Stanford narrowly escaped Corvallis with a 15-14 win, thanks to a touchdown catch by JJ Arcega-Whiteside with only 20 seconds remaining in regulation time. But if Stanford wants to prove to Heisman voters just how valuable Bryce Love really is, perhaps the greatest evidence is just how messy this game was without Love.
With Love, Stanford was the 4th-best offense in the nation at 7.5 yards/play. Take away Love, and Stanford could only muster up 3.7 yards/play... against one of the worst defenses in the Pac-12.
With Love, Stanford had seven consecutive games with runs of at least 52 yards. Take away Love, and Stanford’s longest run of the night was only 12 yards.
Love rushed 10.3 yards/carry (put the ball in his hands, and he averaged more than a first down!). Without Love, Cameron Scarlett and Trevor Speights could combine for only 3.7 yards/carry.
Put it together, and you have the recipe for Stanford’s worst win of the season.
First Half
Early in the game, Oregon State gifted Stanford on a punt that only went 6 yards before going out of bounds. As a result, Stanford started at the Oregon State 28. Unfortunately, Stanford could only move the ball 11 yards before facing 4th down.
Jet Toner came out for only a 34-yard field goal, and... missed! This was the second time this season that Toner missed a field goal (both times inside the 34).
On the very next drive, Stanford put together a 7:18, 62-yarder that gave Toner a second chance at a field goal, this time from the 40. Toner hit the field goal, and even though he’s missed twice inside the 34, Toner is a perfect 3-for-3 on field goals of 40+ yards. Stanford takes the lead 3-0.
Oregon State quickly answered, though, on the next drive. QB Ryan Nall put in a massive effort that brought the ball into the red zone, as he made seven rushes all by himself for 47 yards that ended with the ball on the 4-yard line. From there, Darell Garretson took it in for the touchdown and the lead, 7-3.
With Oregon State possessing the ball with 51 seconds remaining in the half, it looked like Stanford would enter halftime down by four or more points. But then Oregon State once again gifted Stanford with a short field, as Garretson fumbled the ball and let Stanford take over on the Oregon State 16.
Despite the very favorable field position, Stanford once again could not convert in the red zone. Three plays later, Stanford failed to move any closer than where it started on the Oregon State 16. Toner was once again called in and hit the field goal, as Oregon State entered halftime with a lead 7-6. This was the first time since 2009 that Oregon State led over Stanford at the half.
Second Half
If things were ugly in the first half, they got even uglier in the second. On the opening drive, Stanford successfully held Oregon State to 4th down on the Oregon State 34. But an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Ben Edwards gifted Oregon State a fresh set of downs from midfield. Stanford even followed up with a sack on Nall, pushing Oregon State back to the 44.
But then it all hit the fan; Alijah Holder exited the game with what looked like a potentially season-ending knee injury. To make matters worse, Joey Alfieri was called for multiple penalties: roughing the passer and targeting. Alfieri was ejected from the game and will have to sit out the first half of the game against Washington State. Since the ball was also caught, the penalty was added to the catch, and suddenly Oregon State had moved from the Oregon State 44 all the way to Stanford 18. One play later, Thomas Tyner took it into the end zone as Oregon State extended its lead, 14-6.
The next drive, it looked like Stanford might start something, as the offense was able to get it down to the Oregon State 37. The drive ended prematurely, though, on a Keller Chryst interception by Omar Hicks-Onu.
On Stanford’s next drive, it looked again like something might come together, but for the fourth time of the game, Stanford sputtered in the red zone and turned to Toner who hit another field goal from 40 yards out; Toner is now a perfect 4-for-4 on attempts of 40+ yards. Oregon State leads 14-9.
That score held until 2:30 when Stanford made one final push to win the game. With Oregon State only needing one or so first downs to run out the clock, Harrison Phillips got into the backfield and forced a fumble on Nall. Phillips fell on top of the ball, and Stanford got to start at the Oregon State 40.
On the heels of a 25-yard pass to Kaden Smith, Stanford once again got into the red zone at the Oregon State 15. For the first time all game, Stanford finally converted in the red zone for a touchdown as JJ Arcega-Whiteside caught a pass from Chryst on the end zone fade. Stanford failed to make the 2-point conversion, but took the lead, 15-14.
Oregon State attempted a Hail Mary on the final play, but it was intercepted by Brandon Simmons. Stanford narrowly escaped Corvallis with a 15-14 win.
Despite the win, there are still questions about how this Stanford team might perform without Bryce Love. It’s also unclear how the Washington State game will unfold without Alijah Holder or Joey Alfieri starting.
Comments
Uh.... Time for KJ to start.
This kind of QB performance won’t cut it against the Washington schools or ND.
Hopefuuly Shaw has what he needs to make the switch.
By StanfordAA99 on 10.26.17 9:37pm
The fact that KJ didn’t even play in this game is midboggling by itself. I’m not sure how much more a HC would need to make the switch. This was just soooo painful to watch.
By SD Card on 10.26.17 9:40pm
Maybe Shaw doesn’t want to give the Wash schools any film that they can study pre-game… Other than that, I can’t figure out why he keeps KC in there.
By StanfordAA99 on 10.26.17 9:42pm
Geep Chryst is his landlord?
By Cardinal&Orange on 10.26.17 10:06pm
Chryst and Shaw have some unwritten agreement...
to let Chryst finish out the year and in return he won’t come back next year to stand in the way of Costello/Mills?
By ColtsButter on 10.27.17 8:23am
Let's stir up a controversy: David shaw is trying to get Cory Hall hired!!
Cory gave david a call and hatched the plan to give them a last minute TD if they let them play like that all game. Otherwise beavers just randomly fumbling, chryst continuing to throw, throwing from half an inch line, etc etc
By layman on 10.26.17 9:49pm
Bah!
Time to spend the rest of the season watching De La Salle.
There’s no way Chryst can start another game. Shaw has done more than right by the boy, and he’s just flat. I just turned 57 Sunday and even I could have poached Mr. "What’s a progression"…
By Plan Man on 10.26.17 9:51pm
Or... watch my other alma mater...
Centennial Corona….
By StanfordAA99 on 10.26.17 10:13pm
Watching Corona Centennial vs. Norco
… the Centennial QB Tanner McKee looks really good. I really hope Stanford recruits him hard.
By StanfordAA99 on 10.27.17 10:03pm
Shaw's press conference
Wouldn’t answer if he considered switching to Costello.
"Kellen didn’t play very well but there were a lot of things that weren’t his fault."
By vk on 10.26.17 9:56pm
What is worse?
I’m not sure what is worse, Chryst’s abysmal performance at quarterback, Shaw’s nonsensical allegiance to him, or the fact that I have tickets to see this lame excuse for an offense play two more games. What is the problem with this team? Well, here are some suggestions.
1. Dump Chryst. Duh, that’s a no brainer. OSU played virtually all rookie defensive backs who could have easily intercepted four of his passes. Why? Because he always, always looks at one receiver only. Heck, a couple of times, he looked at him before the snap.
2. Pin Shaw down. Don’t let him dodge the obvious question, why in the world didn’t you play Costello? If Stanford had lost, it would have been entirely on Shaw.
3. Try some defensive ends with energy. Virtually every play, Harrison Phillips played like a monster in the middle, but the ends on either side of him virtually stopped when they ran into contact. They showed the energy of an expired battery.
4. Throw to the tight ends in the first half. Sure Dalton Shultz stunk this game, but the other ones did not. It seemed like Shaw hadn’t noticed the OSU d-backs were 8 or more inches shorter until the end of the game. And has he never seen a team run a tight end across the middle in the red zone?
5. Forget that parallel pass to the sideline, unless you have numbers. Every single time Stanford threw it, two receivers were covered by two defenders. And with Chyrst telegraphing everything, I could cover it and I’m as slow as a house.
6. Coach the team to stop making stupid penalties. Targeting again. Pulling someone’s helmet off. Getting blocked into the punter. Holding by Scarlett on a touchdown pass.
7. Fire Pritchard. Sorry, he’s probably a nice guy. But if your QB coach can’t get your QB to survey the field after, what, 13 or so games, you need a new QB coach.
As usual, I bought into the delusion that Stanford might even win the Pac 12 north. But that team will be lucky to win another game, even with arguably the best running back in the country. Notre Dame will run us into the ground. Without Holder, both Washington schools will have field days. And Cal’s quarterback is playing so much better than Stanford’s that if Chryst plays, we lose.
By SU74 on 10.26.17 9:57pm
OK, it’s getting a little late...
…to be making that much sense.
I spent the bye thinking marginally rosy thoughts of a salvaged season with maybe a tough loss to end regular play, but I’m utterly undone by tonight’s performances. Trap or no trap, they were out played. By Beavers.
[sigh]
By Plan Man on 10.26.17 10:09pm
#6 was Chryst's fault.
This was mostly Chryst’s fault. The DB blitzed and Scarlet collided with him. The DB pushed Scarlett back into Chryst, but then Chryst tries to run past him the DB. Scarlett has no choice but to tackle the DB. Had Chryst run away from the DB instead of past him, Scarlett does not get called for hold. If Scarlett had not held, I think Chryst gets sacked and possibly fumbles. Either would have been worse than cancelling penalties.
By Blackjoy on 10.26.17 10:53pm
One possible reason for Shaw keeping Chryst
It is mind-boggling how Shaw can watch film and not see Costello is the better QB. However, Shaw has provided insight as to why he hasn’t switched QB’s. It’s mainly that Shaw feels Chryst is not the underlying problem, but the execution (presumably the O-line run blocking). Even in tonight’s post-game, the fact that Shaw says, "Kellen didn’t play very well but there were a lot of things that weren’t his fault." It’s easy to see that as a HC, if you believe there are fundamental problems with the offensive execution, swapping QB’s is not solving the problem, it’s an attempt to mask them. The issue however, is knowing to what extent the QB contributes to the problem. If Chryst were able to complete passes on 3rd down, this might dramatically improve the running game and the pressure put on the O-line to block.
The worst thing about tonight is that whatever credibility we had earned in the passing game against Oregon, is completely lost. WSU is going to put 9 in the box and dare Chryst to beat them. Sure, teams were loading the box before, but now the rest of the conference has seen what Stanford’s offense looks like with no running game.
The other issue is that a HC in Shaw’s position has to exhibit some loyalty. If he yanks Christ every time he makes a bad read, this is going to be used against him when recruiting future QB’s. As a player, you need to feel that if you’ve earned the starting job, you don’t lose it for a couple of bad series. Of course, from my perspective, Chryst has continually had too many bad games, almost in the same way Burns did. Chryst’s decision making seems paralyzed. He’s got one read and he seems to make up his mind to throw the ball, regardless of the coverage. That 4th Down past to Smith was a bad decision with a good outcome. Maybe it was the best of other bad options, but it felt consistent with Chryst inability to get away from his first read.
By Blackjoy on 10.26.17 11:07pm
If you need your OL to be the Dallas cowboys for QB to look good then it's the QB that is the problem
The OL didn’t throw those picks. The OL didn’t stare those receivers. The OL didn’t bother to throw to the wide open receivers and tight ends. The OL didn’t call only pass plays in the second half.
I thought they did a fine job, probably gave a little edge pressure but that’s because your starting QB needs freaking 10s to survey the field to find just his first read. This is what I saw last game too and why k.j. is really impressive coz he elevates the rest of the team. Not brings them down
By layman on 10.27.17 12:29am
Loyalty and Alabama
Loyalty? Hmm… i think i read somewhere that Saban has a "next man up" system at Alabama. The starters have to earn their job every week. If they suck, it’s next man up. I don’t see him or his team having issues with this. I don’t see any recruiting issues. Is there a reason we can’t be a little more like this?
When i go to the office everyday, i have to keep earning the right to keep my job. I’m good at what i do, but I’m certainly not irreplaceable. If i sucked at my job and got fired, whose fault would that be?
By StanfordAA99 on 10.27.17 7:20am
"The starters have to earn their job every week...
"…If they suck, it’s next man up."
Which is (slightly modified) the mentality Harbaugh brought to the Farm that reinvigorated a dead-from-the-neck-down program. I wonder just how far from the blue collar mentality Shaw has strayed. I certainly appreciate the level, professional demeanor with which he conducts himself, but maybe a little uncertainty is the missing ingredient?
By Plan Man on 10.27.17 2:54pm
Not accurate.
Not even close. Harbaugh didn’t bench players for sucking. He weeded out the freeloaders, people who were on scholarship but had no real investment or desire to work hard on the field.
And if I’m not mistaken, Harbaugh stuck with Tavita Pritchard when many were insisting that Luck should have started.
By Blackjoy on 10.27.17 3:12pm
My bad, but...
…I could swear I had read in multiple accounts that when Jimmy came in, notice was given that you were always in competition for your job – no exceptions, and that it was a key component to revising the attitudes in the program…
By Plan Man on 10.27.17 3:17pm
Probably...
But Harbaugh’s big change was not playing the best player, it was getting everyone to buy into playing hard, or getting out. "they suck, next man up" is not an accurate reflection of that. It was more like, "if you’re not giving 110%, next man up."
Harbaugh’s culture change was in demanding effort.
By Blackjoy on 10.27.17 3:39pm
Ending the night on the only positive note: Harrison **freaking** philips #HorribleHarryForHeisman #HorribleHarryForPiesman
By layman on 10.26.17 10:13pm
One additional thought.
Sorry, I’ll stop after this. But if anyone talks to either Chryst or Prichard, tell them the following: Trent Irwin is a great, precise route runner. When he goes out, look the safety on his side away or freeze the safety by eyeing the tight end. Then, and only then, look in Irwin’s direction before he makes his cut. If the defender is anywhere but where he’ll be cutting to, remember, throw before he makes his cut. Time the throw so it gets to where he’ll be after his cut, not behind him. There, isn’t that easy?
By SU74 on 10.26.17 10:18pm
Kick-off was 03:00 AM my time
So, as usual, I missed the game and will have to watch a replay. There was a moment at 04:45 AM when I awoke and thought I might check the score to see how badly we were mangling the Beavers; but I thought better of that idea and went back to sleep. Boy, am I glad I made that decision. I really would not have wanted to watch this miserable spectacle. It’s one thing to win a really ugly game against what should have been an easy opponent. It’s quite another to have that ugly game expose huge weaknesses and produce an injury (Holder) and a targeting penalty (Alfieri) that will substantially weaken the team in what should be a much, much tougher game next Saturday.
I will withhold further comment until I see the game; but this sounds as if it was bottom-of-the-barrel playing and coaching. Unless something dramatic happens, I predict we go 1-3 over the next four games (best case). How can a team that buried the Ducks 49-7 regress so completely in the next game against arguably a worse opponent? Unbelievable.
By Jeff Tarnungus on 10.26.17 11:49pm
lol
and i booked a trip all the way to palo alto after last game, to watch uw at home, and this is how i’m paid back.
i kind of wish stanford had lost this game, and i’ll explain the same reasoning i give every year after an upset: when stanford loses a huge upset, the media narrative is that it’s college football. when stanford loses to a good team, the narrative is that stanford is not a good team.
stanford has a minimum of 1 loss left in this season. between wsu, uw, cal, and nd…hmm…i don’t know which of those i’d like it to be.
By hutre67 on 10.27.17 12:08am
Let me correct that for you based off last night's performance
By layman on 10.27.17 12:24am