This is from a couple of days ago, but it's worth posting in case you missed it. CBS college football writer Bruce Feldman was on the always excellent Solid Verbal podcast on Wednesday and was asked for his early take on the Nov. 12 showdown between Stanford and Oregon. Feldman said he's going with Stanford (at least for now) and then had this to say about Coby Fleener, Levine Toilolo, and Zach Ertz.
"I don't think Andrew Luck needed any more experience, but I do think that people have underrated how good the skill talent around him is. He has three tight ends who may be better than anybody else's top tight end at 99 percent of the schools in major college football."
Feldman also addressed the Stanford defense, which has allowed a measly 10.6 points per game.
"Their defense I think has been good, but as you point out, you look at the teams they've played...Realistically, Duke is probably the most talented offense they've seen so far. I know people will roll their eyes at that, but Sean Renfree's pretty good and they have pretty good receivers. But it's still Duke. It's not Oklahoma State, it's not a true high-powered, loaded on offense system, so I don't think they've been tested that much. And because they've worn people down and gotten people into a big hole, no one's really been able to run the ball on them because they haven't been able to do it for very long."
Come Saturday, Washington State will supplant Duke as the most talented offense that Stanford has seen thus far. Is the defense up for the challenge?
If you're interested, the discussion of Stanford and Oregon starts at the 25-minute mark.