Stanford-Oregon State: Chris Owusu, College GameDay, and Other Links

by Scott Allen on Nov 6, 2025 8:52 AM PDT

There were a couple of interesting nuggets in Kevin Gemmell's post about the players' reaction to Chris Owusu's scary injury yesterday. Some fans were apparently yelling inappropriate things, which would explain why Ben Gardner and a couple of other players on the Stanford sideline looked ticked off. Jordan Poyer, the OSU defensive back who made the hit on Owusu, went over to David Shaw while he was checking on his receiver and apologized, to which Shaw responded, "Hey, don't worry about it, just play."

Here's what Shaw had to say about Owusu, who suffered his third concussion in 13 months, after the game:

"Personally, I was fighting back tears, just to see Chris lying on the ground again. The good thing is, he was conscious, he was fine but they had already made the decision to put him on the stretcher. He is already back in the locker room. He’s fine and excited to be back. We’ll talk about whether or not he is going to play anytime soon at a later date. There are a lot of checks that he has to pass in order to get back on the field. We are going to make sure that he passes all those before he plays. We will be overly cautious with Chris Owusu."

The doctors may very well clear Owusu to return to action, perhaps as early as next week against Oregon, but how many more hits does he have to take before he decides that enough is enough? Hank writes an emotional and well thought out open letter to Owusu, urging him not to return to the football field. It's definitely worth a read.

In less depressing news, start thinking of clever sign ideas because ESPN College GameDay is coming to our city.

Here are a few more links from Saturday's win:

Andrew Luck overcame a sloppy first half and hooked up regularly with Griff Whalen. | The Daily Axe

Stanford has yet to hit on all cylinders. Next week would be a good time to do so. | Stanford Football Blog

Jarek Lancaster led a strong defensive effort with a team-high seven tackles and half a sack. | SF Chronicle

Stanford extended its winning streak, setting up an epic showdown with Oregon, or, as David Shaw referred to it, a "big game in the Pac-12 North." | Mercury News

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Read More: Chris Owusu (WR - Stanford), Jordan Poyer (CB - Oregon St.), Ben Gardner (DE - Stanford), Stanford Cardinal

Comments

Owusu

Look at the hit on him by Poyer yesterday. That hit was destined to hit Owusu in the shoulders until Owusu dipped his head. It shouldn’t have been a penalty.

Owusu gets hurt over and over again on these kind of hits, and its largely of his own doing with the head dip. For his own safety, somebody needs to teach him not to do that. And the officials need to stop calling it a defensive penalty when he’s causing the head-to-head contact.

--Dave

Addicted to Quack, your friendly, neighborhood Oregon Ducks blog

by David Piper on Nov 6, 2025 9:03 AM PST reply actions

Then the rule needs to be changed...

… because according to the rule, it is a penalty (and, really, it should’ve been one back last year during that game turning play at Autzen)

However, given the serious nature of head injuries I’m inclined to say the rule is just fine the way it is. It is possible to be an excellent tackler without hitting a player in the head, the onus is on the coaching staffs to teach the proper technique.

by RickeySteals on Nov 6, 2025 9:43 AM PST up reply actions

Look at the play again

the tackle wasn’t going anywhere near Owusu’s head, until at the last minute, Owusu dipped his head

Owusu takes these hits game after game and gets concussion after concussion. This isn’t happening to other players with this kind of frequency. For Owusu’s own safety, his coaching staff needs to teach him how not to dip his head when he’s about to get hit. Because if he keeps doing this, one of these days he’s not going to get up.

--Dave

Addicted to Quack, your friendly, neighborhood Oregon Ducks blog

by David Piper on Nov 6, 2025 10:53 AM PST up reply actions

I'm prepping a longer post on this...

but still … yes, I think Owusu’s style of play is a factor, however I don’t think it is the only one. And in terms of the penalty it doesn’t matter - he got hit in the head. That’s a penalty. That’s the rule. You may disagree with the rule, but as I said before I think it is a reasonable one, considering the kind of damage that can occur when someone gets their bell rung.

by RickeySteals on Nov 6, 2025 11:03 AM PST up reply actions

It doesn't matter who lowered their head

The current tackling by players is now medically considered unsafe. Even if the ball carrier lowers their shoulders in order to gain more upper body momentum, the NFL and NCAA have both decided that it is necessary for the tackler to tackle low.

The current method of tackling around the upper torso puts the ball carrier and defender at equal head height, so it makes the tackle even more dangerous. According to the Carter Blackburn yesterday, the NCAA rule book reads:

No player shall target and initiate contact with the head or neck area of an opponent with the helmet, forearm, elbow, or shoulder. When in question, it is a foul.

So the onus is never on the ball carrier to keep their head up, but on the defender to tackle below the neck even if they lead with the shoulder.

by RedOscar on Nov 6, 2025 9:58 AM PST up reply actions

That's the point.

There was no targeting, it was a bad call. The “target” was the chest, in classic “form tackle” style.

Ducks GOOOOD. Fuskies BAAAAAD.

by BigGreenWreckingMachine on Nov 6, 2025 2:18 PM PST up reply actions

But contact still occured with the helmet

Because of the way the rule is written, Poyer was bound to be flagged because there was a question of whether or not it was even targeting. If no flag had been thrown, then the refs felt that the contact was incidental.

But because it was questionable, the flag for targeting had to be thrown. Riley could have technically challenged it, but that would have opened up a whole new can of worms PR-wise.

However, the NCAA requires that conferences review targeting calls against players who are not ejected from the game. This wasn’t a case like the Arkansas/Vandy game last week where the hit was deliberate. Instead, the refs here saw that perhaps the contact was incidental, so they didn’t eject him and let the Pac-12 decide what, if any, further action should be taken.

by RedOscar on Nov 6, 2025 4:13 PM PST via mobile up reply actions

Classic form tackling involves wrapping up

No effort was made to do so on this play

Poyer employed the “big hit” style of tackling

by jjackson26 on Nov 6, 2025 6:15 PM PST up reply actions

Seriously, David?

Poyer was going to hit helmet to helmet whether or not Owusu slightly lowered his head. The onus is on the defensive player to make clean hits not aimed at the head or neck. You’re just as bad as the announcers who defended helmet to helmet hits, the coaches arguing the play, and the fans booing the correct call. This whole sequence makes me sick to my stomach for Chris, especially knowing that was likely a career ending hit. I don’t care how much at fault you think Owusu has been for all of these hits, the fact is that his career is likely over. I highly doubt Owusu moving his head down by half an inch was the cause of all of these hits and concussions. No idea if this Poyer hit was intentional, but there’s no question that OSU has some dirty players (see, e.g.: RB flattening the sideline ref and the late hit on Luck that drew a penalty). But I do appreciate Poyer’s apologies to Shaw and Owusu after the play.

by CardiGrl on Nov 6, 2025 11:11 AM PST reply actions 1 recs

Totally agree with everything you've said here...

by RickeySteals on Nov 6, 2025 11:26 AM PST up reply actions

This is objectively false.

I’m sorry, but there is no way Poyer was headhunting. The replays make this quite obvious. In every one of the head hits Owusu has taken (and just about every time he takes a hit in general), he lowers his head right as the defender arrives. Unless you advocate no tackling at all above the waist, this is going to happen. Most players will present shoulder or the side of their bodies to the defender in these situations; Owusu has a tendency to lower his head.

Ducks GOOOOD. Fuskies BAAAAAD.

by BigGreenWreckingMachine on Nov 6, 2025 2:23 PM PST up reply actions

I did not say Poyer was headhunting

I said that Poyer made a helmet to helmet hit regardless of Owusu lowering his head. I guess we didn’t watch the same game, because Poyer was coming at Owusu straight up and was going to hit Owusu’s helmet no. matter. what. Was Poyer headhunting? I have no idea if it was on purpose. Sometimes you can’t control how high you come at someone or when you make contact. I’m not sure Poyer was on a mission to hit helmet, but I am sure that he was on a mission, per his coaches’ game plan, to lay a hard hit on Owusu, who clearly has a weakness for dropping balls after taking hard hits. Did Poyer intend to cause a concussion? I’m not sure.

by CardiGrl on Nov 6, 2025 8:45 PM PST up reply actions

half an inch?

I know you are going to be biased toward your player, but half an inch is ridiculous. Please look at the video again. Poyer is going low, and at the last second Owusu practically bends over and his head is even with his waist. Poyer was going low but hit the head because of Poyer’s movement.

I understand why they call this a penalty, even though its a bunch of crap. But Owusu keeps taking these hits, and its a direct result of this head dipping. This is all on video, where are the coaches trying to get the kid to change?

--Dave

Addicted to Quack, your friendly, neighborhood Oregon Ducks blog

by David Piper on Nov 6, 2025 4:39 PM PST up reply actions

Yes, Owusu clearly dipped his head much more than half an inch.

I disagree that Poyer was aiming low. I’ve watched the video several times.

Wazzu’s Casey Locker certainly wasn’t aiming low.

Owusu’s head dipping may be a contributing factor, but it’s only part of the problem. If defenders actually attempted to wrap up receivers instead of “blowing them up” in an attempt to dislodge the ball, there’d be a lot fewer of these types of incidents. Of course, those are the hits that are most celebrated and wind up on highlight reels, whether or not they draw a flag.

by Scott Allen on Nov 6, 2025 5:03 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs

Amen...

I think this is the key point here:

If defenders actually attempted to wrap up receivers instead of "blowing them up" in an attempt to dislodge the ball, there’d be a lot fewer of these types of incidents.

Up until the last few weeks there was little incentive to avoid this type of play - if you caught the guy’s head, it didn’t seem to matter… (at least not when a Stanford player was the guy with the ball). Now that it is being called, we’ll see if it actually affects the way teams play…

by RickeySteals on Nov 6, 2025 5:39 PM PST up reply actions 1 recs

Ok, fine, 2 inches?

I have looked at the video several times, and actually looked at it again before my first comment. My point was simply that Owusu did not lower his head enough to have caused the helmet-to-helmet hit. Poyer was standing straight up when he made the hit, and was going to hit Owusu’s helmet regardless of Owusu lowering his head. Plain and simple.

As for it being a penalty, it absolutely should be. Helmet to helmet hits are not and should not be allowed in football at any level, and this type of penalty is the NCAA’s attempt to minimize these types of hits. Now, whether they have been enforcing these hits is another question, but the purpose for the penalty is perfectly valid and necessary.

by CardiGrl on Nov 6, 2025 8:42 PM PST up reply actions

Just read the "Open letter to Chris Owusu"

“Suddenly you weren’t a wide receiver anymore, you were a twenty-one-year-old young man in the prime of his life.”
Owusu should have been forced into a leave of absence before yesterday. I hope that heart-stopping moment in the Corvallis rain removed all doubt. I’ve been a faithful Duck fan since I was a kid in ‘78 - but I’d rather see Oregon forfeit than let Boyett unload on this poor kid.

by Coach Brooks on Nov 6, 2025 1:06 PM PST reply actions

College Gameday/Owusu Hit

Where will the College Gameday set be on Saturday morning?
About the Owusu hit, the announcers were saying the defender didn’t have another choice. They are obviously wrong. He could’ve lowered himself at the last second.

by Evan Esc on Nov 6, 2025 3:27 PM PST reply actions

Or gone for the wrap up tackle instead of the big hit...

by RickeySteals on Nov 6, 2025 3:53 PM PST up reply actions

Last second?

“Last second” must refer to slow-motion replays, because the defender doesn’t have the luxury of a second to do what you suggest. A small fraction of a second, at best. Poyer was setting up for a classic form-tackle, which means aiming for center-mass (the chest) of the opposing player. That Owusu ended up ducking “at the last second” and got hit in the head was unfortunate yet incidental, not “targeting.”

Ducks GOOOOD. Fuskies BAAAAAD.

by BigGreenWreckingMachine on Nov 6, 2025 3:59 PM PST up reply actions

Where will the College Gameday set be on Saturday morning?

I haven’t gotten a mass email from Stanford Athletics or Buck/Cardinal, so who knows. If they follow the same schedule that they do at other schools, they’ll set up on Wednesday or Thursday. I’d keep an eye on the Daily, as they would probably have the first idea where it would be.

I’m kinda wondering where they would go, though. There aren’t a lot of open spaces on campus that I can think of that are available on Saturdays (other than Wilbur and Roble Fields), and from what I remember about the Iraq war and Bush visit protests, events on the Quad are basically limited to Special Formal Dinners and Convocation/Commencement. And I’m pretty sure no one wants to see a White Plaza GameDay set.

by RedOscar on Nov 6, 2025 9:32 PM PST up reply actions

Yeah...

after a recent visit to campus, I was struck by the fact that most of the open spaces that I remembered from my time there now seem to have buildings on them…

by RickeySteals on Nov 6, 2025 11:14 PM PST up reply actions

gameday will be at the Oval

http://www.gostanford.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/110611aaa.html

long live the jd.

by jksnake99 on Nov 6, 2025 11:33 PM PST up reply actions

I’m not sure if Chris Owusu should play. Once a player sustains certain types of injuries then they may be a liability to the team and themselves. If the player hurts himself and cannot play, and the team cannot fill the spot, the team may be unable to keep playing.

Halloween

by Ana Torres on Nov 6, 2025 6:16 PM PST reply actions

Did Owusu recently start playing football?

It seems like he never really learned to protect himself with his shoulder pads or how to get hit, which might be caused by starting late in high school or something like that.

As David said above, Owusu has the tendency to put his chin to his chest when he anticipates contact, which puts the crown of his helmet directly into the contact zone, especially if his dips down a bit. This is the biggest reason for why Owusu is taking these hits. He needs to learn to keep his chin up when contact is coming and to either take the hit on his shoulder pads or to juke a bit so that it’s only a grazing hit instead of straight on (watch clips of Marvin Harrison to see how to do this).

by KitIsh on Nov 6, 2025 9:09 PM PST reply actions

Good points.

by CardiGrl on Nov 6, 2025 9:12 PM PST up reply actions

To further clarify

The most dangerous place to get hit is the top (or crown) of your helmet. Taking a shot on your facemask very rarely results in anything bad happening.

by KitIsh on Nov 6, 2025 9:14 PM PST up reply actions