I made a post last week proclaiming even if Stanford loses the rest of its games, I will fight anyone who claims last year's team was better than this year's. I now give you the empirical proof, following the win in Pullman that puts Stanford on pace to also be better in the W column.
Stanford is now yielding 3.9 YPC after two very good weeks against the run, and a pretty good one against UCLA (allowed just 4.1 YPC on 51 rushes - not bad for a undermanned team). This is good for #48 in FBS and #5 in the Pac-12. In 2022, Stanford was #130 and allowed a truly comically awful 6.3 YPC. I don't know for how many years I called for Lance Anderson's head because I could see the trend of not stopping the run getting worse.
A week after holding Washington to 91 yards rushing on 3.4 YPC, USC gave up over 300 yards and 7.4 YPC to the Huskies. Yes, Stanford has a better run and overall defense than USC and it isn't even arguable.
Stanford obviously can't run the ball, ranking #113 in FBS at 3.2 YPC (same as 2022), but the rush differential (my favorite stat to judge a football team's quality) of -.7 YPC in 2023 is a monumental improvement over the ghastly -3 YPC in 2022.
Stanford also has just about the same passing efficiency in 2023 (119.9) as 2022 (120.1).
Stanford has allowed a slightly better pass efficiency to opposing teams in 2023 vs. 2022, but, Stanford is just -.3 turnover per game in 2023 vs. -.8 per game in 2022.
Stanford hasn't improved running the ball or throwing it much (largely attributable to OL play), but it is obvious Taylor has figured out a way to make that same 3.2 YPC more productive than Shaw did, with his strategic use of Lamson as a runner. The OL is worse than 2022 by anyone's measure, but the production is greater by just using the run smarter.
I'll say it again. Taylor is doing more with less than Shaw had and it isn't even arguable. The 2023 Stanford team is now officially better than the 2022 team. That's really all you really wanted to see this season, right?
Stanford is now yielding 3.9 YPC after two very good weeks against the run, and a pretty good one against UCLA (allowed just 4.1 YPC on 51 rushes - not bad for a undermanned team). This is good for #48 in FBS and #5 in the Pac-12. In 2022, Stanford was #130 and allowed a truly comically awful 6.3 YPC. I don't know for how many years I called for Lance Anderson's head because I could see the trend of not stopping the run getting worse.
A week after holding Washington to 91 yards rushing on 3.4 YPC, USC gave up over 300 yards and 7.4 YPC to the Huskies. Yes, Stanford has a better run and overall defense than USC and it isn't even arguable.
Stanford obviously can't run the ball, ranking #113 in FBS at 3.2 YPC (same as 2022), but the rush differential (my favorite stat to judge a football team's quality) of -.7 YPC in 2023 is a monumental improvement over the ghastly -3 YPC in 2022.
Stanford also has just about the same passing efficiency in 2023 (119.9) as 2022 (120.1).
Stanford has allowed a slightly better pass efficiency to opposing teams in 2023 vs. 2022, but, Stanford is just -.3 turnover per game in 2023 vs. -.8 per game in 2022.
Stanford hasn't improved running the ball or throwing it much (largely attributable to OL play), but it is obvious Taylor has figured out a way to make that same 3.2 YPC more productive than Shaw did, with his strategic use of Lamson as a runner. The OL is worse than 2022 by anyone's measure, but the production is greater by just using the run smarter.
I'll say it again. Taylor is doing more with less than Shaw had and it isn't even arguable. The 2023 Stanford team is now officially better than the 2022 team. That's really all you really wanted to see this season, right?
