Interesting reading. After watching Saturday;s Open Scrimmage I believe that we will beat at least two teams ranked above us in the Pre-Season AP Poll, but the question in my mind is can we beat all of the currently non-ranked squads. The one thing that concerns me the most about the Northwestern game is the 9:00 AM Pacific Time Zone start. That. along with strange penalties, in my opinion, doomed us in Wake Forest in Luck's first season. Hope we get neutral conference officials.
Stanford @ Northwestern
- Thread starter Cardinal_2001
- Start date
Talent is a lot different than experience my friend. I know you're panicking because Stanford is in a downward spiral. You are very naive if you dont think your defense will take a HUGE step back, and as well as your offense finished the season, they won't make up the gap that got you to your 7-5 record last season. If you think they will, then you don't have nearly as much respect for your defense last year as you should.
I think my prediction that Stanford will get 6 wins is extremely fair.
UCLA had a lot of stars on their defense, but their numbers indicate that they weren't all that good. As good as Cal's offense was, we struggled against good defensive lines. UCLA, Washington, and Stanford all got the better of us. Our best tackle was playing with two hurt shoulders by the end of the year and our best guard was forced to play the other tackle position. The fact we scored as much as we did was a miracle, as Goff had no time to throw.
PS I will never forgive Skov's absolute cheap shot on Goff as a true freshman. Once of the dirtiest hits I've ever seen. The fact he was able to play on the rose bowl vs mich st was disgusting and a true showing of the higher ups of the pac12. Whether it is this, or their ridiculous one sided officiating for Oregon and Stanford.
Btw, reading through your defense post, it sounds like you don't even think they will be very good. Not only is experience an issue, but also depth. Could be a long year for the cardinal.
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Agree on the talent/experience gap. That was presented in great detail within this post; you may have read this thread "cover to cover" but you certainly haven't read it line by line. Every team in the Pac12 is dealing with attrition, but you are viewing our prognosticated drop in defensive performance based on the fallacious assumption that we have lost 2-deep across the board. I expect our defense to give up 5 more points on average, but I expect our offense to score 10 more points on average as well. Between you who might be a casual observer of your superior across the bay and myself who follows the development of the Stanford team very closely, I will trust my extremely well-informed opinion.
I was unaware that a downward spiral is marked by a 7-5 season where 3 losses were by 3 points. If this season proves to be 6 wins or less, then the statement has merit but until that point, it is merely slung mud. Every perennial powerhouse school has a dip in total wins for a given year, but they tend to not drop off completely unless something significant impacts the team such as a coaching change or NCAA sanction. I am not saying Stanford is equivalent to an Ohio State or Bama or Auburn, but the stability of our coaching staff and our recruiting suggests they will remain a fixture in the top25 rankings for several years to come.
PS If it was a late hit, there should have been a flag. Your anger is misplaced. I love the Skovs, both Shayne and Patrick (who will be an absolute beast at Georgia Tech for his graduate year), for what they contributed to Stanford football while having to endure the passing of their beloved mother.
I was unaware that a downward spiral is marked by a 7-5 season where 3 losses were by 3 points. If this season proves to be 6 wins or less, then the statement has merit but until that point, it is merely slung mud. Every perennial powerhouse school has a dip in total wins for a given year, but they tend to not drop off completely unless something significant impacts the team such as a coaching change or NCAA sanction. I am not saying Stanford is equivalent to an Ohio State or Bama or Auburn, but the stability of our coaching staff and our recruiting suggests they will remain a fixture in the top25 rankings for several years to come.
PS If it was a late hit, there should have been a flag. Your anger is misplaced. I love the Skovs, both Shayne and Patrick (who will be an absolute beast at Georgia Tech for his graduate year), for what they contributed to Stanford football while having to endure the passing of their beloved mother.
The one thing I was really looking forward to this season was not playing Cal and not having some of their obnoxious fans back on our board. Oh well.....
Typical Cardinal fan. Won't show his face again and offer congratulations.
Cal fans trolling Stanford fans on an NU message board, gotta love it! Or not...
There is certainly something to be said about losing all that experience on D (easier for talented, but inexperienced players to do well on O, at least at certain skill positions).
Sparty's D is not the same it was the past couple of seasons after losing their stud corners. The new guys are supposedly athletically gifted, but it'll take them a while to get up to speed.
It'll be easier for the 'Cats to replace - CJ, Cam, Shuler and Vitale then if they had to replace their entire secondary (luckily, Harris and GI return next season and others in the 2-deep have gotten some reps).
Sparty's D is not the same it was the past couple of seasons after losing their stud corners. The new guys are supposedly athletically gifted, but it'll take them a while to get up to speed.
It'll be easier for the 'Cats to replace - CJ, Cam, Shuler and Vitale then if they had to replace their entire secondary (luckily, Harris and GI return next season and others in the 2-deep have gotten some reps).
We're just happy with the win. We don't need to rub it in.
Impressive win by Cal, though not a great opponent. With Stanford and Washington apparently down this season, I think Cal can finish second in the division. The offense should be fun to watch.
