Finally, Stanford has turned things around, and things are once again exciting and looking up on the farm. As we’ve discussed in previous articles, the team will live-and-die by the run, which puts the onus upon the massive shoulders of the offensive line. The line-up of the Cardinal Tunnel Workers Union has suffered through many changes due to injuries, as well as growing pains, and through all that we can at last say that the run game has fully arrived. Cardinal fans get to witness the one-two punch of McCaffrey and Love we all envisioned at the beginning of the year, which may or may not have to do with playing less than impressive defenses, and possibly having "Big Island" Nate Herbig stepping into the spotlight.

As many suspected, Coach Shaw has made the QB switch to Keller Chryst, and while we didn’t really get to "see" him in the first two starts, we all experienced exactly what he brings to the position against the hapless Ducks. As the game progressed, we saw Chryst going through the reads and making the difficult throws Stanford seemed to be missing all year. Some may point to lackluster defenses in the previous two games, but I’d point to his game management, shifting from running the ball when he needed to produce a 1st down (vs. Oregon State) to passing (vs. Oregon).

Now, we really must address an elephant in the room, or in the locker room, or on the field, or the one Ryan Burns leans up against while on the sidelines:

The question is, did Coach Shaw "feed Ryan Burns to the wolves" by starting him against the better defenses and more difficult games to start the season, only to bring in Keller Chryst after the schedule lightened up significantly against teams with far inferior defenses. Even an elephant could nod its head yes to that one, but was it premeditated? Of course, Coach Shaw would never actually give this idea any kind of consideration or answer, but the evidence is impossible to ignore all the same. Perhaps he really was easing Chryst into the starting role, giving him a breezy initiation into the position, while weighing the experience needed for next season. It’s an idea worth mulling over, with no real answer expected.

Another talking point brought up in fan circles is the issue of offensive play-calling and coaches. It seems every single year we discuss the variances and creativity from game to game, but after the Washington State debacle, where even the radio announcers knew what plays were coming, the question among us was "is this the year Coach Shaw actually fires someone in the offensive brain trust and seeks out a new coach with fresh ideas?". Again, we find ourselves on the outside of the decision making here, and speculation is the best anyone can do, but it’s a question that has been brewing for some time. Has the offensive creativity gone stale, are they predictable, and do we need some original ingenuity for the O? It’s great when you can run plays that the defense expects and still gain positive yardage, and we’d be remiss if we fans didn’t say we’ve enjoyed more than a few games like that in the Shaw era, but we have been left to wonder if our offense can truly fool everyone lined up on the other side of the ball. Sure you can point to a handful of reverses, running back throws, or misdirection runs, but it seems like even the play action pass isn’t what it used to be this year. No one can argue when the system produces a win, but after a few stinging losses it seems the same question is asked, and is worth asking --- is more creativity needed in the offensive play calling?

It may have taken the offense 8 games to finally find their stride, and fortunately the defense has been coming up big all year long. While there seems to be a happy roster situation of 2-deep at every single position, there are a great many standouts in the group that are getting some quality game-time on the D. The linebackers, in particular, seem to be excelling as a group that rotates rather than starts players. The secondary is making key plays every game, and Justin Reid has really stepped up making tackles and huge plays all over the field. Solomon Thomas is clearly the best player on our defense, and quite possibly, the Pac-12. I’ve been racking my brain to come up with a better player on the D-line throughout the history of Stanford football, and it’s not easy.

Cal has had a strong season, and while their defense can’t really stop anybody, they sure score in bunches. They certainly may have the best Wide-Receiver group in the Pac-12 (although Washing may disagree), Davis Webb seems perfectly suited for Dyson’s Bear Raid passing attack. I definitely think the Cardinal will need well over 30 points, and some key plays from the Defense to put this one to bed.

It’s Big Game week, and even though we are expecting the Bay Area to split among Cardinal and Blue, it seems that we’re much more united than most years in protests across the Bay of the new President-Elect.

While I have far too many Big Game memories to share here, one would have to be in 1992 at the old Memorial Stadium, with its strangely rounded, terrible field-turf surface. The "kal" band had boxes and boxes of fruit ready to hurl and the Stanford band during their performance at halftime. The Cardinal may have had someone on the inside, as they took the field with the Lacrosse team poised and ready to catch and serve it right back at the Golden Bear band. Typical Big Game mayhem ensued.

Either way, it looks like a very strong finish for the Cardinal this season, just the way you want to go into the break before a Bowl game.