Stanford vs Colorado 2016: Cardinal stalls on offense in the first half

Christian McCaffrey and Alijah Holder returned to action this week against Colorado but in the first half penalties, stalled drives, quarterback switches, and a struggling offensive line continued to plague the Stanford offense in the first 30 minutes. Yet, Stanford only trailed 7-3

On Stanford’s second possession of the game the Cardinal offense was able to put together a 14-play, 66 yard drive that resulted in a field goal. The remaining Stanford possessions, however, were woeful.

At one point with just over 2 minutes left in the second quarter Shaw swapped quarterbacks on each of 8 straight plays. Holding, and delay of game penalties forced a 3rd and 27 when the Stanford quarterback was hit and the ball was knocked loose. The Cardinal was able to recover but it was 4th and 46. On two separate occasions during the sequence the crowd booed David Shaw for excessive QB switching that led to a stalled, borderline anemic offense.

On the plus side, the defensive front played a strong first half getting plenty of pressure and sacks on Colorado Sefo Liufau. The secondary is also playing well and keeping things mostly in front of them. Unfortunately the linebackers are not having a major impact on the game as the middle of the field is largely open for Colorado to take advantage.

Stanford’s defense is keeping this one close, but the offense has shown absolutely no ability to capitalize on the defense’s efforts. Stanford trails by 4 with 30 minutes to go.

Follow us on Social Media:

facebook: facebook.com/RuleOfTree/

twitter: twitter.com/RuleofTree

Join the team