1. Perspective

Despite winning 7 of the last 9 vs USC, this is the first game since 2009’s “What’s Your Deal” game that Stanford has dominated. It won the line of scrimmage, it had more discipline, and it definitely won the coaching battle.

The game had a different feel from the very beginning. Normally, the USC crowd is loud and proud at Stanford stadium. There were still a lot of USC fans around, but they were much quieter this time. A group of three USC fans next to our tailgate were napping about an hour before kickoff. Inside the stadium, there wasn’t much more energy. This is currently a lopsided rivalry and the idea that Helton can bring USC back to prominence is very much an uncertain proposition.

2. Offense

One of my favorite plays of the game was a 2^nd quarter pass from Burns to Irwin. It was a quick out, and Burns put the ball on the outside shoulder to protect from interception. Irwin spun outside of the tackle and gained 15 yards. Just beautiful, veteran, textbook execution from a quarterback and receiver who do not have all that much experience. Burns played well again, and is exceeding expectations. The offensive line is also coming together nicely. The holes aren’t always there for the running game, but the pass protection so far seems very good.

Rector showed how fast he is with a take-your-pants-off explosion on a 3^rd quarter reverse. While traveling about 12 years ago, I hopped off a train in Brasov, Romania and got in a woman’s car to be taken to her guesthouse. She had a thick accent and didn’t speak much English, but had clearly developed a proud and interesting diction. When discussing the weather forecast for tomorrow, she said, “It is…. instability.” As we started talking about places to eat, it somehow emerged that there was one Mexican restaurant in Brasov—probably one of the only ones in the country. I asked her if she liked the food there. She paused. “It is very… explosive.” I knew exactly what she meant, and went there for dinner later that night. It was the same kind of delicious explosiveness we’ve come to expect from Michael Rector.

McCaffrey is the first player to have 200+ all-purpose yards in 8 straight games in 10 years. That fact probably deserves its own paragraph. Or at least this concluding remark: the next closest player to have consecutive 200+ all-purpose yards has a streak of… 2 games.

On a side note, Adoree Jackson showed a lot of class all game. He constantly patted McCaffrey on the back or helmet after plays. It didn’t matter if McCaffrey had a good gain or not, he was just respecting one of the few guys on the field with as much talent as him. Jackson also had a nice interception in the 3^rd quarter.

3. Defense & Special Teams

I don’t have time to break down these units but the secondary shut down Juju Smith-Schuster, holding him to 3 catches and 34 yards. And I think we might start seeing a surge in the “Ukropinus Pinea for Tree” campaign—the guy can flat out kick the pine nut.

4. Coaching – Helton or High Water

On the first four plays of USC’s first drive, Justin Davis ran for gains of 6, 11, 7, and 4 yards. The ABC announcer noted after the first two runs, “In the last 9 games these two have played, whoever has won the rushing battle has won the game.” Indeed, it is all about controlling the line of scrimmage in this game. On the 5^th play, Helton called for a screen pass, which was blown up by Hoffpauir, and USC’s rhythm was disrupted. My first thought: not a great play call. The two good options after those first four plays are: hand off to Davis again, or play-action fake to Davis and pass downfield. After watching the tape a few times though, I noticed that Stanford loaded the box with defenders on that 5^th play. After getting gouged on the first four runs, they made an adjustment. And it looked like that might have caused Browne to audible to the screen pass, which makes sense. So perhaps it wasn’t Helton’s fault in that situation, but Helton definitely struggled to make good decisions in the game.

In the 2^nd series, USC’s two running plays went for 12 and 4 yards. But incomplete passes and false start penalties forced a field goal.

In its 3^rd possession, USC’s running plays went for 8, 2, and 9 yards. Again, tons of success on the ground, but too many passing plays and penalties forced a punt.

In its 4^th possession, USC ran 5 plays, and none of them were rushes! What a gift for the Stanford defense. They had yet to prove they could stop the run, but USC let them off the hook anyways.

On its 5th series and first of the 2^nd half, USC finally let Davis loose again, gaining 5, 5, 6, 6, and 1 yards on its five running plays and the drive resulted in a touchdown.

On its next drive, USC did not run the ball.

Unfathomably bad coaching and play-calling. 12 of USC’s first 15 rushing plays went for 4 yards or more. You can move the ball all day with those kinds of numbers. Stanford was able to move the ball on the ground with far worse numbers.

First 15 Running Plays	Stanford	USC
# of Plays Gaining 4+ Yards	7	12
% of Plays Gaining 4+ Yards	47%	80%

Of course, the false start penalties did force USC into passing situations, and eventually Stanford starting playing the run better. Early in the 4^th quarter, on 4^th and 1 from the Stanford 18, the Stanford defense made the stop to end USC’s drive. Of course, down 17 points, Helton should have taken the field goal anyways…

And later Helton just did the absurd. Still trailing 27-10 in the 4^th, he punted on 4^th and 6 from Stanford’s 44-yard line. It is the kind of bone-headed call that someone who is paid millions of dollars should never make.

5. Coaching – Shaw and the Art of Subtle Perfection

On the first play of the game, Burns dropped back to pass. Love it. Then we went with tempo and got the second play off quickly. Great. The plays yielded an incompletion and a fumble, but it didn’t matter. Stanford was already off to a great start the moment we saw some wrinkles from Shaw, and the play-calling and game management set the tone for one of David Shaw’s best games as a coach.

On Stanford’s 2^nd drive, Shaw went to McCaffrey. On 3^rd and 1, he picked up two yards. Later in the drive on a 3^rd and 1, Shaw pulled McCaffrey out and had Burns take the shotgun snap and run for the first down. A great call—there is one more blocker with this play and the defense can’t just anticipate a McCaffrey handoff.

On the next play, Shaw called the double wheel, the trailing arcs of slick, the sushi boats on the sidelines. McCaffrey comes out of the backfield on a wheel route, but Love gets the fake handoff in the same direction and is also streaking out to the left. They are both headed in the same direction, and most of the attention is on the 2^nd guy, as it looks like McCaffrey is just headed out to block. I remembered this play from three years ago, when Hogan connected with Tyler Gaffney for a touchdown pass against Army. (It is the first play on the video link.) The slight difference that time is it looks like the trailer, Kelsey Young, was a receiver in motion and not a second back. It is a fun play, and even if the lead guy is covered the quarterback can still target the trailer.

Shaw is an interesting guy when it comes to using some of his best-designed plays. Just this week, ESPN released video on the fake fumble touchdown pass to Rector in the Rose Bowl. Shaw diagrammed the play for the camera. What caught my attention is that he said he has had this trick play in his back pocket for 7 years! Jeez man… I get not wanting to show your best cards on every hand, but why would you hold on to the Ace of Spades for 7 years? I’ve grown to love the steady diet of simple brown rice served with the Stanford offense. If you don’t, then you can’t also appreciate the success the team has had. But let’s not wait so long to see these great plays, no? Alas… I fear that Shaw was only willing to openly share the play with a national ESPN audience since he doesn’t expect to use it for another seven years!

Nonetheless, Shaw had a brilliant game. (Obviously I give Bloomgren a ton of credit as well… I just don’t know who is calling the plays, so for now I am just saying “Shaw” when I really mean “whoever is managing the offensive game.”) A virtually flawless game. Here’s another perfect detail. In the 2^nd quarter, Stanford had 2^nd a 1 from the USC 48. Shaw was confident Stanford could pick up a yard on 3^rd down, so he took advantage of having a down to play with. McCaffrey started down the left sideline, stopped, then took off. The cornerback was caught flat-footed, and McCaffrey was wide open for a touchdown. Burns missed the pass, but Shaw played his next card perfectly as McCaffrey gained two yards on the next play to pick up the first down. Hardcover textbook, rock solid football.

Later in the 2^nd quarter, Stanford looked to take control of the game. Shaw called for eight straight rushing plays (the final 7 for McCaffrey) on the drive, all of them out of the jumbo elephant package. It was an early attempt to drop the hammer, and it worked. If you are going to tell USC that a run up the middle is coming, and still feel confident you can gain yards, then you have to be willing to go for it on 4^th and 1. Shaw was completely ready and willing. And Stanford scored a decisive touchdown.

It was all running up the middle, which was why the Rector reverse was so perfectly set up later in the 3^rd quarter. Well-crafted by Shaw. And the end result was a near perfect game. Even when things didn’t go well—like the interception in the 4^th quarter—it wasn’t a bad call or a bad result. On 3^rd and long, a deep pass that is intercepted is no worse than an incompletion and a punt on the next play.

6. Rankings & The Playoff Picture

I’m going to hold off on quibbling with any rankings for now… Save it for a future post. The Pac-12 has a nice “lead” over the Big-12, but it is also still too early to talk Playoff.

7. College Gameday & National Television

Unfortunately, I don’t think Stanford will be featured in a College Gameday onsite location game. Notre Dame is down, so is Oregon. The Washington game is on a Friday, so that isn’t an option. Even if Stanford and Cal came close to running the table until Nov 19th it would be hard to get a nod over Ohio State vs Michigan State. So there likely won’t be the exposure that comes with Gameday.

The only time when Stanford will really get the eyes of the entire nation is next Friday night, at Washington. For that reason, I like the Friday night game. It locks in a prime-time national audience with no overlapping games drawing viewers to other channels.

8. Coming Up – UCLA (2 – 1)

The only big overlapping game on Saturday is #17 Arkansas vs #10 Texas A&M at 6pm. So most college football fans will at least tune in for the first half of #7 Stanford vs UCLA on ABC. Stanford is going for its 9^th consecutive win against UCLA. I can’t make that kind of stuff up… it has to have already happened for me to even consider it.