1. Perspective

The weather around Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara resembled Finland in late fall. Scarves and beanies were necessities rather than fashion statements. But Kevin Hogan warmed our bellies with a smattering of flying chicharrones served with a spicy Christian McCaffrey jumping bean sauce. Stanford was smooth in the face of a rugged and icy wind, on the heels of a rugged and varied season.

With Ty Montgomery out, Hogan had no trouble sharing the ball. 10 receivers caught passes and the tight ends were dancing across the middle in strides unseen since the days of Coby Fleener. If a “bad” season can still end like this, the bandwagon shouldn’t be getting much lighter—Stanford is still a very relevant football team.

2. The 2014-2015 Bowl Season

Oregon once again invited us all to the wedding and then bailed during the middle of the ceremony. How have I ever decided to root for them in non-Pac 12 games? It was fun watching them whoop Florida State, but another national title defeat? I suppose Ohio State was just too good. Who knew? I sure didn’t. But that is the beauty of the Playoff. You can’t fake your way through two straight games against great teams. Ohio State clearly earned it and was playing the best football at the end of the year.

Still, the Pac-12 had a nice showing: 6-2 in bowl games was the best win percentage among major conferences.

3. Looking Ahead to 2015

I don’t think we have the power on the lines or the coaching acumen to compete for a national championship. I’m not sure if I’m more concerned with running the ball or stopping the run. Either way, success on the lines is going to require existing starters to improve dramatically or new bodies to step up to fill some big departures. Stanford will need at least one of the lines to be dominant if it is going to contend for the Pac-12 title. Also, keep an eye out for any signs of evolution from David Shaw. I’d still like to see some clear evidence that Shaw has finally learned that some of his stubborn and conservative strategies—like punting from the opponent’s 32 yard line—are wrong, outdated, and boring. In the 2^nd quarter of the Foster Farms Bowl, Stanford ran up the middle on 4^th and 1 from Maryland’s 45 yard line. It picked up the first down without any fuss. Stanford was leading 21-7 though, so I think Shaw was feeling relaxed and confident. I’m not concerned about Shaw’s thinking and strategy when he is feeling relaxed and confident. It is when we are struggling that we also need to take risks—when we are facing teams that might be better than us, or when our defense can’t hold a team under 14 points like it could a few years ago.

I’m not leaving the tree trunk when I say to expect big things from McCaffrey. However, I’ll put a little dangle on a limb and say that Francis Owusu is going to have a big year at receiver. Yes, the tight ends will have more of the spotlight, but Owusu is my sleeper pick on offense. On defense, Kevin Anderson, Blake Martinez, and Peter Kalambayi are primed for all-conference seasons.

I love the Northwestern matchup to start the year. Five years ago on a trip to watch Stanford in South Bend, my buddies and I had some time to kill in Chicago. We went through Northwestern and happened to waltz through an open gate and onto the football field. Some field crew guy walked over and was not amused by our explanation—”we just wanted to check it out.” He escorted us out. I’m not sure what that anecdote means or why I’m bothering to share it. It seems to be a tremendous leap of faith to assume that those moments on the field: 1. constitute an anecdote, and 2. will have anything to do with the outcome of Stanford’s September 5th game @ Northwestern. However, I am a tremendous faith leaper. The swords of innocuous curiosity versus empty field protection were drawn that day, and purple blood must spill. Go Cardinal!