1. It sure is fun to win. There wasn't a lot of entertainment in that one but who cares? We won against a solid team on the road and showed exactly the knowing how to win/relearning how to win close games that has been so lacking in recent years. This is the best team Taylor has beaten and we did it while very much not firing on all cylinders. In the grand scheme, it strongly reinforces the sense we are on the right track, making four of the last six games we have played very respectably and giving us our first instance of back-to-back quality performances. [Based on newly updated Sagarin rankings, the final results of our games this season have been befitting the #84 (at Hawaii), #208 (at USC), #171 (Sacramento State), #41 (Arizona), #139 (Oregon), #42 (at Colorado), #194 (UCLA), #42 (Washington), and #36 (at Washington State) teams in the nation.] On the year, we have matched the number of wins from the last two seasons, an important psychological barrier that we now have a very legitimate shot at surpassing, and are up to #92 in Sagarin after being #87 last year and #89 in 2021. To be essentially on par with Shaw's teams and on an improving trajectory that quite plausibly could leapfrog those other teams by the end of the year - despite the gutting of the roster and bombing out of the program - feels like a major feat. We're on the right track.
2. To state the obvious, this was way on the extreme end of the spectrum in terms of a defense-dominated game. The 0.64 points per drive we allowed made the #67 points per drive offense look considerably worse than the dead last #133 offense in the country. 0.64 points per drive allowed is best defense in America territory. Arizona had similarly stifled the Cougs (by the way, what a good team Arizona is....awesome rebuilding job by Fisch) but generally that doesn't happen to Wazzu. The Cougs did the same thing to us. 0.91 points per drive made the #101 points per drive defense look like the #2 defense in the country. 0.91 points per drive is worst offense in America territory. This was a game that was a story of jaw-dropping defensive dominance and equally jaw-dropping offensive incompetence. That we found a way to win - and despite the offensive struggles to salt the game with a clinching drive to run out the clock - is the big story. In some respects Washington State outplayed us and we got pretty lucky - the Edwards interception falling in his lap, avoiding throwing an end zone interception, benefiting from a missed field goal (though we get a lot of credit for back to back sacks making it a tougher kick) - but we showed grit and resilience and made the plays we needed to have more points on the scoreboard at the end. Winning teams can do that. We haven't seen much of it in recent years. Progress.
3. I cannot say enough about the defense. Washington State has a slightly above average offense nationally and a slightly below average offense for the Pac-12 and, despite being such a competent opponent, last night ranks with the 2019 Northwestern game as our most dominant defensive performance of the last half decade (setting aside the Colgate joke of a game), whether you look at points, yards, or yards per play. But 2019 Northwestern was one of the worst offenses in the country while WSU is a solid offense. You have to go back to the 2015 Rose Bowl against Iowa to find a comparable defensive performance against a respectable offense but statistically this was even better than that, so you have to go all the way back to arguably the greatest defensive in Stanford history, the 2014 defense, to find dominance like this against an opponent like this. We showed that the defense is capable of an elite performance. That's thrilling.
4. On the flip side, it's hard to put into words how inept that offensive performance was. It was even more anemic than against Oregon (#12 in the country in yards per play allowed/#21 in points per drive allowed) despite Wazzu sucking at defense (#97 in yards per play allowed/#101 in points per drive allowed). This ranks with the 2021 Utah game, 2014 Notre Dame game, and 2012 Washington game as one of our worst offensive games of the last 15 years. However, those opponents were better at defense than this year's Cougs team. Last night is on the very shortest of lists for the worst offensive games in Stanford history. I went through 20 years of box scores to try to find one similar against a defense on Wazzu's pitiful 2023 level and I came up empty. If 2003 Teevens and 2006 Harris didn't have games this inept against a defense like this I am not sure it has ever happened in Stanford's history. I'm appalled by this offensive performance but guys need to flush it and it's a lot easier to move on when the overall result is good. Indeed, I should note that those other miserable offensive games from the last 15 years were all losses. It's so big for the offense to lay a stinker like this but see the defense has their back. Other times, like the Colorado game, the roles will be reversed. At least until we're much further in the rebuild we can be assured there will be ineptitude on both sides of the ball at times. To repeat myself, nonetheless finding a way to win is progress.
5. We have seen enough to hold out hope that the last three games will reinforce, or even build on, the case that we are improving. So I should probably wait until the end of the month to assess the overall season stats. But I can't resist. On offense, we have a miserable 5.05 yards per play (#110). That's worse than the last two years under Shaw. [For those wondering, no, this is not historically bad.....we had fewer yards per play every single year between 2002 and 2007 and in 2003 managed 3.84 (!!!!).] Yet we are scoring right on our average from last year and ahead of the average from 2021. My read is that this supports something others have commented on from subjective impressions, which is that Taylor's scheme and play calling can squeeze more blood from this turnip than Shaw could. With talent so much worse that it's practically inevitable the offense will have a harder time succeeding, Taylor is managing similar results. That's a sign of good coaching. [I also think it's probable Taylor is leaving points on the board by not relying on Karty more, so the favorable comparison to Shawfense could arguably be even more pronounced.] On defense, we have an even more miserable 6.32 yards per play allowed (#124 even after last night's masterpiece). However, what I am noticing is progress over the Lance Anderson dumpster fire. We now have fewer yards per play allowed than in any season since 2019 and may end up better than the 2019 defense too if we can continue to improve. That's how bad the Anderson defense was. I think it's reasonable to discern progress in coaching on both sides of the ball. Special teams has taken a colossal step back (#83 in FEI even before accounting for yesterday's pretty bad special teams day, which compares to #8, #11, #54, #20, and #3 in our last five full seasons) so we should not overstate the case on improvement, but I'm seeing improvement overall.
stanford.rivals.com
