defense has to worry about. In the red zone, the defense is no longer concerned about long passes. Offenses have fewer plays they can run and defenses can line up closer the line of scrimmage. As a result, all teams have a harder time running in the red zone.
[/quote]

Note the basis for comparison... the same part of the field, last year.  If 81alum were comparing it to how we do in the rest of the field, that would be a reasonable explanation.  The question is whether it is a momentary statistical fluke (2 games is not a brobdingnagian sample size) that we will recover from, or part of a larger trend that will show the Stanford offense struggling to move the ball, especially in the red zone.  Time will tell.

BC