University of Sauced Coaches - 20
Red Tree University - 17
[And I may be emotionally hedging.]
More than many here, I actually think Stanford can play S.-C. more or less even up. They have done so for several years now; in fact out gained S.-C. 5 of the last 6 years - with the exception being a few yards shy in the 2010 game we won on a last second FG. I don't really see that since last year we should have regressed that much versus these guys.
On the other hand, I don't think we are well equipped to win a close game. Those tend to go to the team that doesn't make mistakes under pressure. Stanford seems much more likely to have a holding penalty, illegal chop block, miss a shotgun snap, throw an INT - or with a young defense get a PI call or miss a gap assignment at a critical moment.
Perhaps a semi-secret ace in the hole is FG kicking. Heidari can't beat us on a late FG this year - he's gone. Their new guy, a senior, has one career FG as far as I can tell, a 24 yarder. For us, Ukropina has looked surprisingly good so far. A prayer we win it on a missed S.-C. FG.
Red Tree University - 17
[And I may be emotionally hedging.]
More than many here, I actually think Stanford can play S.-C. more or less even up. They have done so for several years now; in fact out gained S.-C. 5 of the last 6 years - with the exception being a few yards shy in the 2010 game we won on a last second FG. I don't really see that since last year we should have regressed that much versus these guys.
On the other hand, I don't think we are well equipped to win a close game. Those tend to go to the team that doesn't make mistakes under pressure. Stanford seems much more likely to have a holding penalty, illegal chop block, miss a shotgun snap, throw an INT - or with a young defense get a PI call or miss a gap assignment at a critical moment.
Perhaps a semi-secret ace in the hole is FG kicking. Heidari can't beat us on a late FG this year - he's gone. Their new guy, a senior, has one career FG as far as I can tell, a 24 yarder. For us, Ukropina has looked surprisingly good so far. A prayer we win it on a missed S.-C. FG.