The offense used a new formation a good bit of the time yesterday with two backs and the TE lined up in front of the backs and doing a slow shuffle motion to either side. Haven’t seen that before and am wondering if anyone has an insight into the premise.


Also, amid all the other issues, it’s easy to find other things to talk about, but how about Lamson? He’s no great shakes but man, what a clutch, tough kid that embraces his role, executes with cold efficiency and is all in for the team.

Seemed like one of Bailey’s better games. Wonder if his brain/attitude is finally getting where it needs to be.

Kenney aside, it seems like special teams has been a glaring weakness all year.

Daniels looked like a legit QB for a good portion of the second half. Any theories on scheme or adjustments that made the difference or simply a case of the blind squirrel occasionally finding a nut?

We seemed to discover the short pass over the middle. A trend or an anomaly based on the situation.

Would like to see more of Cissce as WR 3 rather than Tiger.

Harbaugh and Shanahan seem to think there is still a role for the FB in football. Butler seems like he could play this role well and improve running game as a blocker and occasional ball handler. Probably a more effective blocker than Tabb or Davis.

Preview is here.

The forecast as of this morning calls for heavy RAIN from an atmospheric river:
0.75" on Friday
0.25" on Saturday
0.10" on Sunday

I will be there so this has personal significance to me! But in terms of football, I hope the weather doesn't prevent us from utilizing our new wrinkles in the passing game and the Ayomanor/Mosely combo.

If this becomes a Mud Bowl / Tractor Pull, it would be nice to have some healthy RBs. Thanks to an uncalled personal foul vs. Louisville that resulted in Tabb's concussion, our top three RBs are injured (at least as of now): Ford, Irvin, and Tabb. The Tabb throwdown happened right in front of me and I heard multiple whisltes 2-3 seconds before they body-slammed him - this was an egregious no-call and drove TT to yell at the refs for a good long time, which I enjoyed seeing for a change. We're only lucky that Mosely ended up converting on 4th-and-goal.

We still have Ivy League transfer fullback Ryan Butler and third-down-ish back Chris Davis Jr. Our starting safety, Mitch Leigber, who many will remember as our starting emergency RB for Big Game 2022, also went down in the second half and did not return.

Expect plenty of QB runs, even more than usual. Ashton is a tough runner. I sure hope he protects the ball...

Congratulations to Lance Anderson for his head coaching debut! He didn’t get the win but I’m sure he felt some feelings getting to be a head coach for the first time. And if I were an Utah Tech fan I would have considered it a moral victory to lose to national power Montana State by only 24. That’s slightly closer than Sagarin predicted and much closer than last year’s 43 point game. It would be neat if Anderson could have some success. Pulling for him.

I think we all understand that the offensive line play is on the short list of biggest problems for the team. Some have referred to it as being among the worst in the country. I thought I'd try to try to get a sense of what level of OL play we're seeing. It's tough to objectively or rigorously compare OL play across the years and stats only get you so far as they reflect supporting cast, opposition, and other vagaries. PFF grades are subject to some of the same variables and are also imperfect but at least they try to specifically evaluate attributes like pass blocking and run blocking. For what it's worth, the PFF grades for pass blocking and run blocking ranked by where the addition of those two grades ranked among power conference teams each year (I did a lot of back of the envelope math here and am hoping I didn't make egregious errors):

5) 2015: 82.2 in pass blocking (11th), 92.7 in run blocking (3rd)

8) 2014: 93.6 in pass blocking (2nd), 82.2 in run blocking (26th)

14) 2017: 72.9 in pass blocking (42nd), 86.1 in run blocking (1st)

19) 2020: 63.7 in pass blocking (34th), 74.9 in run blocking (18th)

21) 2016: 71.1 in pass blocking (44th), 87.5 in run blocking (5th)

27) 2018: 81.3 in pass blocking (14th), 62.6 in run blocking (37th)

44) 2019: 63.4 in pass blocking (43rd), 63.3 in run blocking (37th)

45) 2022: 50.4 in pass blocking (57th), 69.0 in run blocking (19th)

50) 2021: 55.9 in pass blocking (53rd), 65.8 in run blocking (45th)

64) 2024: 59.1 in pass blocking (62nd), 52.1 in run blocking (67th)

66) 2023: 50.1 in pass blocking (64th), 52.3 in run blocking (62nd)


My addition skills and eyeball-bleeding scanning of PFF grade tables may have some errors here or there, but I think the picture is clear that the two offensive lines under this current staff are the worst we've had in the PFF era, and common sense/eye test validates that these are our worst lines since the mid-2000s (and many know I would never negatively compare a line to those lines absent a lot of evidence.....I don't know that what we are seeing now is THAT bad).

That's not an earth-shattering revelation, I don't think. But perhaps it's bracing/illuminating to see if put this way: last year we were 66th of 68 in blocking and this year we are currently 64th of 69.

I do not consider this progress. We returned our top seven OL from last year. The historically low baseline coupled with the continuity of having all those guys back with an extra year working under the same coaches and the same strength and conditioning staff should have led to massive improvement. Instead.....we've gone from 66th to 64th in Power Four blocking. As one measure of what all our returning offensive production was supposed to mean for 2024, consider that the SP+ preseason model predicted we would have the #66 offense and today - following a great win yesterday - the model pegs us based on actual real-world results as having the #88 offense.

I don't think I am saying anything that should surprise anybody who has watched the team this year but, again, perhaps it's bracing and/or illuminating to see some hard evidence that the OL has not improved despite returning everybody plus some depth plus cycling in some new recruits plus getting a full extra year of coaching and strength continuity.

We'll see where this stands in a few weeks and can make more sweeping judgments then, but it strikes me as likely to be essentially mandatory that we change the coaching approach at OL and bring in transfers, or else it will be only fair to doubt this coaching staff's seriousness, accountability, and grip on reality. We cannot be hearing that the "young" OL is "improving" when these are the kind of results we are seeing this year.

P.S. I suppose the one rejoinder I could see somebody inclined against accountability to make is to disparage PFF and say it doesn't conform with our own evaluations of the line's progress. Pardon me if I'd be skeptical of that given the results on the field, the obvious verdict of the eye test, the historic correlation between PFF and other measures/eye test/efficacy/etc., our offensive staff's dearth of experience.....

It's still a few weeks to early to have a good picture of the college football season, but since we have a bye and very little to talk about here's a snapshot of where things stand:

AP Poll

8. Miami
17. Notre Dame
19. Louisville
21. Clemson
27. Syracuse
30. Boston College
35. Cal
39. North Carolina
43. Pitt

Sagarin

7. Notre Dame
10. Miami
20. Clemson
21. Louisville
27. Florida State
29. TCU
38. Virginia Tech
40. SMU
41. Cal
53. Georgia Tech
55. Boston College
57. North Carolina
59. Syracuse
62. Pitt
64. NC State
75. Duke
79. Virginia
83. Stanford
84. Wake Forest
97. San Jose State

Many of us have observed how weak the ACC is and how we've found the weakest power conference, but it really brings it home to see that the Sagarin central mean currently has the Pac-12 ahead of us. We are in a worse "conference" than Washington State and Oregon State! (Lots of season still left obviously, and this is also obviously an artifact of averages, but wow)

Reiterating the caveat that it is too early to much care what Sagarin thinks, the current win probabilities according to Sagarin:

TCU - 0 percent

Cal Poly - 100 percent

@ Syracuse - 23 percent

@ Clemson - 2 percent

Virginia Tech - 33 percent

@ Notre Dame - 0 percent

SMU - 34 percent

Wake Forest - 61 percent

@ NC State - 25 percent

Louisville - 18 percent

@ Cal - 17 percent

@ San Jose State - 50 percent

Total expected wins: 3.63

Bottom line is we are in the range people thought we would be and beating Syracuse would be one of those results that can change trajectories.

Appears that Yurosek is getting acclimated to SEC play and performing well

We're establishing ourselves as an SEC development program!

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Maybe not all the way to the extreme example of SMU, but darn near close in transfer portal personnel populating the (2 or 3 deep/position) L'Ville Depth Chart.

11 transfers among the 26 total listed on the Offensive depth chart... 6 of yesterday's offensive starters were transfers, the rest, listed depth
13 transfers among the 26 total listed on the Defensive depth chart... 4 of yesterday's defensive starters were transfer, the rest listed depth

24 Transfers total on the depth chart from among the total of 35 transfers
every one of these transfers were older/more experienced players

Compare to Stanford

Read that here.

NFL rosters will get set Saturday. ESPN predicted the 53 man rosters for each team. Some notes:

* Stanford South is, of course, the Houston Texans. Brennan Scarlett and Peter Kalambayi are both expected to make the LB room while Justin Reid and Michael Thomas are both expected to make the safety room. Kyle Murphy, however, is expected to get the axe.

* Stanford East1 is the New York Giants. Kaden Smith and Levine Toilolo are second and third in a four tight end room for an offense that will use a lot of tight ends. Cameron Fleming looks safe as the veteran presence on a young line. Blake Martinez is ILB1.

* Stanford East2 is the Philadelphia Eagles. Zach Ertz is of course one of the superstars. JJ Arcega-Whiteside gets a chance at a bounce-back and things are shaping up for a lot of early opportunity - there's almost nothing proven beyond DeSean Jackson in the WR corps and first round draft pick rookie Jalen Reagor is out for the first several weeks. Nate Herbig looks like he'll make it on the line. And ESPN thinks Casey Toohill "has made some noise" and will make the roster over more highly-drafted second year alternatives.

* Andrus Peat is obviously entrenched as a mainstay on the line for the Saints. Ty Montgomery has apparently had a resurrection in New Orleans and has been a standout as both a runner and receiver, making it appear likely he makes it.

* The legend Richard Sherman is obviously entrenched for the 49ers and it appears Solomon Thomas is safe as well.

* On the Bills, Harrison Phillips is poised for a key role, especially with Star Lotulelei opting out of the season. Less happily, apparently folks expect Trent Murphy to get cut. Murphy is a very good player - arguably better than Phillips I'd say - but his contract is apparently just too pricey given the options the Bills have to work with.

* Bobby Okereke got a shout out as part of what the Colts believe is one of the best linebacker corps in the NFL.

* They have Henry Anderson making it with the Jets but says that coming off a bad year he needs to rebound to his 2018 performance.

* They have Jordan Richards making it with the Ravens because of his special teams value.

* They have Dalton Schultz making it as the last tight end for the Cowboys and note that he's had his best camp, especially as a pass catcher, and can also play some fullback.

* A foot injury makes Colby Parkinson likely to start the season for the Seahawks on the non-football injury list.

* Obviously a number of other guys are safe: Christian McCaffrey (Panthers), Austin Hooper (Browns), David DeCastro (Steelers), Jake Bailey (Patriots).

* Quenton Meeks is right on the bubble for the Chargers but at the moment ESPN projects that he will be the last DB to make the roster.

* They have Alijah Holder missing the cut with the Broncos but it appears he has a chance as a safety after a position switch.

* Same with James Vaughters for the Bears, outside of ESPN's current guess at the cut line but very much in the mix.

* They think the Washington Football Team is where Stanford dreams go to die. Bryce Love could make it but as of now project that he gets cut before ever getting a chance to play in a game for the Washington Football Team. They say "he hasn't captured his form from his days at Stanford" and a DB who could be useful on special teams makes more sense than Love, though it's possible Washington goes with five RBs and Love gets a reprieve. And they don't see Joshua Garnett making the cut.

* Trent Irwin looks like a casualty of a deep WR room for the Bengals.

Good luck to all our guys on Saturday!

Given there is no moral victory possible when it comes to the Axe or San Jose State, this game against #22 Louisville is Stanford's last chance for moral victory this football season.

The line setters expect Stanford to lose 40-18 against Louisville, so a win isn't even in the realm of possibility it would seem...

So, what does moral victory look like? Beating the Vegas numbers? Having lead at any point of the game? Winning at least one half on the scoreboard? Holding Louisville under their season average performance? Doing better than Stanford's average performance?

Some kind of individual player or unit production?

What, if anything would give you some sense of satisfaction or accomplishment in this all but certain loss? My kingdom for a better than #67 in country Pass Efficiency on Offense and Defense.

On O that would be: About San Jose State and Maryland-level at 133 PER
On D that would be: About Buffalo and Illinois-level at 135 PER

Stanford is # 128 in PER at 102 - Louisville is #72 in PER D at 137
Louisville in #24 in PER at 146 - Stanford is # 131 in PER D at 168

If my calculations are correct...
Stanford must be 31 points more efficient than average (6pts worse than UL allows on avg.) to achieve my moral victory Pass O.
Stanford must make Louisville pass the ball 33 points less efficiently than they typically allow (11pts worse than UL avg.) to achieve my moral victory Pass D.

That's not asking too much is it?

Read and watch that here.

Preview is here.

2025 5-star forward Lara Somfai out of IMG Academy in Florida has committed to Stanford. It’s official. Link to her post on IG doesn’t pop up on here, but she has announced.

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I will be in town for Thanksgiving and will be attending Cal Poly game. Would love to sit courtside or down low close to half court. If anyone has two tickets, they are willing to sell, please PM me.

Some names:

Gio Lopez (South Alabama): #25 in Total QBR as a redshirt freshman, reported a 3.4 high school GPA

Caden Veltkamp (Western Kentucky): #30 in Total QBR as a redshirt sophomore, reported a 3.7 high school GPA and 25 ACT

John Mateer (Washington State): #31 in Total QBR as a redshirt sophomore, Pac-12 Academic Honor Roll and College Sports Communicators Academic All-District

Darian Mensah (Tulane): #34 in Total QBR as a redshirt freshman, reported a 3.5 high school GPA, from California

Devon Dampier (New Mexico): #44 in Total QBR as a true sophomore, Mountain West All-Academic, majoring in electrical engineering, reported 3.8 high school GPA

Aidan Bouman (South Dakota): #2 PFF grade in FCS, has a sixth year of eligibility left next year, MVFC honor roll

Jaden Craig (Harvard): #5 PFF grade in FCS in his third year, goes to Harvard

Camden Coleman (Richmond): #9 PFF grade in FCS (albeit splitting time) as a true sophomore, Glenn Scholar Athlete Award for highest GPA, Rotary Club Award for Academic Excellence

Joe Pesansky (Holy Cross): #12 PFF grade in FCS as a fourth year player, still has a fifth year if he wants it, Patriot League Academic Honor Roll

Tommy Rittenhouse (Illinois State): #13 PFF grade in FCS as a fourth year player, still has a fifth year if he wants it, academic all state in high school

Malcolm Mays (Hampton): #14 PFF grade in FCS (albeit splitting time) as a fourth year player, still has a fifth year if he wants it, CAA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll

Hayden Johnson (Lehigh): #16 PFF grade in FCS (albeit splitting time) as a true freshman, reported 3.98 high school GPA

Brady Meitz (Stetson): #20 PFF grade in FCS as a fourth year player, still has a fifth year if he wants it, PFL Academic Honor Roll, pre-med biology major who plans to go to medical school and become an orthopedic surgeon

Miller Moss (USC): #26 in Total, one year of eligibility left, just saying maybe there's a world Riley gets fired or decides he needs a sexier QB or Moss wants to get Stanford on his resume after all this time.....yeah, I said day dreaming

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Just some names I'd be intrigued by if neither Daniels nor Brown takes big strides the rest of the way. The first five guys (plus Moss of course) are good major college football quarterbacks right now. The FCS guys obviously play much worse competition and would be riskier (though one could also imagine some FCS guys transferring to Stanford to be backups). Among that group, Bouman, Pesansky, and Rittenhouse play legitimate competition by FCS standards and Bouman already leads a flat out better team than Stanford. The others are likely too big of a leap in competition to be worth considering unless it's consciously as a backup option if we experience QB attrition this offseason.

If I'm Troy Taylor, Mensah, Dampier, and Bouman get a loooooooong look. Now, my thinking on this is probably not novel and these guys may have much better options than Stanford, but you don't make shots you don't take. Again, absent a big month ahead it is possible that probabilistically nobody in our pipeline is likely to be a better option next year.

Elijah Brown likely still our QB of the future and it's far too early to write him off, just musing on what's out there.

16-11 win for No. 2 Stanford men’s water polo over No. 7 Cal in “Big Splash.” Riley Pittman had two goals and three assists for the Cardinal. Postseason up next for both teams.

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Read and watch that here.

Read and watch that here.

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Are we all in agreement that these rankings are a total joke?

Alabama would be favored against every team in front of them on a neutral field besides maybe Oregon, and even then it's a pick em at best

How is Penn St. ahead of Indiana at this point?

Notre Dame has lost to Northern Illinois ...

This is puzzling all round. They clearly aren't using the eye test, strength of schedule is not considered much

Im at a loss for the criteria they are using

Read that here.

Read that here.

Read that here.