Back when Stanford was compiling the 2012 recruiting class that ended up No. 5 in the Rivals.com rankings, a popular narrative was that Stanford's run would end when Andrew Luck's Cardinal career did. This was similar to comments made about the post-Toby and post-Harbaugh era as well, of course, but I remember surfing around on Twitter and fans of other schools tweeting such sentiments to the likes of Josh Garnett and Andrus Peat. I'd imagine coaches from other schools might have alluded to the possibility as well.
Flash forward a few years and the vaunted 2012 class has gone to three Rose Bowls in four seasons. The 2012 + 2013 teams were led primarily by the 2009 + 2010 classes. But this one was dotted with 2012's. The best offensive line recruiting class in Rivals.com history developed into the best offensive line in the Pac-12 - and one of the very best in the country. And the combination of dominance in the trenches and one heck of a running back resulted in an efficient and highly productive offense that carried the Cardinal to a conference title.
The larger picture, of course, is that Stanford's run of success is, well, more than a run of success. Stanford is now one of the best college football programs in the country. Three Pac-12 title games in four years - and five 10-win seasons in six years - is not reflective of any single player. It's not because of a fortuitous bounce here or there. Somehow, the Cardinal football program has gone from perennial cellar dweller to the West Coast's top program. It's impossible to know what the post-Hogan + post-Garnett/Murphy/etc... future will hold. But these are certainly special times on The Farm.
As for tonight's game, the focus will be on the offense - well, Christian McCaffrey - and understandably so. McCaffrey was spectacular and this was the 12th straight game Stanford scored at least 30 points.
But as the offense struggled in the red zone in the first half, the defense was spectacular. After getting gashed by Notre Dame last week, the Cardinal dominated in the first half. They limited USC to three points and 80 yards in the first 30 minutes. The vast majority of that was on the final drive.
Granted, USC only had four first-half drives because Stanford possessed the ball for nearly the entire half, but still: After the defense's struggles in the last few weeks, this was a quality bounceback performance. And if Stanford executes like it normally does in the red zone, this might have been a blowout.
I asked Brennan Scarlett after the game about the early defensive dominance.
"They came out and pretty much they were running what we thought they were going to run. We played sound defense, control of our gaps. Stayed pretty disciplined."
Would seem to speak to a fine job of game planning by Lance Anderson and co. Stanford ended up holding USC to 357 yards of offense.
-What more can you say about Christian McCaffrey. As far as his Heisman chances go, I think this tweet sums everything up quite well:
What Derrick Henry has done against SEC competition (on a week in, week out basis those defenses are better than what McCaffrey has faced... though the nonconference is obviously lacking) as a runner is very impressive. But he does not impact the game as a receiver (97 receiving yards in 13 games) or a return man. Henry is very good at what he does - bowling over defenders behind a dominant offensive line - but McCaffrey impacts the game in so many more ways. In addition to his 1,640 rush yards, he's Stanford's leading receiver (37 receptions) and has the second-most receiving yards on the team. Plus, Stanford has benefited from excellent field position in so many games as a result of his return abilities. He's going to go to New York as a finalist, and if Heisman voters were watching tonight, he'll have a legitimate chance to win.
-On a related note, Stanford has been hurt by conference title games in recent Heisman Trophy quests. Mark Ingram in 2009 and RGIII in 2011 come to mind. Might they benefit from the presence of a Pac-12 title game with McCaffrey in 2015?
-Four tackles for loss, two sacks and a touchdown for Stanford's defensive line. A very strong effort from that group. Solomon Thomas is going to be one heck of a player.
-Stanford is 3-0 in Pac-12 title games. They've won 60 percent of the championship games in Pac-12 history.
-Christian McCaffrey caught a touchdown, ran for a touchdown and threw for a touchdown. So did Kevin Hogan. Has any team ever had two players accomplish that feat in the same game? I can't imagine so. The last time a Pac-12 player notched the scoring trio was Brett Hundley back in 2013.
-Kevin Hogan has thrown 12 passes in two of the last three games. Stanford won both.
-Stanford remains undefeated in the black uniforms.
-Ronnie Harris played in the first half but did not in the second. Shaw said that Ronnie played as long as he could, but the ankle eventually stiffened up on him.
-Stanford should find out its Rose Bowl opponent tomorrow. It will either be Iowa or Ohio State.
-Still not quite sure why USC decided to give Clay Helton the permanent job when they did.
-Seems like only a few weeks ago that Stanford was getting pushed around in the season opener against Northwestern. Who would have thought the Cardinal would win 11 of their next 12.
Notes
Flash forward a few years and the vaunted 2012 class has gone to three Rose Bowls in four seasons. The 2012 + 2013 teams were led primarily by the 2009 + 2010 classes. But this one was dotted with 2012's. The best offensive line recruiting class in Rivals.com history developed into the best offensive line in the Pac-12 - and one of the very best in the country. And the combination of dominance in the trenches and one heck of a running back resulted in an efficient and highly productive offense that carried the Cardinal to a conference title.
The larger picture, of course, is that Stanford's run of success is, well, more than a run of success. Stanford is now one of the best college football programs in the country. Three Pac-12 title games in four years - and five 10-win seasons in six years - is not reflective of any single player. It's not because of a fortuitous bounce here or there. Somehow, the Cardinal football program has gone from perennial cellar dweller to the West Coast's top program. It's impossible to know what the post-Hogan + post-Garnett/Murphy/etc... future will hold. But these are certainly special times on The Farm.
As for tonight's game, the focus will be on the offense - well, Christian McCaffrey - and understandably so. McCaffrey was spectacular and this was the 12th straight game Stanford scored at least 30 points.
But as the offense struggled in the red zone in the first half, the defense was spectacular. After getting gashed by Notre Dame last week, the Cardinal dominated in the first half. They limited USC to three points and 80 yards in the first 30 minutes. The vast majority of that was on the final drive.
Granted, USC only had four first-half drives because Stanford possessed the ball for nearly the entire half, but still: After the defense's struggles in the last few weeks, this was a quality bounceback performance. And if Stanford executes like it normally does in the red zone, this might have been a blowout.
I asked Brennan Scarlett after the game about the early defensive dominance.
"They came out and pretty much they were running what we thought they were going to run. We played sound defense, control of our gaps. Stayed pretty disciplined."
Would seem to speak to a fine job of game planning by Lance Anderson and co. Stanford ended up holding USC to 357 yards of offense.
-What more can you say about Christian McCaffrey. As far as his Heisman chances go, I think this tweet sums everything up quite well:
What Derrick Henry has done against SEC competition (on a week in, week out basis those defenses are better than what McCaffrey has faced... though the nonconference is obviously lacking) as a runner is very impressive. But he does not impact the game as a receiver (97 receiving yards in 13 games) or a return man. Henry is very good at what he does - bowling over defenders behind a dominant offensive line - but McCaffrey impacts the game in so many more ways. In addition to his 1,640 rush yards, he's Stanford's leading receiver (37 receptions) and has the second-most receiving yards on the team. Plus, Stanford has benefited from excellent field position in so many games as a result of his return abilities. He's going to go to New York as a finalist, and if Heisman voters were watching tonight, he'll have a legitimate chance to win.
-On a related note, Stanford has been hurt by conference title games in recent Heisman Trophy quests. Mark Ingram in 2009 and RGIII in 2011 come to mind. Might they benefit from the presence of a Pac-12 title game with McCaffrey in 2015?
-Four tackles for loss, two sacks and a touchdown for Stanford's defensive line. A very strong effort from that group. Solomon Thomas is going to be one heck of a player.
-Stanford is 3-0 in Pac-12 title games. They've won 60 percent of the championship games in Pac-12 history.
-Christian McCaffrey caught a touchdown, ran for a touchdown and threw for a touchdown. So did Kevin Hogan. Has any team ever had two players accomplish that feat in the same game? I can't imagine so. The last time a Pac-12 player notched the scoring trio was Brett Hundley back in 2013.
-Kevin Hogan has thrown 12 passes in two of the last three games. Stanford won both.
-Stanford remains undefeated in the black uniforms.
-Ronnie Harris played in the first half but did not in the second. Shaw said that Ronnie played as long as he could, but the ankle eventually stiffened up on him.
-Stanford should find out its Rose Bowl opponent tomorrow. It will either be Iowa or Ohio State.
-Still not quite sure why USC decided to give Clay Helton the permanent job when they did.
-Seems like only a few weeks ago that Stanford was getting pushed around in the season opener against Northwestern. Who would have thought the Cardinal would win 11 of their next 12.
Notes
