[Goose]

most Pac-12 teams simply are unable to exploit that type of D-Line weakness because they don't have TEs, FBs, or run first offenses.  It is quite possible the team's D-Line weakness will remain safe because of opponent schemes.

I agree. I think there is no question that we benefited from this last year, where only UW could really run at us. We didn't play Utah. We had Thomas, which was a big plus, but he isn't a nose tackle, really. His strengths are quickness and athleticism, not the ability to absorb blockers.

 
Might also be possible that only a highly motivated great team on a very good day with the ability to implement a run-first scheme can move the ball on the Stanford D.

Or it might be somewhere in between. There may be a few teams that have a "good enough" inside running game to cause us trouble. Strangely, WSU may be in that class. They may be able to hurt us with inside runs while we play pass defense. Normally, that isn't an issue. WSU doesn't run enough to hurt anybody much, but if we show that we are weak up the middle, Leach will give it a try. It won't be run first, but it could be "break big runs for scores". SDSU might have enough, so this game is a good data point.

[Goose]

most Pac-12 teams simply are unable to exploit that type of D-Line weakness because they don't have TEs, FBs, or run first offenses.  It is quite possible the team's D-Line weakness will remain safe because of opponent schemes.

I agree. I think there is no question that we benefited from this last year, where only UW could really run at us. We didn't play Utah. We had Thomas, which was a big plus, but he isn't a nose tackle, really. His strengths are quickness and athleticism, not the ability to absorb blockers.

 
Might also be possible that only a highly motivated great team on a very good day with the ability to implement a run-first scheme can move the ball on the Stanford D.

Or it might be somewhere in between. There may be a few teams that have a "good enough" inside running game to cause us trouble. Strangely, WSU may be in that class. They may be able to hurt us with inside runs while we play pass defense. Normally, that isn't an issue. WSU doesn't run enough to hurt anybody much, but if we show that we are weak up the middle, Leach will give it a try. It won't be run first, but it could be "break big runs for scores". SDSU might have enough, so this game is a good data point.