1. Perspective 

Leading up to the game, I had completely forgotten that Hogan was returning to the field where he made his first start three years ago. He led Stanford to a 48-0 win, including touchdowns on his first four drives as a college quarterback. There was good juju on this field for Hogan, and he was feeling it again this year, as he and McCaffrey led Stanford to a dominant win.

2. 1^st Half Thoughts:

I missed most of the first drive as I got settled in at Papas y Pollo Mexican restaurant in Sebastopol. (My crappy satellite tv provider doesn’t have Pac12 network.) Early signs looked good for Stanford. McCaffrey was finding gaps and Hogan looked very comfortable. But so did Colordao. Lifau was throwing the ball well and Nelson Spruce looked as reliable as a receiver can possibly look.

Then, on a third and long situation that has recently had Shaw call a conservative run, Hogan sent a beauty over the top for a TD pass to Rector.

On another drive, Hooper made a great airborn, back-shoulder catch. People were stepping up and making plays just like the USC game. Awesome stuff.

And then Shaw threw down and officially introduced the new David Shaw. Stanford faced a 4^th down and 2 from Colorado’s 6 yard line. It was a tough call. Stanford only led by 7, so a field goal makes it a two score game. But something is different about Shaw recently. He looks happier. And it is translating into making game decisions that make fans (and statisticians) very happy. Shaw went for it, and out of the jumbo package, Hogan tossed to a wide-open Dalton Schultz. Beautiful, beautiful play. I love this new attitude on 4^th down, and it is essential if we expect to keep winning games. Our defense is not good enough to win in low-scoring, field position battles.

3. 2^nd Half Thoughts:

Lifau came out running the option and had no trouble picking up easy gains on the ground. But Kevin Anderson and Peter Kalambayi came up big on 3^rd and 3 to blow up a QB sneak for a two yard loss. And then, on 4^th and 5 from the Stanford 11, the Colorado coach made the quintessential decision that exemplifies why these coaches should not be paid millions of dollars. Down 21 points, he sent in the field goal team. Colorado offense had looked decent. The game wasn’t over. But once the kicker stepped on the field—well, that was it. Bye, bye, Colorado.

And then he tried an onside kick! I actually love the onside kick attempt. Stanford had only one guy over there. If Stallworth doesn’t bring in the kick, Colorado had four guys right there to recover it. But that’s why you put great hands up there. On the next play, Hogan faked the handoff to McCaffrey and gave it to Bryce Love on the fly sweep. It was about to be busted up, but Love broke through for a 47-yard touchdown. Stanford was rolling.

And then the defense took over. On Colorado’s next 10 plays: 1 play went for positive yards, 4 plays went for no yards, and 5 plays went for negative yards.

Christian McCaffrey’s touchdown pass in the 4^th quarter was amazing, though I was shocked to see used in a blowout. And then I realized what Shaw was thinking. He doesn’t care about this play working in a crucial time. He cares about the running game working in crucial times. He cares about teams not keying on one play or one run. After the game, he said, “We got to put a lot of things on film, so that was good.” Crazy. The logic seems flawed to me. It is a stretch to think that all the defenders are just going to stay home and not crowd McCaffrey now that they have seen a few trick plays. But, that is Stanford football. The trick play is not what we are after. The goal is sound, fundamental football—with only a few surprises. As long as your men don’t gang up on fewer of our men, we are going to win.

4. SEC Overrated Again… Though Not in the Eyes of the Playoff Committee

I haven’t started with my criticism of SEC bias yet this year, but in the comments section of Jon Wilner’s blog, an astute reader noted this fact: The SEC is 0-3 against teams that were in last week’s initial Playoff Rankings. The conference owns no major victories this year. I think Florida’s game against Florida State will tell us a lot more about the SEC.

Fortunately, the Playoff Committee dropped Florida and LSU well below Stanford, which is correct. I have no issue with the committee rankings, other than the fact that USC should be ranked ahead of teams like Wisconsin and Mississippi State.

Much more on the rankings next week.

5. Up Next: Oregon (6-3)

The game still feels dangerous. The Ducks offense is moving again, and I don’t think we have the speed to stop it. But, there is one major difference: Vernon Adams is not nearly the run threat that Marcus Mariota was. Last year, Mariota rushed for 92 yards against us on just 9 carries. Mariota averaged 51 rushing yards/game last season. This year, Adams averages 24. If we can keep Adams in the pocket and force a little pressure, I like our chances. Of course, it all hinges on the expectation that Oregon can’t stop us. They should score 30 points on us, but the expectation is that it won’t be enough. We’ll see if our line can indeed dominate, or if Oregon keys on McCaffrey, if Hogan can make them pay for it.