From today's Stanford Daily about interim president Saller's first Senate session of new school year:

"Saller preceded Senate discussions by commending Martinez’s “experience and judgment” and elaborated on the University’s decision to join the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

“It’s been the subject of more media coverage than anything else that’s happened over the past year,” Saller said.

Following the departure of other schools from the PAC-12 Conference, Saller said the move was “really the only option left.”

“We know what the revenue agreement is, but there are many other factors that play into the net financial picture,” Saller said. He emphasized “that this increased deficit will not come out of general funds” because “two years ago, the endowment enjoyed a 40% jump and that has provided a surge of revenues to the president’s discretionary fund.”"

Soooo .... we could afford the revenue loss because of the president's discretionary fund? When did this become available to address AD deficits? Soon enough to prevent cutting 11 sports? Was the Big 10 or Big 12 aware of this windfall soon enough that they could have been options? Was the ACC the only option because we moved so slowly in overtures to these other conferences? So. Many. Questions.

Read that here.

Read that here.

The notion that Stanford will be in the Atlantic Coast Conference is mind boggling. I prefer it when we tidy up the language so that there is at least a semblance of reality.

Now, I'm guessing that the ACC won't change its name to the Several Coasts Conference.

Is there a point here? Ahh...

The point is tradition.

Sadly, my desire that we go back to the original PAC8 is so out of touch with reality as to be embarrassing.

Fun video:

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Many are negatively predisposed to Prime for a variety of reasons. I continue to find him a very complex and interesting character, and this article from the Athletic speaks to a lot of that. I also think it shows a version of the culture of Love that Taylor has espoused and many here have dismissed. Interesting how Deion combined caring and very public criticism to make a point to an under-performing player but not lose him or the team in process.

https://theathletic.com/4929308/202...paign=7844548&source=untilsaturday_newsletter

ARROW UP

0 Reuben - Led the team in receptions. Made a couple nice one's to bail out Lamson.
0 Bernadel - Led the defense with 9 tackles. Good leader-type for this team.
2 Filkins - Led all RB's in carries and receptions. Snap count doubled Irvin's.
3 Farrell - Highest snap count in '23 but just 1 catch and no carries
4 Manley/ 6 Wright - Targeted 10 times for a total of 100 yards - I'll take that. But each gave up a TD. The one to Manley got him benched.
8 Lamson - First college start. Was it his last? Gamer. Easy to root for. But that was a poorly played game.
8 Sinclair - Still one of our starters. Still one our poorest defenders.
10 Jorgensen - Remains top ILB backup.
11 Tafiti - Really poor game topped off by not setting the edge on long TD run in front of the Stanford bench. Bobby April's position group standing out right now as not being particularly well-coached. BTW, Tafiti got the start ahead of Bailey.
13 Ayomanor - Led the WR group in snaps by a ton. Staff clearly thinks he is the most well-rounded in that room.
14 Aybar - Still not making much of an impact but has been playing better last couple games and snap count rose as Bailey's declined.
17 JF-R - Freshman saw his first action on D - getting a handful of snaps at NB. A couple of those came in the 1Q- he was not really tested. Not sure why the snaps came early but not more often.
20 Slocum - Didn't really notice the player too much in his 50 snaps. That's a good thing.
21 Edwards - Not a great game from the starting free safety. Could have even been worse as Nix missed an easy 7-point throw.
22 Smith - Back in the mix - kind of - with 15 snaps and 6 carries.
24 Tiger - Snap count has increased in every game. I dunno. Kind of a wild player - fits the whole brand. Body and hair are always flying everywhere. Would be fun to see this guy on defense.
26 Irvin - Since this is more of an accurate picture of the depth chart, Irvin makes the arrow up list as the starter at RB. But snaps and carries were down. I think EJ has a gripe here. But I am not at practices or meetings.
32 Leigber - 25 snaps for the free safety. They tried to get him in mostly when Oregon showed heavier personnel.
33 Gilman - Led all defenders in snaps by a bunch. Only a couple of tackles. Need much more from him in a game like this.
40 Phillips - I didn't notice during the game and couldn't really see what happened on film, but he did not play from midway into the 2Q. Clearly an injury issue.
51 Moi - Did his job as well as anyone on defense.
57 Rogers - Has taken every snap this year. He has been very good in pass pro. His snaps have been almost eerily automatic. Solid.
61 Mayberry - Started and took every snap at LG after the 1H benching the previous week. Has put together 6 straight Q's of good pass pro.
67 Anderson - Starter at LT replacing Leyrer. Played every snap but didn't do much to secure the job IMO. But I would imagine they stay with the younger player here.
71 McLaughlin - Best player on the OL. Not saying he is 1st team all conference, but hard to complain about the RT position.
77 Berzins - Starter at RG and played all of the snaps. Looks like we may have found his level as he came back down to earth in this one.
84 Yurosek - Something is amiss here. Since coming back to the mainland, the player has been a better rusher than a pass receiver.
85 Roush - Continues to play about half the offensive snaps as a glorified OL.
91 Caughey - Extended snaps in this one. Held his own. Not very productive but didn't embarrass himself. Fingers crossed on continued development.
92 Keneley - Starter but starting to see snaps reduce. Just not enough production.
94 Franklin - Starter at DT not one of his better games.
98 Buckey - Starter at DT. Not much production. Copy/paste for this defense.

ARROW DOWN

11 Patu - Continues to stay on the sidelines in garbage time. Just a real big arrow down.
14 Daniels - QB2 on this day. TKO ended his day early. Did have a fabulous play scrambling out of trouble and hitting Ayomanor downfield.
15 Butler - Have not seen the player much since Sac St. Was on the field for 2 failed short yardage rushing attempts.

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23 Bailey - Did not start but played early. Snap count way down. Really don't like the way the player is utilized or how he plays in that role. This is a "Rush OLB' that finds himself out in coverage half the time. But.. he doesn't engage with run-blockers well. The crosshair now moves from Lance to April.
27 - Porter - I would imagine another older player not too happy with playing time.
44 Cooper - I dunno man. When you look at the OLB group, it's hard to understand why this guy doesn't play more. Just send him and Bailey after the damn QB. Becoming evident that April is trying to make the players fit his system as opposed to the other way.
58 Bank - There was a window that now looks closed.
72 Uke - See Bank
74 Pogorelc - See Uke
76 Leyrer - The LT job was his for the taking. No snaps vs Oregon. Big arrow down.

Read that here. Adam Gorney has some notes on Bear Bachmeier.

Have seen Ben at work aplenty over the years and this is a classic Stanford TE fit on multiple levels.

As a player, BB is a balanced tight end talent with true dual-threat ability to work in-line or split out to create mismatches for the defense. He has bulked up a good bit as a senior, now over 230 pounds, and he has settled in as a consistent and fluid blocker at the end of the LOS. As a pass catcher he has long been a steady force in the middle, with an understanding of route construction, leverage and zone defenses like a player already at the next level. He has strong hands and a wide catch radius at 6-6, even when the whole defense knows he is a key for the defending state champs at Miami -Columbus.

Off the field, BB is a leader and the type of example many will naturally follow even though he's not the rah-rah type. The SU fit makes even more sense when I was recently told he could be in line to be valedictorian at his private school, one that is known for education in the Miami area, so again this is a mature and sharp prospect to add to the commitment list in more ways than one. He's also personable and plenty confident, to the right degree, so I wouldn't expect him to sit very long once he makes the move to Palo Alto for good.

A sample:
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From Boston College to Stanford:

"Growing up, I had always been a Stanford fan. I had always known that’s where I wanted to end up. It was a dream of mine to go to Stanford, and I can not be happier to call it my home. Not only does Stanford hold a special place in my heart, but I think that it is a place where I can grow and develop into the person and player I want to become in the future."

I have other write ups that I need to get published that revolve around the schedule, but just to drop this in here now: The full schedule has been released. Only thing that needs to be figured out is the tipoff time for the final home game of the season against Cal.

A look at the top guys:

Read that here. Courtesy of Adam Gorney. The relevant news is that 2024 Stanford commit Kahlil House was at Auburn over the weekend and said he is considering them again. Hopefully the staff can keep House locked into his pledge.


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Read that here.

Read that here.

Read that here.

How much Shaw talk should we have here?

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Winning the U23 3x3 world cup, that's what. Pretty cool!

He threw for 303 yards with no interceptions

Until he let Purdy score on the keeper with less than 2 minutes to go, all 6 TD's in the Niner game were scored by Stanford guys. Pretty sure that's never happened before in an NFL game. Sundays sure are more fun than Saturdays these days...

As y'all are aware, Troy Taylor does not make opening statements in post-game pressers. He prefers to follow the "if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all" axiom of human engagement. But here's is what he is thinking on the way to the podium, and what he would say if he didn't mute himself....

You guys have eyes. You can see our talent level is that of an FCS team, and not even one of the best ones because we lost at home to Sac State. We don't have even a high level FCS OL, and it's really difficult to be competitive in games when you don't have a QB who can do basic things. I can scheme plays up all I want, but the OL has to block for any of them. And if we are able to scheme something to fool a defense and get a receiver or ball carrier open, they have to have the speed to run away from the defense and score. If we get caught before the end zone, we don't have an OL good enough to power us into the end zone on a condensed field.

As for Defense, it can only be played well with good athletes. I don't know if you've noticed, but we don't have much team speed or quickness, I think our guys try hard, but they are physically not up to par for the Pac-12 or the ACC. I'm not even trying to win games this year because I don't think it's realistic. We somehow beat Hawaii, were so undermanned vs. USC I probably would have forfeited the game - before it started - if that was a real option, and were close against Sac State and Arizona, maybe should have won both games. But really, we aren't here to celebrate beating those teams anyway. If I had my druthers, we wouldn't even play games this year and all I would do is recruit and have practices, and spend a lot of time lobbying the administration about relaxing the transfer hurdles just so we can get FBS level football players on this roster. Maybe we can relax admissions a little bit just to give us a fighting chance. But whatever the case, there really is no point to making a statement because this is a total rebuild and we suck beyond comprehension right now.

OK, maybe that's not exactly what Taylor is thinking, but everyone has to agree it's at least in the ballpark. Never seen anything so bad at the FBS level. It's just shocking how untalented the team is and I've not seen much of the games. My perception is based on following bits and pieces of gamecasts, looking at the stats, reading posts from people commenting on what they see, and listening to what Taylor actually says. I swear he's treating these games like exhibitions, just to find out who cares and is willing to put in the effort to get better, and who just wants to collect a Stanford degree. Never have I seen a coach show no concern at all about the W-L outcome. That's how bad it is, so what is the point of making an opening statement?

I don't think any coach has ever faced a tougher challenge than Troy Taylor has right now. Other coaches have taken on terrible programs, but now, you've got virtual free agency to get better quick, with Taylor not having that option and competing against others who do, plus the ones who are already established. Stanford is asking its Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football to win a footrace with a 50 lb. backpack on. What is there to talk about? All focus has to be on figuring out how to do it, not talking to observers who can't help, about why he's not winning races carrying that burden.

Read that here.

Welp, I was going to start a thread on my twitter account with video clips of various plays detailing Lamson's pocket decisions and ball placement on several throws during yesterday's game. From there I easily link it on to these posts. But it was bad. Really bad. As bad as I have seen at Stanford. He was leaving clean, well-protected pockets throughout the afternoon. There was no feel to his throws. Even balls that were caught, couldn't be advanced, because of persistent placement issues. If i knew how to post video from my phone on here, I would, but I'm not going to post it on twitter.
New system, the weapons aren't great and the OL has not been consistently good. I know trust me. And Oregon is FAST. But, the film is going to be damning in the QB room this week. It's the kind of film that would bury a QB. But Lamson is such a tough runner and competitor, and CTT has to respect that, CTT might still get him on the field.
So I think what you are left with is Daniels being the primary QB moving forward until he puts a game on tape like Lamson did in this one. Then CTT has no choice but to go with Patu or Jackson.

Two TDs so far in this game against 49ers. Looking damn good!

Read that here.