[winflop]

This will sound like I'm apologizing for Pollack, but I didn't have a real problem with anything he said last night. Here's the thing. This team is clearly among the best in the country, so people will naturally be more critical of it, and not just for the sake of criticism. If Stanford were 3-3, I don't think he would've wasted his time looking for weaknesses, because they'd be apparent. But because this team is potentially a final four team, all of his questions and criticisms seemed legitimate. Analysts can't just say, "Wow, this team really dominated UCLA." They have to speculate about how the Stanford defense would do against an elite offense, and it's accurate to say that we don't yet know the answer to that. They have to speculate about how Hogan would do if an elite defense were able to shut down the run, and sadly, we've seen what happened against Northwestern. But there was lots of discussion about Stanford being the top team in the Pac-12 (it was Pollack who said, "Look, I know Utah is undefeated, but this is the team to beat in this conference"), a genuine enthusiasm about a potential matchup with Alabama, and absolute gushing over McCaffrey. What we know now is that Stanford is a great team. We don't yet know how great, and it's the job of any analyst to ask that question.

Sorry Hank I call BS.

If Coker had thrown that ball Pollack would have been talking about it as one of the great catches in CFB history.  Instead it's an underthrown pass that was lucky to have been completed.

I think UCLA is at worst a very good offense.  They have a ton of weapons, and our first-string D is not only better than advertised it is getting progressively better each week especially in the secondary.

Finally, the reality is that the only defense Stanford will face the rest of this season that could even be called good is UW.  UDFG is above average but not by much.  Pollack can speculate all he wants about how this offense will do against an elite defense.  Reality is they won't face one until CCG or CFB playoff if they get to either one.

[winflop]

This will sound like I'm apologizing for Pollack, but I didn't have a real problem with anything he said last night. Here's the thing. This team is clearly among the best in the country, so people will naturally be more critical of it, and not just for the sake of criticism. If Stanford were 3-3, I don't think he would've wasted his time looking for weaknesses, because they'd be apparent. But because this team is potentially a final four team, all of his questions and criticisms seemed legitimate. Analysts can't just say, "Wow, this team really dominated UCLA." They have to speculate about how the Stanford defense would do against an elite offense, and it's accurate to say that we don't yet know the answer to that. They have to speculate about how Hogan would do if an elite defense were able to shut down the run, and sadly, we've seen what happened against Northwestern. But there was lots of discussion about Stanford being the top team in the Pac-12 (it was Pollack who said, "Look, I know Utah is undefeated, but this is the team to beat in this conference"), a genuine enthusiasm about a potential matchup with Alabama, and absolute gushing over McCaffrey. What we know now is that Stanford is a great team. We don't yet know how great, and it's the job of any analyst to ask that question.

Sorry Hank I call BS.

If Coker had thrown that ball Pollack would have been talking about it as one of the great catches in CFB history.  Instead it's an underthrown pass that was lucky to have been completed.

I think UCLA is at worst a very good offense.  They have a ton of weapons, and our first-string D is not only better than advertised it is getting progressively better each week especially in the secondary.

Finally, the reality is that the only defense Stanford will face the rest of this season that could even be called good is UW.  UDFG is above average but not by much.  Pollack can speculate all he wants about how this offense will do against an elite defense.  Reality is they won't face one until CCG or CFB playoff if they get to either one.