04-20-2021, 02:43 PM
Don't know why one would exclude 2020. The game results are official, even though Stanford got screwed by a faulty Covid test.
But if we are going to exclude 2020, then I suggest that we exclude 2019, since Stanford played just short of one half of football with its seasoned, starting QB.
Look, we can all agree that the last five years haven't been nearly as good as the previous five. But in those five "crappy" years, we went:
10-3 (6-3)--3rd place, Pac-12 North, Sun Bowl winner
9-5 (7-2)--Pac-12 North champion, Alamo Bowl loser
9-4 (6-3)--3rd place, Pac-12 North, Sun Bowl winner
4-8 (3-6)--last place, Pac-12 North
4-2 (4-2)--3rd place, Pac-12 North
If future results look more like 2019 than the other four years listed above, then sure we should talk about whether or not Shaw should stay or go. Samual McF seems certain this will be the case, but why don't we give Shaw and Company the benefit of the doubt before we convict him? I mean the guy has coached Stanford to winning records in conference four of the last five years (not to mention nine of the last ten)!
Pre-Harbaugh, the last time Stanford had four out of five overall winning seasons was 1974-1978, spanning Christiansen and Walsh I. Between now and then:
Teevens, Harris: 0 winning seasons out of 5
Willingham: 4 out of 7
Walsh II: 1 out of 3
Green: 1 out of 3
Elway: 1 out of 5
Wiggin: 1 out of 4
Dowhower: 0 out of 1 (5-5-1, so close but no cigar)
So that's 8 winning seasons out of 27 between Walsh I and Harbaugh's arrival.
But if we are going to exclude 2020, then I suggest that we exclude 2019, since Stanford played just short of one half of football with its seasoned, starting QB.
Look, we can all agree that the last five years haven't been nearly as good as the previous five. But in those five "crappy" years, we went:
10-3 (6-3)--3rd place, Pac-12 North, Sun Bowl winner
9-5 (7-2)--Pac-12 North champion, Alamo Bowl loser
9-4 (6-3)--3rd place, Pac-12 North, Sun Bowl winner
4-8 (3-6)--last place, Pac-12 North
4-2 (4-2)--3rd place, Pac-12 North
If future results look more like 2019 than the other four years listed above, then sure we should talk about whether or not Shaw should stay or go. Samual McF seems certain this will be the case, but why don't we give Shaw and Company the benefit of the doubt before we convict him? I mean the guy has coached Stanford to winning records in conference four of the last five years (not to mention nine of the last ten)!
Pre-Harbaugh, the last time Stanford had four out of five overall winning seasons was 1974-1978, spanning Christiansen and Walsh I. Between now and then:
Teevens, Harris: 0 winning seasons out of 5
Willingham: 4 out of 7
Walsh II: 1 out of 3
Green: 1 out of 3
Elway: 1 out of 5
Wiggin: 1 out of 4
Dowhower: 0 out of 1 (5-5-1, so close but no cigar)
So that's 8 winning seasons out of 27 between Walsh I and Harbaugh's arrival.
If there's one thing people have learned in Berkeley, it's that you can't put "Cal football" and "Rose Bowl" in the same sentence. The words just don't fit. You'd be better off linking "covered wagons" with "Mars travel." (Bruce Jenkins, Cal '70, SF Chronicle, Nov. 11, 2017)