SB Nation - Clinton Snyder

BN Gameday Roundup: Bruins Set For Stanford's Power Attack?

Nestor — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 16:02:43 -0000

Just few more hours to go till our kickoff. I think we have done a pretty good job of exhausting the various story lines around this game in last two weeks. The game day stories both from the LA and Bay Area newspapers don't really offer up anything new this morning. Still might as well go through them before we immerse ourselves into college football Saturday. The main storyline around today's game will obviously be Gergart and Stanford's offense showdown against the UCLA defense. At the same time an anxious Bruin Nation is going to hold its collective breath to see how Craft led UCLA offense can manage the game on the road.

We will start with the key matchup of the day which will be headline by Gerhart and Reggie Carter. The emotional leader of the Bruin defense and his team-mates seem fired up and ready to go:

"Physical, physical, physical," Carter said. "I've been waiting for a game like this again. Playing Tennessee was great, but then Kansas State came in and started hitting us with that crazy spread stuff.

"Stanford plays old-fashioned, downhill football. They have a downhill back, and an aggressive offensive line. I'm looking forward to this game.

"I'm not going to trash talk. They say they're physical. I'm not going to back down. I'm going to be ready and waiting for them." [...]

The Bruins are ranked ninth nationally against the run. Stanford, with 235-pound Toby Gerhart averaging 129 yards rushing behind a line that averages 297 pounds, is 11th nationally in rushing offense. [...]

"We know these guys are runners," said UCLA defensive end Korey Bosworth. "That's what they say, their bread and butter is that power play. As far as I can tell, we're not too bad against the run. When we get a team that runs the ball, I really look forward to it."

Neheisel and co will be looking to Carter and Bosworth to manage the point of Stanford attack:

"You better put on your big-boy pads," UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel said. "They come at you.

"We've been fairly stout in the early part of the season but this is going to be the biggest test thus far. We've got to be able to manage the point of attack. It's going to be a great challenge for our guys in the front seven."

Offensively, Stanford's point of attack will be Gerhart, who ran for a career-high 200 yards in last week's victory over Washington.

Gerhart isn't the kind of running back who is going to fake out would-be defenders with side-to-side moves. If you're in his way, he'll run right over you. It's a technique that resulted in 1,136 yards and 5.4 yards per carry in 2008.

However, Bruin defense will have more than Gerhart to worry about. Stanford has a solid QB in Andrew Luck who has done a pretty good job of managing the game as a red shirt freshman. Although Harbaugh hasn't depended on Luck's arm, his production has been extremely efficent as he has complete 50 out of 83 passes with 4 touchdowns and 2 picks. Luck also has decent weapons to throw to Owusu and Ryan Whalen.

We have talked about Owusu's game breaking ability (specifically in the special teams) this week, but we can't forget about Whalen who has teamed up with Owusu for 29 catches and 470 yards, giving Luck couple of dependable targets. It is going to be a huge challenge for our defense. They have been able to shut down our previous three opponents (keeping them within 300 yards). It is going to be interesting to see whether they can do the same today. Meanwhile, on the other end it is going to be interesting to see how the offense with Craft under center performs on the road. More on them after the jump.

All week we have been talking about how our defense is going to handle Gerhart. The Bruin offensive running attack in contrast hasn't gotten a lot of attention. Jon Gold from the Daily News writes:

The Bruins counter with a bit of lightning to Gerhart's thunder. While not nearly as prolific as the Cardinal's hot start on the ground, UCLA's running game has shown vast improvement over last season, with redshirt freshman Johnathan Franklin and sophomore Derrick Coleman leading the way. Franklin has rushed for 242 yards and two touchdowns on 52 carries, for a 4.7 average, and Coleman has picked up 116 yards and a score on just 18 carries.

With all the hype surrounding Stanford's running game, the Bruins believe it is their turn to get some attention.

"There's been a lot of talk about that, but I think the guys up front are ready," redshirt sophomore center Kai Maiava said. "We're ready to prove ourselves, get the respect we deserve."

Well, we will find out what they can do at the Farm. I am particularly curious to see what Knox can do today. While Franklin and Coleman have been pretty solid this season, I would love to see Chow throwing in few screen plays for Knox or get him out on the open field, so he can show some of the moves he displayed at Neyland stadium. In addtion to Knox, Norm Chow will have Christian Ramirez at his disposal today. Christian of course had a pretty memorable game in his first trip to Palo Alto. However, that was a long time ago under a different coach against a completely different Stanford team in Harbaugh's first season.

Not sure if I need to go over the Kevin Craft factor. Everyone here is well aware of it. The kid hasn't had a good game on the road in his UCLA career. However, that history is from last year when he played a team with no offensive line and thus credible running attack featuring a gimpy senior (full of heart) and a true freshman. Hopefully the offensive line today will come through with some pass protection giving Craft some time to execute on offense.

We have also talked about the revenge factor. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

"Everybody remembers the UCLA game last year, especially the defense," linebacker Clinton Snyder said. "All offseason, we said, 'We've got to finish.' "

Harbaugh called it "a bitter defeat" that "stuck in everybody's craw in the offseason." He said of the final drive that his players want "to make darn sure it never happens again."

Well. We will see how it works out for them. On our end we hope it works out like it did last time Bruins went on the road against a team hungry for the same kind of revenge. For more on today's game here are the writeups from the AP, Chris Foster (LAT), and Chris Dufresne (LAT).

We will have our game thread up about 30 minutes before the kickoff. Don't forget to get your pregame guesses in as we will close that thead when the game one goes up. Might also throw up a pre game thread right in about an hour. Enjoy the Saturday.

GO BRUINS.

Spaulding Roundup: More Notes, Quotes On Stanford Game

Nestor — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 12:26:01 -0000

Ted Miller from ESPN has a great quote from Reggie Carter giving us a little glimpse of his mindset heading into Saturday:

UCLA's always colorful inside linebacker Reggie Carter isn't so sure his Bruins want your love. Sure, they've pushed three opponents around. Sure, they will equal their 2008 win total with their next victory.

Just don't rank them, said Carter.

"No! Leave me at the bottom of the barrel," he said. "We've seen what happens to teams up in the rankings. Cal goes up in the rankings and what happened? They lost. They put Washington in the Top 25? They lost. I think everybody feeds you all that candy and ice cream and you get excited and you lose focus. So leave me unranked. Just tell me we're a terrible team. Don't give us any respect. Let us earn it. I don't want guys to get excited and happy -- 'Oh, yeah, we're ranked!' As soon as you lose, you'll be unranked. So let's not be ranked. Let's just try to win every week."

Of course, Carter also wrote a few amusing sonnets for reporters about the magical wonderfulness of Tennessee before the Bruins defense throttled the Volunteers, so it's likely that Carter was just doing what he normally does: Answering a reporter's question with a twinkle in his eye.

Well I have no idea what is going through Reggie's mind. However, I have to think Carter is well aware how UCLA football in recent years have always experienced a let down, when they started getting attention and respect early in the season from around the country. No doubt there is a little gamesmanship going on in the comments he and his coaches are making to the press. It's kind of silly to assume that Carter actually is ok with UCLA having a program that is not ranked week to week (I know and he knows we are rebuilding but our goal is to have a program that will be ranked every week from wire to wire during football seasons). Still at the same time the message he is sending as the leader of this football team should resonate with the youngsters who are sprinkled into the lineups on both sides of the field.

Moreover, Stanford is a team, which at this least at this snap shot of time deserves the respect it is getting from UCLA. From the game preview at Sports Network (On SBN):

Stanford is scoring 33.0 ppg and 419.5 total ypg this season. proof that the offense has been quite potent through four outings. The ground attack has been sensational, accounting for 233.8 ypg on 5.9 ypc. Toby Gerhart doesn't receive much national attention, but it is hard to ignore the numbers posted by the hard-charging tailback thus far. Gerhart has rushed for 516 yards and five touchdowns while averaging 5.7 ypc. Andrew Luck is the team's starting quarterback, and he is second in rushing with 136 yards. Luck has completed 60.2 percent of his passes for 742 yards and four touchdowns with only two interceptions. As for the receivers, Ryan Whalen has made 16 catches for 260 yards and two touchdowns, while Chris Owusu has recorded 13 grabs for 210 yards and two scores. Stanford racked up 424 yards en route to 34 points scored. The Cardinal had three offensive touchdowns, including a 60-yard gallop by Gerhart, who finished with a career-high 200 yards on the ground.

Opponents are scoring 17.0 ppg against Stanford, which is allowing 331.2 total ypg. The Cardinal have been tough against the run, yielding a mere 3.5 yards per attempt. As for the pass defense, there is some room for improvement as opposing quarterbacks are throwing for 212.2 ypg against Stanford. While the team has registered only five takeaways in four games, there have been 10 sacks notched by the defense. Clinton Snyder leads the squad with 30 tackles, and Thomas Keiser has seven TFLs, including four sacks. The fact that Stanford was able to hold Washington to 14 points last weekend was certainly impressive, and a closer look reveals that only one of the two Huskies' touchdowns was scored by the team's offense. Stanford yielded just 290 yards, as the defense continued its outstanding play.

The home team gets the nod in this tilt, as Stanford will find a away to get past UCLA. Expect Gerhart to carry the load as usual and add to his already impressive stats.

They went on to predict a 10 point (34-24) victory for the Cardinal at home. I am sure the coaches and players will take note of predictions like that and be full aware that they will be the underdogs on Saturday. Couple of more factors to be concerned about heading into Saturday.

How are we going to contain Chris Owusu? From the LA Times:

"We've seen every touchdown return five times," said Jeff Locke, who kicks off for UCLA. "So we've seen what not to do."

That challenge comes at a time when Gansz is unhappy with UCLA's kickoff coverage. Every other area of the Bruins' special teams has been solid, but they gave up 33.8 yards a return against Kansas State in their last game.

Making the point, though, is easy this week.

"All you got to do is put the tape on" of Owusu, Gansz said. "But as much as it is about him, it's about the 10 other guys blocking for him."

The Gansz solution?

"You got to change it up, give him different things, different looks," he said. "That's all I'm going to say about it."

Keep in mind the kid averages 59.2 yards (!!!!) per return. He has housed it 3 times (out of 6 returns) going for 91 yards (Washington), 94 yards (San Jose State) and 84 yards (Washington State). That is not just great, that sounds like he is as freakish as Notre Dame's Rocket was back in the day. If you want to read more on Owusu and get sick in the stomach, you can read up the profile DN's Jon Gold wrote up on him here. Not sure I have anything to add at this point beyond what we have already said this week and comments from Gansz.

Secondly, yes everyone is still talking about what are we going to get out Craft. Foster lays it out in the LA Times:

A trip down memory lane with UCLA quarterback Kevin Craft, who will face Stanford in Palo Alto on Saturday:

The last time Craft started a road game, he produced big -- for Arizona State. Interception returns of 38, 45, 100 yards by the Sun Devils were the longest scoring plays Craft "created" during the 2008 season.

The last time Craft faced Stanford, he took the Bruins on an 87-yard drive in the last two minutes, finishing with a game-winning touchdown pass.

That's the Craft UCLA hopes it is getting Saturday.

"Funny, it feels like last season was a long time ago, in the sense of games and our record," the soft-spoken Craft says. "But out on the field, it feels like it never went away."

Well, the optimist side of me tells me that Craft actually played a decent game against Kansas State and our team numbers would have looked much better if not for the sloppiness in team penalties that plagued us throughout the game. I still think the complexion of that game would have been different if that TD pass to Moya wasn't called back. Then the realistic side of me reminds me of Craft's horrible long throws and how uncomfortable he looked at times durng that dreadful third quarter.

Well I just hope the entire team steps up to help him out. That means if we can get solid play from our special teams, defense, and running game, all Craft will need to do is to make sure he is playing within his athletic abilities and giving us the best chance to win.

For more on tonight's game make sure to tune into tonight's (6 pm PST) inaugural BN podcast. I hear ryebreadaz and ucla13_usc9 have a full plate in store for us. They are going to go over all the key factors in play for UCLA and have s. andrew over who has already given us some great perspectives from the Stanford side. Should be fun.

GO BRUINS.

Five questions about Stanford

John Berkowitz — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:53:28 -0000

David Fowkes is an expert on Stanford football for the Bay Area Examiner. Dave asked me if I we could exchange five questions each about the big game on Saturday. Click on his link because he could use a few page views over at his site.

Dave is probably the only guy other than John Wilner who has in depth information about Stanford football.

John's Berkowitz's Five Questions about Stanford.

1. Last time Jake Locker played a full game against Stanford he dominated and Washington came out with an easy win. Short of breaking his thumb again what will the Cardinal do to minimize the damage he can
cause on offense.

Minimize is the key word. I think Stanford knows that shutting Locker down completely is a bit far fetched. That said, the best way to stop a quarterback is to hit a quarterback and Stanford has a pretty good defensive line and some very good pass rushers on the end. Tom Keiser has just been added to the watch list for the Ted Hendricks Award (given to the best defensive end in the country) after his three sack performance against San Jose State. Senior Erik Lorig also puts constant pressure on the quarterback from the other side. If Stanford can get pressure and force Locker to move or throw before he wants to, it will lighten the burden on the defensive backfield. Linebackers Chike Amajoyi and Clinton Snyder will need to use their speed to keep an eye on Locker scrambling out of the backfield.
Without any pressure though, Stanford's defense will be in trouble.

2. Stanford is giving up over 200 passing yards per game this season. What is your assessment of the Cardinal secondary right now?

You would think three games into a season it would be easy to assess, but in this case they are still a bit of a mystery. With two former offensive players, Richard Sherman and Delano Howell, now starting on defense every
game should be a little better. Howell has proved to be a great tackler. Senior Bo McNally is a great hitter. On the corners, Sherman and Corey Gatewood are improving but need to be better. It is a very athletic secondary which is good, but very unseasoned. Bottom line again, with a pass rush this secondary can be very good but left on their own, there is a lot of yardage to allow.

3. Do you think the Stanford is too one dimensional of offense? It seems if you stop Gephart you stop Stanford.

That changes this year. Andrew Luck is the real deal at quarterback. For a kid with just three starts under his belt he plays calm and cool. He has a great arm and a good sense for the game. For the first time in a few years
Stanford has some explosive players at wide out as well. Wide receivers Chris Owusu and Ryan Whalen are very good and can take a 5-yard route and turn it into a touchdown on any play. This year's Cardinal is far more balanced. The problem for them so far has not been when opponents stop the running game, but the fact that they have stopped themselves with penalties
and turnovers.

4. Who are some of the Cardinal play makers we need to keep an eye on this Saturday?

WR Chris Owusu has made big plays on offense but also has two kickoff returns for touchdowns. RB Toby Gerhart and QB Andrew Luck are obvious choices. Nobody outside of Stanford seems to know about Ryan Whalen but all he does is catch everything thrown his way. He has surprising speed. On defense, as mentioned the ends will be huge for this game with Tom Keiser and Erik Lorig trying to control Locker. Linebacker Clinton Snyder is the
leading tackler on defense.

5. We are all impressed by the way Jim Harbaugh has rebuilt the Stanford football program. Is this the year that Stanford goes bowling?

I think so. This game will let us know more but Stanford is clearly a better team. They don't have a lot of depth but the front line players are as good as we have seen on the Farm in a number of years. That said, as Washington
proved last week, the Pac-10 is wide open. My hunch is that if Stanford plays their game, limits their turnovers and penalties, then they can compete with anybody and will win enough games to go to a bowl and maybe
even a good bowl. But there are still enough question marks out on the field that you certainly can not guaranty anything.

Dave's Fowkes Five Questions about Washington

1. After last weekend, Jake Locker has moved into the national spotlight as one of the top quarterbacks in the land. Other than good health, what is he doing to take his game to the next level?

Honestly it is all about the coaching he has received over the last six months. Under Willingham they discouraged him from seeking outside tutoring despite the fact that there was not a actual QB coach on the staff. Steve Sarkisian and Jeff Nussmeier are two of the best college QB coaches in the country. You get better under that type of tutelage. Sarkisian also parked Jake with Steve Clarkson who is one the country's top QB guru's. He helped Jake adapt to the pro style offense that Sarkisian wants to run. In previous years it was all about Jake against the defense. Now it is about Jake and all the tools he has around him complimenting him.

2. As Stanford fans can attest, beating USC is a lot of fun. How do the Huskies and Coach Sark avoid a let down the week after?

Don't read the newspaper and don't turn on the computer. Reading your own press clippings is the worst thing you can do in this type of situation. Washington is coming off an 0-12 season and I feel the players and the coaches are smart enough to realize why they won last weeks game. USC simply turned over the ball too many times. If USC doesn't turn over the ball they win the game by 17 points. I think Washington realizes that they have to play hard on every snap. The coaches realize that they have to out fox each opponent. Washington can beat every single team left on the schedule. They also have the ability to lose every game. Getting back to 0-12...I think that is deeply ingrained in the psyche of the team. They know they need a supreme effort to win each week.

3. The main mission of anybody playing against Stanford is to stop Toby Gerhart. Who will shoulder the load for that responsibility and how will they get it done?

Our defensive line shut down some serious big backs in the LSU game. I think the LSU backs are the equal of Toby Gephart. We held Idaho to under 100 yards rushing. USC ran for 250 yards against us which is unacceptable. The saving grace is after the first quarter they only ran for only 134 yards the rest of the game. In addition to that they were 0-10 in third down conversions. That is a remarkable state. Even more remarkable than the four turnovers.Washington has a number of different looks on the defensive line they can throw at an offense. They have a speed lineup and a bulk lineup. You will see both on Saturday. we have one of the best linebacking crews in the Pac 10. Donald Butler who is a senior middle linebacker was the national defensive player of the week. Overall we have some weapons in the front seven. If Gephart breaks into the secondary we have some DB's who are very good against the run. Washington played very physical last Saturday and I expect that to carry through to this week.

4. Stanford's special teams have really stepped up this season and have been a force both on returns and coverage. How are the Huskies special team units faring?

I have to give the edge to Stanford at this point because they are scoring TD's with their special teams. We did shut down the nations best return man against LSU so our coverage and strategy this year has worked well. We have an excellent punter who has great touch. He can boom the ball with pin point placement. Our FG kicker Erik Folk was 3-3 with a long of 48 against USC. He has been consistent. We haven't broken any big returns yet. We have speed back there so I am sure it will happen as the season goes on. Overall special teams play is an indication of a teams quality depth. I think UW and Stanford are about equal in that department. Once again the thing that separates Stanford from Washington on special teams is 21 points scored on returns. That is just huge!

5. Washington has played in three games, all at home with a "good" loss to LSU and the huge upset of USC. How will a young upstart team handle their first road experience?

Playing on the road is never easy. There are a lot of adjustments you have to make. This is the first road game under a new staff so I am sure there are some kinks to work out. On the plus side we will be playing in front of an unenthusiastic crowd of 25,000 Tree fans on medical marijuana. Usually close to 10,000 Husky fans show up since we travel well and have a lot of alumni in the Bay Area. Since our fans load up on beer and hard liquor before the game chances are we will make more noise. The last time Washington played Stanford on the road it seemed like it was a home game for UW. In other words I don't think the crowd will be much of a factor. I think it is a great transitional road game to get us ready for Notre Dame the following week.

This game has to be broken into four components.

A. Jake Locker vs the Stanford defense

I don't think Stanford can stop Locker through the air or on the ground.

B. Toby Gephart vs the Washington offense

If Gephart gets into the secondary UW could have a long day. If Washington can hold him to around 100 yards they should be fine.

C. Tree special teams vs UW special teams

Stanford has proven they can score with their special teams. What I really like about Harbaugh is that he really emphasizes this part of the game because he knows he hasn't built the depth and diversity he needs to compete toe to toe with every team in the league. He is close and after the next recruiting class arrives you will se a different Stanford team that will blow some doors off. In the meantime he concentrates on winning this part of the game to even up any disadvantage his team has.

D. Andrew Luck is the second best QB in the Pac 10

Andrew Luck frightens me. I saw him play against WSU and was surprised by how mobile he was. To me he looks like a future first round draft choice. I expect Washington to contain Gephart but can they stop Luck once the game is on his shoulders? Special teams and Andrew Luck are the two wild cards in this game. Harbaugh likes to throw under twenty times per game but Luck has completed 60% of his passes which is amazing for a RS frosh. I think Luck is going to be the X-factor on Saturday.

Looking ahead to Stanford

John Berkowitz — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 13:30:46 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sakuma - AP

3 months ago: Stanford running back Toby Gerhart, center, runs against San Jose State in the first quarter of their NCAA college football game in Stanford, Calif., Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

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Jim Harbaugh has done a marvelous job rebuilding a football program that was down even more than Washington was when he arrived. Many speculated the year before he arrived that Stanford may have just been the worst team in Pac 10 conference history. That myth was dispelled when they beat Washington in Seattle after Ty Willingham had demotivated his team by announcing Suddenly Senior Day.

Stanford was picked by most experts to go bowling this season and climb into the conferences first division. The Tree likes to run the ball and they have the conferences best big back in Sr. Toby Gephart. Stanford ran the ball down Washington's throat last year in Husky Stadium and they will try to do the same thing this Saturday on the Farm.

Andrew Luck is a real good looking QB with great mobility. He doesn't have Locker like speed but he can run a good 4.6 which can help keep him out of trouble. The Cards prefer to run a power offense and try to keep Luck under 20 throws per game. Luck only threw the ball 12 times last week. He had 9 completions for 170 yards, one TD, and one interception.

One area of concern for Stanford had been on the offensive line. The Cards are starting two RS frosh at tackles. Washington has played against two of the best offensive lines in college football over the past couple weeks and done well. Even Idaho had a surprisingly good OL with an NFL candidate or two. Our DE's could be able to exploit the Cardinal inexperience out on the edge. DTN going up against a RS frosh is a big mismatch.

Harbaugh likes to run the ball and Washington has proven itself to be very tough against the run despite giving up 250 yards to USC last Saturday. 114 of those yards were generated by the Trojans in the first quarter. Once the Huskies settled down and made adjustments they kept the Trojan RB's in check and out of the end zone the rest of the day.

I think Stanford is too one dimensional and that is why they lost on the road at Wake Forest. If you contain Gephart, and Washington has that ability, you can force them into making mistakes. Turnovers were a problem even in a convincing win over SJSU. The Tree fumbled three times and were intercepted once. It won't bode well for Stanford if they are minus four in the turnover ratio against UW on Saturday night.

The Tree returns eight starters on a defense that is definitely on the upswing. Linebacker Clinton Snyder has all league potential and is the leader of the defense, but the strength should be up front. Defensive ends Tom Keiser and Erik Lorig are capable of wreaking havoc in the backfield and tackles Brian Bulcke and Ekom Udofia are both good looking upperclassmen. They held SJSU to only 24 rushing yards on 28 carries last week which is a big improvement over the 251 they gave up the previous week against Wake Forest. They sacked the Spartans 6 times for a total loss of 57 yards. Washington's offensive line has gone up against two top ten defense in the past three weeks. I don't think what Stanford is going to throw at them is going to be intimidating.

The Cards needed to improve their pass defense. This season they have given up 200 yards through the air to SJSU, 207 to Wake Forest, and 247 to WSU. Bo McNally is a capable centerfielder but he needs more help back there. The Cardinal yielded 18 touchdown passes and picked off just seven in 2008, despite getting plenty of help from a healthy pass rush.

The last time a healthy Jake Locker played Stanford was on the road in Palo Alto two years ago. Locker dominated the Cardinal on the ground and through the air. He arrives this time a more polished player with better and more experienced tools surrounding him. I don't think Stanford can stop the Washington passing attack. I also don't think they can contain him on the run when Washington decides to use him that way.

Washington is among the top in the Pac 10 in passing offense but they also have the ability to run the ball well. The tandem of Chris Polk and Johri Fogerson have been effective for three straight games. Theoretically they should have an easier time running the ball against Stanford than they did USC.

The key to the game for Washington is to adapt to playing on the road, avoid all the distractions following the USC upset, eliminate mistakes, and methodically pound the Cardinal into submission by wearing out their depth. Locker should have a big day against the Stanford DB's. Polk should be able to find all the holes he needs to keep the offense in balance.

Defensively the Huskies need to tackle well, aim low, and wrap up because Gephart is a real load to bring down once he gets a head of steam going. Andrew Luck is a better QB than Aaron Corp so the Washington defensive backfield will be tested more this weekend. If Washington controls the run and builds a lead the Tree will have to turn to the pass. Luck throws a very good ball and because of his mobility is hard to sack. UW needs a good game out of their secondary.

The Cards are well coached, motivated, and are playing at home. They have the ability to win this game if they outplay Washington. Even if it isn't a big crowd there is always a home field advatage. They have talent and are capable of making some big plays which can put the opposition on its heals. Chris Owusu returned the opening kickoff 94 yards for a TD against SJSU which put the Spartans into a hole they never recovered from. Washington needs to eliminate big plays like that.

Overall I like the Huskies chances in this game even though the oddsmakers opened with Stanford as a nine point favorite. Kickoff is currently scheduled for 6:00 PM and the game will be broadcast live on Fox College Sports.

OPPONENT PREVIEW: Stanford Cardinal

Dancing Football — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:43:30 -0000

More photos » by Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP

Stanford football success will be relying heavily on Luck this season. Andrew Luck that is. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

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Record: 5-7 (2008)

Head Coach: Jim Harbaugh (3rd season, 9-15)

Offense: 26.3 PPG, 5.4 YPP (2008)

Stanford's offense was a pretty average unit altogether last season. The running game was the clear focus as the Cardinal racked up 490 rushing attempts against just 287 passing attempts. This year looks to be more of the same as Stanford will be armed with a freshman quarterback and a stud running back.

The biggest news out of Stanford this summer was Harbaugh's decision to start redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Luck over incumbent Tavita Pritchard. Luck was rated the #4 quarterback in the country coming out of high school one year ago, so it is clear that the head coach is taking the chance Luck's talent will overcome his inexperience and he will be more effective overall than Pritchard. Most who have watched Tavita Pritchard play over the last two seasons would agree that is a good bet. Luck will have Stanford's two returning receivers to throw to, Ryan Whalen (a former walk-on) and Doug Baldwin.

While the quarterback situation is very interesting, Stanford looks to make its biggest gains on the ground. The offensive line returns four players with starting experience as they look to open up big holes for star running back Toby Gerhart. Gerhart surpassed the the Stanford single season rushing record last year and has set a lofty goal of 2,000 yards in 2009.

Defense: 27.4 PPGA, 5.6 YPPA (2008)

Not to be outdone by the averageness of the offense, the Stanford defense was also able to be middle of the pack last year. Stanford has an opportunity to be good on this side of the ball because their strength starts from the inside out.

The Cardinal defensive line may be the team's best overall unit. Senior defensive end Erik Lorig, a converted tight end, is regarded as the best of the bunch. The Cardinal staff seem to regard Erik as undersized, but at 6'4", 275, he appears to be just right for a Pac 10 defensive end. Lorig teams with 2008 freshman all-american Thomas Keiser to form a formidable defensive end combo.

The linebackers are led by senior Clinton Snyder. He is on a slew of preseason watch lists and is moving to the middle this year. In the defensive backfield, Lott Trophy candidate Bo McNally returns. He led the team in tackles and interceptions last year.

By far the most important player on either side of the ball is SAM linebacker Will Powers. Aside from the fact that he has the best possible surname in the entire world, he also started two games last season. What two games were they you ask? Cal and USC. It is clear that Harbaugh saves Powers for only the most important of situations. Will Powers is also among the smartest of the smarties down at Stanford, as he was named to the Pac 10 all academic team in 2008.

Special Teams:

Stanford was able to control field position as the punting unit led the Pac 10 with a 37.7 net punting average last season. David Green returns as Stanford's punter. It should also be known that SAM linebacker Will Powers plays on special teams, which is what undoubtedly led to the teams ability to cover punts so well a season ago.

Notre Dame transfer kicker Nate Whitaker is first on the depth chart after beating out Travis Golia and his younger brother, Eric Whitaker. Nate Whitaker missed his only field goal attempt while at Notre Dame and was 1 out 2 on extra point conversions. By using this very small sample size and projecting it out over the entire season, it can be determined that A) Stanford will not make a single field goal in 2009 and B) they will get just six points out of half their touchdowns. Head coach Harbaugh should be strongly advised to "go for it" as much as possible. (Except of course in situations where his fantastic punt team can do their work.)

Stanford in in trouble if:

The run game is limited. Harbaugh loves to pound that football. In the CougCenter podcast with Jon Wilner, who covers Stanford for the San Jose Mercury News, Wilner was quoted as saying Harbaugh wants to play "Michigan 1982 football." With the freshman quarterback Andrew Luck out there, it would seem that most teams are going to elect to put 8 or 9 guys in the box to stop Toby Gerhart. Stanford will be putting a lot of their potential bowl hopes this season on that run game, and if teams are able to stop it, they could be in trouble. The good news for them is that will be a very difficult thing to do.

Inside the Numbers : Stanfurd

TwistNHook — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:00:05 -0000

Well, here it goes again. The nervous feelings. The pit of the stomach. A Cal fan never feels confident against Stanford. Especially not one who came of age during the Holmoecaust. And ESPECIALLY not one who just watched the last two Cal games. This has been an up and down season for Cal. Rough losses. Big victories. It's almost over and we (hopefully) have a soft landing at the end. Although Stanford has clearly shown some vivacity this season. They managed to do two things we couldn't, beat OSU and Arizona.

And score more than 3 points against USC. Let's take a look at the nuts and bolts of this Stanford team to see who we will be facing off against tomorrow.

Here it goes again......

Finally, we've been posting a lot recently. Check it: YouTube Thurday, Roundtable, B-Ball Recap; Arizona analysis; Marshawn v. Browns; Top25; Bowl Scenarios; OSU Thoughts; Pete Newell Memories; Big Game Memories

All numbers are from here.

TEAM STATISTICS	STAN	OPP
SCORING	299	292
Points Per Game	27.2	26.5
FIRST DOWNS	202	238
Rushing	111	87
Passing	72	127
Penalty	19	24
RUSHING YARDAGE	2272	1548
Yards gained rushing	2577	1920
Yards lost rushing	305	372
Rushing Attempts	453	389
Average Per Rush	5.0	4.0
Average Per Game	206.5	140.7
TDs Rushing	25	18
PASSING YARDAGE	1514	2619
Att-Comp-Int	248-139-12	374-236-6
Average Per Pass	6.1	7.0
Average Per Catch	10.9	11.1
Average Per Game	137.6	238.1
TDs Passing	10	15
TOTAL OFFENSE	3786	4167
Total Plays	701	763
Average Per Play	5.4	5.5
Average Per Game	344.2	378.8
KICK RETURNS: #-Yards	52-1172	57-1198
PUNT RETURNS: #-Yards	21-222	13-71
INT RETURNS: #-Yards	6-102	12-119
KICK RETURN AVERAGE	22.5	21.0
PUNT RETURN AVERAGE	10.6	5.5
INT RETURN AVERAGE	17.0	9.9
FUMBLES-LOST	23-9	29-14
PENALTIES-Yards	76-689	80-684
Average Per Game	62.6	62.2
PUNTS-Yards	49-1980	47-1789
Average Per Punt	40.4	38.1
Net punt average	38.1	31.6
TIME OF POSSESSION/Game	29:35	30:25
3RD-DOWN Conversions	53/137	65/149
3rd-Down Pct	39%	44%
4TH-DOWN Conversions	7/12	6/10
4th-Down Pct	58%	60%
SACKS BY-Yards	33-237	17-118
MISC YARDS	-20	0
TOUCHDOWNS SCORED	37	35
FIELD GOALS-ATTEMPTS	13-15	15-19
ON-SIDE KICKS	0-0	0-0
RED-ZONE SCORES	37-39 95%	40-50 80%
RED-ZONE TOUCHDOWNS	30-39 77%	25-50 50%
PAT-ATTEMPTS	34-35 97%	33-33 100%
ATTENDANCE	171292	350631
Games/Avg Per Game	5/34258	6/58438
Neutral Site Games		0/0

Ok, let's look at some general stats first. We saw teams like OSU and USC just racking up the points and yards and first downs against their opponents. Stanford has barely outscored their opponents. They have fewer first downs. Fewer yards. The breakdown of offense is indicative of their style of offense. Tons more rushing yards than passing yards. 700 more. Clearly a run first team, the very kind of team that Cal plays well. They've actually even run fewer plays than their opponents.

Their 3rd down % is worse than their opponents. I feel that, looking at these numbers, we can handle this team if we play to our ability.

RUSHING	GP	Att	Gain	Loss	Net	Avg	TD	Long	Avg/G
Gerhart, Toby	11	191	1069	36	1033	5.4	14	46	93.9
Kimble, Anthony	11	112	716	28	688	6.1	6	83	62.5
Loukas, Alex	9	36	223	37	186	5.2	1	29	20.7
Pritchard, Tavita	11	58	268	140	128	2.2	1	40	11.6

Well, here it is. The crux of Stanford. The key to Stanford. Toby Gerhart. The Quizz of Stanford. The Jeremiah Johnson of Stanford. The every USC RB on that fucking team of Stanford. He has almost 200 attempts on the year. He's averaging 5.4 a carry, which I believe is more than Quizz. Almost 100 yards a game. He's the biggest part of their offense. If we can shut him down, we will be able to control this game, I believe. Said the same thing about Quizz, though, and we saw what happened there.

He's backed up by Anthony Kimble, who I know little about to be honest. His numbers look better than Gerhart, but in a more limited role. More yards per carry but about a hundred fewer carries. The main focus is Gerhart. If Kimble and Gerhart are both destroying us, then it could be a LOOONG day.

Toby Gerhart via grfx.cstv.com

PASSING	GP	Effic	Cmp-Att-Int	Pct	Yards	TD	Long	Avg/G
Pritchard, Tavita	11	113.4	125-217-10	57.6	1327	9	61	120.6
Loukas, Alex	9	115.6	9-18-1	50.0	125	1	41	13.9
Forcier, Jason	4	63.1	5-13-1	38.5	62	0	26	15.5
Total..........	11	111.0	139-248-12	56.0	1514	10	61	137.6
Opponents......	11	132.0	236-374-6	63.1	2619	15	55	238.1

Tavita Pritchard. Wasn't he the shmuckzoid that beat us last year? The name angers me to this day! Luckily, it appears he isn't very good. 120 yards a game. 57% completion rate. 113 QB efficiency. The passing game clearly not the strength of the team. That's why stopping Gerhart is so important. It's like the Oregon game. We were able to contain their run game and force them to pass. They couldn't. Masoli got 44 yards. If we can do the same here, we can control the game.

If we can force Pritchard to beat us, this game will most likely be ours. Similar to Masoli, also, he can scramble. He rushed for almost 50 yards against USC. But passingwise, he was 9-21 for about 100 yards.

Tavita Pritchard vtai grfx.cstv.com

RECEIVING	GP	No.	Yards	Avg	TD	Long	Avg/G
Whalen, Ryan	11	36	438	12.2	1	30	39.8
Baldwin, Doug	11	20	269	13.4	3	61	24.5
Gunder, Austin	11	15	123	8.2	1	18	11.2
Kimble, Anthony	11	12	88	7.3	1	15	8.0
Gerhart, Toby	11	11	100	9.1	0	21	9.1

As to be expected with the QB situation at Stanford, there are not great WR numbers. The leader, Whalen, averages less than 40 yards a game. Whalen leads the team with 36 receptions. I think there are like 4 WRs on Arizona with more than that. If these guys are beating us on Saturday, it means things have broken down. And bad.

Ryan Whalen via grfx.cstv.com

Ok, like GoDucks.com the Stanford website is freaking out. I've written the bottom portion out two times and it deletes it twice. Damn you, Stanford! You've rejected me yet again. So, I'll try to summarize my thoughts:

1. Arizona ran all over us, because we had to respect the pass so much. We were able to control Oregon, because we didn't need to respect their pass. On that spectrum, Stanford is far closer to Oregon. So, I think that this is the type of offense we can control. Gerhart will probably get his yards, similar to how JJ got his in Oregon. But hopefully, they will be empty yards. If Pritchard and Co. are passing all over us, it will be a LONG day. But I feel that given our defensive prowess, that will not happen. Hopefully!

2. On offense, I predict we see a LOT of running. Stanford just gave 300 yards each to USC and Oregon in their last 2 games. Now, of course, USC and Oregon are great running teams, no doubt about that. But we aren't exactly slouches. Apparently, Best is as healthy now as he has been in weeks. Plus, if our offensive line can play more like they did against Oregon than OSU and USC, I think we can give Riley the time he needs to make throws. On the road, they were abysmal. Hopefully, at home, it will be different.

Look, I get it. It's been a long season. An up and down season. Big wins. Crushing losses. And with our 2 crushing losses in a row there, you feel uncomfortable about the game. We all do. Plus, its Big Game. I was there in 2000 and 2001 when Stanford should have smacked us. But we held strong, losing at the way end (in OT in 2000). Throw the record books out in this one. But looking at the stats, looking at all the games, I feel reasonably confident that Cal can take this one. Our D is set up to stop a run-heavy offense as we face here. Our O is set up to run the ball a lot against weak run Ds as we face here. Let's get that axe back. Let's do this thing. Go Bears!