It's always a good thing to see the Cardinal win. It's even better to get to watch in person. I have some thoughts from my time watching the game live and several replays.
- I went to the game with my mother, father and best friend. It was my friend's second Stanford game and the first was 2012 USC. I think he's doing pretty well. He was in awe of the hospitality of Stanford fans in the tailgate we visited. Even though I've been there many times myself, I am still amazed and grateful. Stanford's campus offers a wonderful environment for an outdoor party.
- My one negative comment about the Stanford game-day experience is in the stadium. I have not been to many college venues so I'll leave comparisons to others, but Stanford's management of several aspects leave a lot to be desired. The "entertainment" during the breaks is painful. Take the microphone away. Captions on the video boards is bizarre and unnecessary. And why have all the statistics, including the score, been relegated to the ribbon? I wasn't a huge fan of the tweets but I'm not sure why those are gone. And what's with zero information from the outside world? And don't get me started on the quality of the band.
- About the game, I want to give a shout-out to on Trenton Irwin's blocking. Yep, his blocking. Focus on Irwin for Christian McCaffrey's 49 yard run. Yes, McCaffrey shows his trademark vision and intelligence to find a lane, but it's Irwin who comes flying across the field to slam into the Arizona defender who likely was about to make it only a two yard gain. Irwin is a special route runner and his hands could catch a single rain drop without it breaking, but his willingness to block like that is probably the reason he's more involved this early in the season than many predicted.
Stallworth is the receiver when the extra offensive linemen are in but it's Irwin when they put Dalton Schultz and Austin Hooper on either end of the line. That is potentially a devastating play-action formation. They tried it with Chryst on a third down but he was sacked. I think it would work best on first down when the defense isn't in pass rush mode.
- Speaking of McCaffrey, watching him set up blocks and time his cuts up field is almost like art in motion. On his long kickoff return he split the space between a Stanford blocker and UA defender so quickly that the Wildcat didn't even react. We are blessed to watch him.
- This defense is doing well enough and it's hard to complain with the end results so far. But my eyes tell me this group will give up more than the 31 points in the USC game at some point this season. And it may happen more than once. Maybe I was expecting too much from them, but I expected to see Solomon Thomas and Peter Kalambayi causing more problems in the backfield than they have. It's early and the margin is only two, but so far Stanford's defense has fewer TFLs than its opposition. Last time a season ended that way was 2007.
- Keller Chryst is a large human and he earned a lot of love with that spectacular play. If we decide to go to single-wing offense there will be a fierce competition with Burns.
- Speaking of Love, Bryce is special. There's a good sized crowd of playmakers on the roster but he's worth finding a few plays for in every game. And he doesn't go down easily. He's slippery and tough. Also, it's nice to put to rest concerns of whether he's "football fast."
I'll stop for now. I'm interested in what others have to say and I might add on later.
- I went to the game with my mother, father and best friend. It was my friend's second Stanford game and the first was 2012 USC. I think he's doing pretty well. He was in awe of the hospitality of Stanford fans in the tailgate we visited. Even though I've been there many times myself, I am still amazed and grateful. Stanford's campus offers a wonderful environment for an outdoor party.
- My one negative comment about the Stanford game-day experience is in the stadium. I have not been to many college venues so I'll leave comparisons to others, but Stanford's management of several aspects leave a lot to be desired. The "entertainment" during the breaks is painful. Take the microphone away. Captions on the video boards is bizarre and unnecessary. And why have all the statistics, including the score, been relegated to the ribbon? I wasn't a huge fan of the tweets but I'm not sure why those are gone. And what's with zero information from the outside world? And don't get me started on the quality of the band.
- About the game, I want to give a shout-out to on Trenton Irwin's blocking. Yep, his blocking. Focus on Irwin for Christian McCaffrey's 49 yard run. Yes, McCaffrey shows his trademark vision and intelligence to find a lane, but it's Irwin who comes flying across the field to slam into the Arizona defender who likely was about to make it only a two yard gain. Irwin is a special route runner and his hands could catch a single rain drop without it breaking, but his willingness to block like that is probably the reason he's more involved this early in the season than many predicted.
Stallworth is the receiver when the extra offensive linemen are in but it's Irwin when they put Dalton Schultz and Austin Hooper on either end of the line. That is potentially a devastating play-action formation. They tried it with Chryst on a third down but he was sacked. I think it would work best on first down when the defense isn't in pass rush mode.
- Speaking of McCaffrey, watching him set up blocks and time his cuts up field is almost like art in motion. On his long kickoff return he split the space between a Stanford blocker and UA defender so quickly that the Wildcat didn't even react. We are blessed to watch him.
- This defense is doing well enough and it's hard to complain with the end results so far. But my eyes tell me this group will give up more than the 31 points in the USC game at some point this season. And it may happen more than once. Maybe I was expecting too much from them, but I expected to see Solomon Thomas and Peter Kalambayi causing more problems in the backfield than they have. It's early and the margin is only two, but so far Stanford's defense has fewer TFLs than its opposition. Last time a season ended that way was 2007.
- Keller Chryst is a large human and he earned a lot of love with that spectacular play. If we decide to go to single-wing offense there will be a fierce competition with Burns.
- Speaking of Love, Bryce is special. There's a good sized crowd of playmakers on the roster but he's worth finding a few plays for in every game. And he doesn't go down easily. He's slippery and tough. Also, it's nice to put to rest concerns of whether he's "football fast."
I'll stop for now. I'm interested in what others have to say and I might add on later.
