[81alum]

There have been so many wonderful victories over the Spoiled Children.  2007 was so special for shock value and breaking out of the culture of losing, the wins each of the last two years were more thrilling, but this was more satisfying than any of those.  I would rank this one alongside the "Whats your deal" game, although this was perhaps even better because it had more ruinous consequences for SC's National Championship hopes and Draco's Voldemort hopes.  Most importantly, it elevated the post-luck Stanford in front of a national audience and in front of recruits.

The most pleasant surprise to me was that our secondary is turning out to be quite good.  The front seven seemed so much much better against SC than they did against SJSU.  It almost seems as if SJSU has a better offensive line than SC.  I think our team is coming together, learning, and improving.  Something that isn't often mentioned is the defensive scheming by Derek Mason.  I thought Vic Fangio was brilliant, but Mason has steadily proven himself and tonight was his masterpiece.

I still have concerns about quarterbacking, the offensive line, placekicking, and offensive playcalling, but they mostly improved in the second half.  I confess to having been being completely ready to send in Nottingham after the first half to give him a chance.  There is a reason I am not a coach.  I hope and expect that our coaches will teach these young players and that the offense will steadily improve this season, in which case this is going to be a really fun year to watch.
 

[81alum]

There have been so many wonderful victories over the Spoiled Children.  2007 was so special for shock value and breaking out of the culture of losing, the wins each of the last two years were more thrilling, but this was more satisfying than any of those.  I would rank this one alongside the "Whats your deal" game, although this was perhaps even better because it had more ruinous consequences for SC's National Championship hopes and Draco's Voldemort hopes.  Most importantly, it elevated the post-luck Stanford in front of a national audience and in front of recruits.

The most pleasant surprise to me was that our secondary is turning out to be quite good.  The front seven seemed so much much better against SC than they did against SJSU.  It almost seems as if SJSU has a better offensive line than SC.  I think our team is coming together, learning, and improving.  Something that isn't often mentioned is the defensive scheming by Derek Mason.  I thought Vic Fangio was brilliant, but Mason has steadily proven himself and tonight was his masterpiece.

I still have concerns about quarterbacking, the offensive line, placekicking, and offensive playcalling, but they mostly improved in the second half.  I confess to having been being completely ready to send in Nottingham after the first half to give him a chance.  There is a reason I am not a coach.  I hope and expect that our coaches will teach these young players and that the offense will steadily improve this season, in which case this is going to be a really fun year to watch.