[Goose]

The other part of the play count is what Papa said in commentary - our running game is either a homerun or 2 yards.  There's little consistent 4-6 YPP to be had - which again may be on the OL.  But it leads to many more three-and-outs and a lot more of the defense being on the field, either following a positive or a negative outcome.

Yes, and that is the problem. In the past, Stanford had long, slow, boring drives. But we got first downs. The last two (actually three) years, we couldn't (or didn't) do that. In 2015, we didn't need to do that. CMAC made lots of yards and in most games that was enough. Shaw couldn't really "turtle" because CMAC would pop one for 40 yards, but that was fine. The last two years, we have not had the OL play to control the ball. The fans, and probably the coaches to a large extent, have taken solace in the fact we sometimes get enough home runs to win. That isn't "Stanford Football" as we have known it. That isn't necessarily bad, but if we are going to an "all or nothing" offense on a regular basis, other things will have to change to match. We will, for example, need much more aggressive play calling in order to score enough to win.

[Goose]

The other part of the play count is what Papa said in commentary - our running game is either a homerun or 2 yards.  There's little consistent 4-6 YPP to be had - which again may be on the OL.  But it leads to many more three-and-outs and a lot more of the defense being on the field, either following a positive or a negative outcome.

Yes, and that is the problem. In the past, Stanford had long, slow, boring drives. But we got first downs. The last two (actually three) years, we couldn't (or didn't) do that. In 2015, we didn't need to do that. CMAC made lots of yards and in most games that was enough. Shaw couldn't really "turtle" because CMAC would pop one for 40 yards, but that was fine. The last two years, we have not had the OL play to control the ball. The fans, and probably the coaches to a large extent, have taken solace in the fact we sometimes get enough home runs to win. That isn't "Stanford Football" as we have known it. That isn't necessarily bad, but if we are going to an "all or nothing" offense on a regular basis, other things will have to change to match. We will, for example, need much more aggressive play calling in order to score enough to win.