Nov 30 | Stanford

[gkIrish]

This, I guess he does go about it in a round about way (or 'more professional') but he still brings up the goal line play in interviews and states how they would have won the game if the call was the other way...

People always pretend like Stanford was down 6 or something like that before that play. Best case scenario for them was Overtime. So frustrating.

 

[Emcee77]

People always pretend like Stanford was down 6 or something like that before that play. Best case scenario for them was Overtime. So frustrating.

Drives me freaking nuts. Almost as bad as USC. Sorry, but you wouldn't necessarily have won the game if scored a TD on that drive.

 

[wizards8507]

Don't look now but Stanford is down 10.

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[wizards8507]

Wow our SOS took a beating today.

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[IrishLax]

Been struggling in multiple contests this year. Against Army... thoroughly outplayed by Wasington... like Michigan, this loss was a long time coming. Against a team as bad as Utah is bit surprising.

 

[GoldenIsThyFame]

Wow our SOS took a beating today.

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Meh doesn't matter this year. If we win out we will be in the BCS.

 

[T Town Tommy]

Been struggling in multiple contests this year. Against Army... thoroughly outplayed by Wasington... like Michigan, this loss was a long time coming. Against a team as bad as Utah is bit surprising.

Been saying since before the season started that Stanford was not as good as advertised. They won several games last year that could have went the other way.

 

[IrishLax]

Been saying since before the season started that Stanford was not as good as advertised. They won several games last year that could have went the other way.

I am the President of that fan club. Even wrote a blog post where I touched on the absurd amount of close wins Stanford had last year.

 

[T Town Tommy]

I am the President of that fan club. Even wrote a blog post where I touched on the absurd amount of close wins Stanford had last year.

ndworld247 is a member too iirc.

 

[NDWorld247]

ndworld247 is a member too iirc.

Nope. I was a member of the "Stanford is a really good team" fan club, and still am, and disagreed with those that said Stanford was overrated. Admittedly, I didn't watch the game today, but I still think highly of Stanford. Really good teams, and even great teams, lose in college football. That's the nature of the beast.

 

[T Town Tommy]

Nope. I was a member of the "Stanford is a really good team" fan club, and still am, and disagreed with those that said Stanford was overrated. Admittedly, I didn't watch the game today, but I still think highly of Stanford. Really good teams, and even great teams, lose in college football. That's the nature of the beast.

My apologies. But I do disagree with Stanford. They are a good team but a team I would put in the 8-12 range. Funny thing is... I give them a solid chance against Oregon because they are physical and Oregon still appears to be a little light in the as* against teams that want to man up with them. Oregon does have the revenge factor so it should be interesting. We shall see.

 

[Bluto]

Turnovers was the nail in the coffin for them today. Sound familiar?

 

[NDWorld247]

My apologies. But I do disagree with Stanford. They are a good team but a team I would put in the 8-12 range. Funny thing is... I give them a solid chance against Oregon because they are physical and Oregon still appears to be a little light in the as* against teams that want to man up with them. Oregon does have the revenge factor so it should be interesting. We shall see.

Well, it would appear that those who thought Stanford was overrated at #5 preseason are more correct than I was, although I didn't expect them to go undefeated. Only 2-3 teams go undefeated each year. It doesn't mean those with one or two losses are overrated. I agree with the 8 to 12 range and the matchup with Oregon. Stanford has proven they can slow Oregon down.

But, at the end of the day, they could still run the table, win the Rose Bowl, and finish in the polls where they started. To be honest, the loss to Utah doesn't really change my opinion of them. IMO, they are still better than some of the undefeated teams that will be ranked higher.

 

[T Town Tommy]

But, at the end of the day, they could still run the table, win the Rose Bowl, and finish in the polls where they started. To be honest, the loss to Utah doesn't really change my opinion of them. IMO, they are still better than some of the undefeated teams that will be ranked higher.

Agree. They are better than tOSU, UCLA, Baylor, Miami, and Louisville who are currently undefeated. Don't expect all of them to get there undefeated however.

 

[IrishLax]

Yeah, I've never thought Stanford was "bad" what I took exception to was all of the writers picking them to win the championship, saying they were better than Bama, slotting them pre-season #2... seemed like a lot of undeserved hype for a team that had so many question marks on O and won an insane amount of squeakers last year. I thought they deserved to be somewhere in the 8-16 range pre-season with potential for them to lose 3+ games pretty easily against a really tough schedule.

 

[IrishLax]

Also, for those that missed the game, Stanford got yet another bogus call in their favor on their 3rd TD. Ball clearly hit the ground on a TD but the call stood. Really ironic with the call that went against Washington last week. Between the Grimes no-catch from back in the day, the Washington no-catch, the TD vs Oregon last year, and this year's TD against Utah I don't know if I can think of another team that has gotten more bogus catch reviews at crucial moments in their favor.

 

[Kak7304]

Also, for those that missed the game, Stanford got yet another bogus call in their favor on their 3rd TD. Ball clearly hit the ground on a TD but the call stood. Really ironic with the call that went against Washington last week. Between the Grimes no-catch from back in the day, the Washington no-catch, the TD vs Oregon last year, and this year's TD against Utah I don't know if I can think of another team that has gotten more bogus catch reviews at crucial moments in their favor.

That sounds like an average Saturday in Ann Arbor.

 

[Kak7304]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Terrific player. Huge loss for <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Stanford&src=hash">#Stanford</a> RT <a href="https://twitter.com/ESPN_Pac12blog">@ESPN_Pac12blog</a>: Shaw said that DE Ben Gardner is done for the year with a pec injury.</p>— Bruce Feldman (@BFeldmanCBS) <a href="https://twitter.com/BFeldmanCBS/statuses/395248611635638272">October 29, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

 

[Ironman8]

That is huge.

 

[Emcee77]

Wow. He ate us up last year. Troy would do a better job of handling him this year, but I'm glad he won't have to.

 

[IrishLax]

Ben Gardner is a stud. Hopefully it's not a career altering injury for him.

 

[JughedJones]

Holy Jeebus.

This got pretty interesting.

 

[Rudy89]

if we win out we deserve a BCS bid after tonight.

 

[IrishLax]

So that Oregon game reinforced everything I thought about Stanford. It showed exactly what their strengths and weaknesses have been all season. BUT it completely shifted the paradigm with which I view their team.

I used to say they were "meh" because of their weaknesses... but now I think they're just really good based on their strengths. They remind me of last year's ND team with less skill position talent on offense but a better OL, and better DB play on defense.

We should all be very afraid of playing them because their defense really is THAT good... and it's designed to absolutely wreck a quarterback like Tommy. We won't be able to run the ball, we'll be forced to throw into tight windows, and as good as the pass pro has been it won't hold up against their pressure consistently. No one has been able to truly expose their D this year, but if you're going to I think you do it by extending plays.

We should feel pretty good that their offense is still quite average at best and Hogan is an extremely mediocre passer. They were only moderately successful against Oregon despite Oregon having zero ability to man up on the DL. With a healthy Nix/Day/Tuitt that won't happen to us. Stanford managed a meager 4.2 YPC on their 66 attempts but luckily converted an insane 67% of their 3rd downs. My main worry is our linebackers and safeties... can they be sure tacklers and make plays? I'm not sure.

Hogan was a pedestrian 7/13 for 103 yards and that doesn't include what should have been an INT. He throws some great balls, and then he throws some where just completely misses. He's wildly inconsistent and if you put them in 3rd & long where they have to throw you can force errors. They have no WRs that will scare our CBs (not even Jackson) and we'll be able to completely load the box like we did against MSU.

I think it will come down to who hits the big plays and who makes the mistakes. I doubt we pull it out, but we'll have a chance. Again... safeties and linebackers will probably be the difference. Give up one big play, or miss a tackle on a crucial 3rd down, and that can completely change the complexion of the game. Happened to Oregon a number of times on the evening where they were in position to make a big play and then either mentally or physically whiffed.

 

[gkIrish]

So many good games Week 14. Wonder if Gameday will be at Stanford or Auburn.

Considering they will be a top 4 team when we play them, I love our chances against Stanford if our D-line is healthy. Hogan does not scare me at all. Tommy CANNOT turn the ball over and we will need to play solid special teams. Biggest question for me is whether Russell and Bennett can man up one on one and let our safeties play the run. I don't expect either team to score more than 24.

 

[irishff1014]

Oh boy this could get ugly.

 

[dublinirish]

i just have images of Ty Montgomery abusing Bennett Jackson, i hope hes not matched up on him

 

[Ndaccountant]

So that Oregon game reinforced everything I thought about Stanford. It showed exactly what their strengths and weaknesses have been all season. BUT it completely shifted the paradigm with which I view their team.

I used to say they were "meh" because of their weaknesses... but now I think they're just really good based on their strengths. They remind me of last year's ND team with less skill position talent on offense but a better OL, and better DB play on defense.

We should all be very afraid of playing them because their defense really is THAT good... and it's designed to absolutely wreck a quarterback like Tommy. We won't be able to run the ball, we'll be forced to throw into tight windows, and as good as the pass pro has been it won't hold up against their pressure consistently. No one has been able to truly expose their D this year, but if you're going to I think you do it by extending plays.

We should feel pretty good that their offense is still quite average at best and Hogan is an extremely mediocre passer. They were only moderately successful against Oregon despite Oregon having zero ability to man up on the DL. With a healthy Nix/Day/Tuitt that won't happen to us. Stanford managed a meager 4.2 YPC on their 66 attempts but luckily converted an insane 67% of their 3rd downs. My main worry is our linebackers and safeties... can they be sure tacklers and make plays? I'm not sure.

Hogan was a pedestrian 7/13 for 103 yards and that doesn't include what should have been an INT. He throws some great balls, and then he throws some where just completely misses. He's wildly inconsistent and if you put them in 3rd & long where they have to throw you can force errors. They have no WRs that will scare our CBs (not even Jackson) and we'll be able to completely load the box like we did against MSU.

I think it will come down to who hits the big plays and who makes the mistakes. I doubt we pull it out, but we'll have a chance. Again... safeties and linebackers will probably be the difference. Give up one big play, or miss a tackle on a crucial 3rd down, and that can completely change the complexion of the game. Happened to Oregon a number of times on the evening where they were in position to make a big play and then either mentally or physically whiffed.

Agree with everything but the bolded part.

There was a large amount of 3rd and shorts in the game, which was by design. They converted with strong OL play and with Hogan running. I was impressed by it, but I am not sure I would consider it lucky.

 

[dublinirish]

at certain points they had 9 OLinemen on the field at once

 

[GoldenIsThyFame]

i just have images of Ty Montgomery abusing Bennett Jackson, i hope hes not matched up on him

Yep. He was a non factor last night but that doesn't diminish his ability. He could torch Bennett.