As always, feel free to chime in here or start a new thread if you attended/watched on Pac-12 Network.
Stanford held its spring game at Cagan Stadium (capacity 1,900), its on-campus soccer facility, this year rather than Stanford Stadium. This was not ideal from a media perspective (not much in the way of a press box), but it did make for a more intimate environment, and the seats were filled and then some. (Media relations estimated 2,500.) David Shaw said after the game that he enjoyed the Cagan Stadium environment, so it seems likely they'll do it there again next year.
The format of the game was similar to previous years - offense vs. defense, with a scoring system that awarded the defense points for three-and-outs, stops before midfield (the offense began every possession at the 35) and turnovers. The offense scored points as it would in a normal game. Quarterbacks were not live, nor were punt returns. There was no kickoff work.
The offense won the game 42-31.
Here are the stats we were provide by Stanford's media relations office:
Passing
Ryan Burns
17-23, 153 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 15 yards rushing
Keller Chryst
16-25, 156 yards, 2 TD, 1 INT, 17 yards rushing
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Rushing
Bryce Love
11 carries, 48 yards, 2 TD
Cameron Scarlett
12 carries, 14 yards
Pat McFadden
3 carries, 21 yards
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Receiving
4-79 - Francis Owusu
5-45 - Michael Rector (TD)
2-36 - Greg Taboada (TD)
4-35 - Trent Irwin (TD)
4-22 - Jay Tyler
1-18 - Dalton Shultz (TD)
2-9 - J.J. Arcega-Whiteside
2-7 - Cameron Scarlett
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Defense
8 - Frank Buncom
7 - Sean Barton
5 - Peter Kalambayi
5 - Alijah Holder
5 - Dallas Lloyd
4 - Zach Hoffpauir
4 - Solomon Thomas
4 - Mike Tyler
3 - Kevin Palma
2 - Noor Davis (INT)
Offense
First team OL: Casey Tucker (LT), Brandon Fanaika (LG), Jesse Burkett (C), Johnny Caspers (RG), Dave Bright (RT)
*There was also a series with the following alignment: AT Hall (LT), Dave Bright (LG), Burkett (C), Caspers (RG), Tucker (RT)
Second team OL: AT Hall (LT), Brandon Fanaika (LG), Brian Chaffin (C), Nick Wilson (RG), Jack Dreyer (RT)
-Michael Rector, Trent Irwin and Francis Owusu got the bulk of the work as receivers with the first team offense. J.J. Arcega-Whiteside also mixed in with that group. He also worked with the second team along with Jay Tyler and some of the first-team WR's.
I thought it was a nice day for the receiver group overall. Trent Irwin made perhaps the day's most spectacular play, hauling in a beautiful ball from Ryan Burns over Alijah Holder for a lunging touchdown catch. He also made a few nice grabs to help extend drives. Michael Rector caught a touchdown, registered a nice gain on a reverse and made a one-handed catch on the first play of the game on a little bubble screen type play. And Francis Owusu showed strong after the catch ability on a play in the first half. He also made a touch catch that was somewhat reminiscent of his behind-the-back grab in 2015, hauling in a somewhat underthrown pass from Ryan Burns with Zach Hoffpauir closing in. JJ Arcega-Whiteside was also targeted on several occasions and was productive on intermediate routes over the middle of the field. Jay Tyler couldn't come up with a 25-yard rope from Ryan Burns that would have given Stanford a first down, but he did have a few catches later in the scrimmage.
-The tight ends weren't all that involved in the passing game, but both made key catches. Taboada hauled in this pearl from Keller Chryst.
And Schultz made a one-handed touchdown catch from Ryan Burns.
-As the stats suggest, both quarterbacks had their share of success. Keller worked the first two series with the first-team offense and started off slowly. He misfired on several passes and threw a really bad interception into like quadruple coverage that had no chance of being completed. But he settled down in the second half and moved the offense down the field pretty consistently. And he made some terrific throws into really tight windows.
Burns, meanwhile, continued his very solid spring with another strong performance. Burns did throw an interception (Quenton Meeks made a nice play to get in front of a pass) and had a few misfires, but generally got the ball out and on time. He was clearly the better quarterback in the first half; Keller came on strong in the second, but Burns continues to impress.
-Bryce Love continues to impress each time he steps on the field. He was electric again this afternoon, scoring twice and making several defenders miss. The McCaffrey/Love combination will be a dynamic one in 2016.
McCaffrey was held out of contact today, as he has been all spring. He did go back and fair catch a few punts.
Cam Scarlett had a few solid runs but didn't do anything particularly noteworthy, though I did spot him do a nice job picking up Mustafa Branch on a blitz. I didn't really hone in on the fullback spot too much, but Reagan Williams showed well in a few short yardage opportunities.
Defense
There was a ton of rotation at all position groups throughout the day, but here's the group that started the game.
Solomon Thomas, Luke Kaumatule, Jordan Watkins
Mike Tyler, Peter Kalambayi, Kevin Palma, Bobby Okereke
Alijah Holder, Frank Buncom, Justin Reid, Dallas Lloyd (Zach Hoffpauir and Quenton Meeks rotated in early as well)
-Solomon Thomas was as expected - very hard to block. He was a split second away from notching a sack on the second play of the game (his pressure forced an errant throw by Chryst). Two plays later, Thomas burst into the backfield to drop Bryce Love for a six-yard loss. He deflected a pass later in the scrimmage and was generally around the ball. Jordan Watkins was the other defensive linemen to flash, getting in the backfield on a few occasions. Dylan Jackson beat the offensive guard to record a sack early in the first half.
-Sean Barton was as active as I've seen him. He made tackles 25 yards down field and along the line of scrimmage. It's kind of easy to overlook, but Barton has only been back in the US for 11+ months at this point after spending the better part of two years on his mission. And then he had to work through some ailments last season. Stanford was very high on him as a recruit and he's quite an athlete, so it will be interesting to see how he continues to progress.
-Peter Kalambayi probably had the play of the from the linebacker unit, chasing down Cam Scarlett in space on a pitch play to notch a tackle for loss. Noor Davis dropped in coverage to pick off Keller Chryst.
-Stanford didn't attempt any field goals, but Conrad Ukropina sure blasted his PAT's. Somewhat humorously, he kept hitting one of Stanford's video guys who was up on the scissor lift - smack dab between the goalposts.
-As mentioned, Quenton Meeks stepped in front of a receiver to notch one of Stanford's two interceptions. I thought he had a nice day overall, even though he was called for a somewhat questionable pass interference penalty. Brandon Simmons flashed in run support near the line of scrimmage on a few occasions. Dallas Lloyd was actually called for targeting, but it looked like a poor call to me - David Shaw said that he actually vetoed the ejection during the game.
-Jake Bailey shanked one of his punts, but aside from that both he and Alex Robinson were relatively consistent - around 40-45 yards with good height/hangtime.
-In addition to Christian McCaffrey, Jay Tyler received punts. Francis Owusu has also returned punts this spring.
