Read that here.

Ashton Daniels & Justin Lamson. It’s the only logical explanation.

_

Read that here.

Read and watch that here.

Read that here.

Read and watch that here.

Read and watch that here.

Some interesting stuff here:

Login to view embedded media
Login to view embedded media
I was excited after watching Rothstein’s video but then noticed that he called Jaylen Thompson a freshman and had Ryan Agarwal in the starting lineup over Saran and became a bit less excited 🤨

Read that here.

msqueri said:

Could this be the new version of parental influence/40 year decision, grown-ups who know the value of money in America and want the best for their children by not getting drawn to the prestige of a Stanford or Michigan when more life-changing money is available at Auburn? Would be wild if so but a place my mind went a few weeks ago reading speculation about Babaloa mom dynamics.

Click to expand...

This s is EXACTLY why Canady went to Texas freaking Tech over staying at Stanford.

This is why I have been harping about how Stanford's greatest value proposition doesn't matter much anymore. And I believe I said a few months ago if Stanford can't land Babaloa - a guy who is the seeming prototype for a Stanford guy - it indicates that if it wants to compete in the market for top talent, Stanford must adapt and be willing to pay recruits like Babaloa a lot of money. It is all about money for those who offer the value for it to be. But it always was about money. I mean what was the 40-year decision about in the first place? It was about how you can make more money going to Stanford if Football doesn't work out. Well, if you are making a lot of money to play football in college, you really don't need a Stanford degree that much to make it later.

And about Babaloa specifically, I said Stanford has to compete and act like Oregon if it wants players like him. It IS a market where the service providers will go where they can get paid the most or otherwise have the best compensation package. If Auburn will pay Babaloa $1M, and Oregon wants him, they will pay him $1.5M. Is Stanford willing to pay more than Oregon? If not, why put effort into recruiting him?

Stanford's entire strategy should be to recruit players they believe are diamonds in the rough, offer them some money plus the 40 year decision potential, and make the program all about player development. This is the land of 3 and even 2 star recruits.

Read that here.

Read that here. Courtesy of Rob Cassidy.

A few years ago, I don't bother to remember exactly when, I called for the firing of Lance Anderson before it was fashionable. Why? Because it was obvious to me Stanford's Run Defense was slipping. It only got worse form there, until the last year of the Shawcolypse in 2022 - with Lance Anderson STILL the DC - Stanford yielded the 2nd worse YPC in FBS, with a mind-boggling 6.3 YPC allowed. Somehow, south Florida was worse,, allowing 6.4 YPC.

In Troy Taylor's first year in 2023, Stanford improved its Run Defense from a still not great, but way better, 4.7 YPC and a #94 in FBS ranking.

Now, in 2024, Stanford is sporting one of the best Run Defenses in the country, with these gaudy ranks:

YPC Allowed: 2.5 (#7 in FBS) - only P4 teams better - Ole Miss, Tennessee, Ohio State, Oklahoma
Rush Yards Per Game: 66 (#6 in FBS) - only P4 teams better - Ole Miss, Tennessee, Iowa

I'm going to hazard a guess that if the Run Defense can get this better, it stands to reason that the Run Offense will improve as well., because stopping the run is about being physical, and that usually doesn't just happen on one side of the ball.

I know it sounds a bit premature, but it might be time to start giving the DC a raise, because there is NO DOUBT other coaches around the country are gonna see what April is doing at Stanford, and want whatever it is that is to create these results at Stanford.

But my bigger question is who around here, or anywhere, imagined Stanford's Run Defense could be so good this year?

Head coach Troy Taylor will be followed by offensive lineman Jack Leyrer and defensive back Aaron Morris. I’ll add a link in here once it’s live.

Some friends are asking me what I think about Stanford covering +23 up in South Bend

I'm curious all of your thoughts

Personally, I would lean towards not covering. 40-16 feels very doable for the Fighting Irish

Just landed on The Farm for post-practice interviews. Ashton Daniels is taking first team reps right now. He looks fine.

Coming down from Portland and bringing a bunch of family. Anyone have a crazy big block of tickets or good ideas for me (maybe just seatgeek etc)?

Silly that good sideline tickets go for hundreds on the athletic site though you can seemingly wander into whatever seats you want come game time.

Really wanted to take my 8 year old son to the Wake Forest game as he has never seen Stanford win in person 😭. But, alas, that weekend did not work for us. Mustangs it is! Just hoping we get to see Brown…

Thanks!

remdinded me of 'Niners-Cardinals game. A few comments:

1. Higgins TD was beautiful play call, well-executed. Sold well by Murray; nifty catch and footwork by Higgins;

2. Did anyone else find Tom Brady off-puttingly LOUD in his color commentary? I actually think his comments/insights are good, but he needs to not yell so much. This is one of the few times that "tone it down" has literal application.

3. Early in the season, I was going to admit that my opinion that Purdy was "just another guy" undersold him as an NFL QB. I thought he played particularly well in S.F.'s first loss of the season (or was it the second L against the Rams?). But then he has games like the last one against the Cardinals where his physical limitations come into play - 2 picks off deflections - and I revert to my belief that there are 20 guys out there who would be as productive in this offense as Purdy is. (And btw, that last pick was really bad, considering Kittle was wide open on shorter route - should have passed to him for medium gain, instead of going for bigger wind up/tougher throw). He wasn't great agaisnt NE, either. But he is a vry good QB; just not a great one.

4. But fundamentally, S.F. has 2 problems. #1, they can't stop the run. #2, Shanahan still doesn't "get" bigger-picture game management, which usually manifests in undue infatuation with the passing game. The former is a "this year" problem (though D was leaking oil on this last season, too). The latter is a "forever" problem with Shanahan. And I think it will prevent the 'Niners from ever winning a SB - at least as this window closes. (Once SF signs Purdy to $60+M contract, as most predict will happen, the run to NFC Championship games is over). And that is really pretty shocking, given how well-conceived Shanahan's offenses generally are. Maybe he gets too hung up on wanting to show off/be pretty, when the correct move in Q4 is to methodically run the ball down the field, use up clock, and leave the opponent with little/no time to respond. I don't think Shanahan has ever really appreciated this. I mean, even in the first Super Bowl against Kansas City, so many commentators have said "If Jimmy just completes that long pass, then S.F. wins." I could not disagree more. There was plenty of time for KC to get into GW FG range had the long pass been completed for a TD. And I have little doubt Mahomes would have done just that. The lack of bigger-picture, end-game management is a blind spot for Shanahan, that crops up too often.

Login to view embedded media
SS, Infielder

Inspired by some discussions in other threads, I thought I'd take a look at how programs with limited reliance on the transfer portal are faring this season. Some people seem to have pretty defeatist views about Stanford's prospects in the new NIL/transfer portal era, but I continue to believe (I think with good reason) that a program can compete even if it's not reloading via transfers all the time. Here are current rankings for the teams that have had 16 or fewer incoming transfers the last two seasons combined:

1) Texas
3) Georgia
8) Notre Dame
9) Penn State
11) Iowa State
14) Kansas State
15) Clemson
21) Iowa
35) Virginia Tech
43) Rutgers
49) Maryland
86) Wake Forest
89) Northwestern
94) Stanford

Some of these don't take many transfers because they don't need to (and one because they're holier-than-thou) but even taking those out you have Iowa State, Kansas State, Iowa, Virginia Tech, Rutgers, Maryland, Wake Forest, and Northwestern as being in a similar boat to Stanford. I'd like us to up our transfer game to be a little bit less of an outlier when it comes to availing ourselves of the transfer portal but I am going to assume, absent something major/surprising, that we are going to remain in this category of modest portal usage. Can programs compete without bringing in scads of transfers? Clearly yes. Wake Forest, Northwestern, and Stanford are struggling in this environment (and even then Northwestern was #56 last year), but the majority of the teams in this cohort are respectable and three of them are really good, even alive for the playoff.

Not giving up on Stanford competing. No reason we can't compete on the level of an Iowa State, Kansas State, Iowa, Virginia Tech, etc.

Wow - thought it would get easier in the ACC. When we play ND the ranking will get worse.

Also, when people are complaining about travel, why do we schedule ND? All it does is to help them recruit in California.

Read that here.

On3 2024 Midseason True Freshman All-American Team - Kahlil House chosen as the LT.

Login to view embedded media