The Stanford Cardinal came out game one and did exactly what they needed to, setting the tone right away and establishing the running game with the two headed monster of Bryce Love and Cameron Scarlett. Bryce love came out the gate with speed, busting out a 62 yard run in the first quarter and both backs combining for four touchdowns in the first half, along with 227 yards pounded along the turf, with Love going for 176 of that yardage while Scarlett ran in three touchdowns.
The Cardinal also did a great job keeping the game away from quarterback Keller Chryst and his knee. They ran the ball persistently, while getting the ball out of his hands quickly. He was able to finish an early drive with a nice fade to tight end Colby Parkinson for a touchdown. He looked confident and played efficient football, completing 11 of 22 and throwing 179 yards threw the air with the touchdown and no turnovers.
On the defensive side, the Cardinal locked up the Rice offense, holding them to 71 total yards and grabbing an early sack. The Cardinal displayed their ability to lock down an opponent with a dominant 38-0 lead after two quarters.
Stanford came out just as strong in the second half, with Chryst attacking through the air, finishing with 253 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 14 completions. Love gashed the Owlets defense for 180 yards on the ground while Scarlett ended with three touchdowns. The Cardinal defense continued to keep a constricting hold on the offense and only in the fourth quarter, when the first team squads on both sides of the ball for Stanford had left, were the Owlets able to score.
This was an a predictable win for Stanford, but they came out looking exceptionally crisp on both sides. While they were supposed to win, nothing is better for a team than an early season flex to prove everyone is on the same page and the team is right on track. The offense out paced Rice to the tune of 656 total yards to the Owlets 240. This was a great team win for the Cardinal as they cruised to a ridiculous 62-7 win over Rice.
Comments
It was a nice show but
It’s one of those games that really doesn’t tell us much of anything at all about how we will perform against the tougher Pac-12 competition, which basically begins with the next game on the schedule. Rice was clearly outclassed in all phases of the game, and while it’s very nice to see the team execute the way it did yesterday, again, it’s doubtful that this kind of performance is replicable against the likes of SC, UW and so on. We will know much more about this team in two weeks than we do now, really.
By Brendan Ross on 08.27.17 7:57am
True, but still, as I understand the Rice program, last year they were decimated by injuries when they met us at the end of the season. With our O line still a work in progress and significant reliance on CMac, 41-17 night felt flat.
By Plan Man on 08.27.17 8:19am
Little more confidence...
True, but still, as I understand the Rice program, last year they were decimated by injuries when they met us at the end of the season. With our O line still a work in progress and significant reliance on CMac, 41-17 night felt flat. Supposedly, the Owls were in better shape for yesterday’s game. So, take it all around, I think we looked more complete than last year’s team. Love does look capable of being the man, the TEs looked solid, Scarlett’s coming along (what was that bobble-ball sh*t?), O line looked together, though the pocket still needs bolstering, and the defense seems ready.
Chryst is moving like the tear never happened, but he’s still staring down receivers and taking too long, IMO, to release. Costello gives me serious hope for the future.
ESPN’s FPI is showing us at 58% against SC this morning. Unless I’m mistaken, they had us at 48% before the game. I think the SC game could frame the season for us. Can’t wait to see how we fare with the real competition…
By Plan Man on 08.27.17 8:31am
you're right
espn fpi had usc the only team stanford was supposed to lose to; glad to hear those percentages have upped! but we’ll see what happens after usc plays week 1.
By hutre67 on 08.27.17 12:39pm
few more remarks on fpi
http://www.espn.com/college-football/statistics/teamratings
- stanford has the #1 remaining SOS
- iirc, they previously had the 3rd highest probability of winning the conference; now they have the highest percentage
- washington has #48 remaining SOS, possibly the lowest in the conference (i didn’t look closely)
- stanford now has the 3rd highest percentage of winning the rest of their (regular) schedule, behind only tosu and bama
also of interest: while fpi has stanford beating notre dame at 81%, they have usc losing to the same at 43%…
By hutre67 on 08.27.17 5:14pm
I saw that...
and the same thought hits me every year: who plays a tougher schedule than we, in power 5, let alone the Pac?
The numbers weren’t bad before yesterday; should be interesting to see what happens next week…
By Plan Man on 08.27.17 6:00pm
uw had that problem last year, and nd every year
they play a weak schedule, everyone gets on the hype train, then they get embarrassed when on the big stage.
when stanford has made it to the bowl game, they have lost but never been embarrassed.
and you know what – as frustrated as i get that stanford never makes it to the playoffs, i’d rather they play a tough schedule and have an extra loss than play a bitch schedule and win out. no guts, no glory. and i don’t doubt david shaw feels the same.
By hutre67 on 08.27.17 8:12pm
Sorry.
Little trouble with the keys this am…
By Plan Man on 08.27.17 8:33am
Caveats About The Opponent Aside
1. I took comfort in the offensive line’s ability to open large holes and avoid penalties. The line looks like it is ready to play.
2. Tight end U is back. Looks like we have a deep set of match-up nightmares.
3. Love looked great. But so did Scarlett. When he never has before. So not sure what it all means there.
4. Wedington looks like a playmaker and Shaw did a good job getting him the ball. For a true Freshman, he looked confident.
Chryst did not overly impress me. He seemed to take a lot of time to get rid of the ball and looked a bit stiff, almost robotic. He completed just 50% of his passes against a weak defense and fired a ball into coverage that should have been intercepted. In contrast, Costello looked very smooth and fluid. Moved well in the pocket, got rid of the ball quickly and threw darts. QB is Chryst’s position to lose at this point but Costello looks the part of an extremely capable QB.
Wan’t able to draw any conclusions about our punting game!
By hoyaparanoia on 08.27.17 8:46am
i assume you mean punting as the kicking team
i wasn’t particularly impressed with the punt returner, myself.
By hutre67 on 08.27.17 12:40pm
Yes................Punting Not Returning
We need to find a different solution for punt returning. #4 looked confused and unsteady. Hate to think how he might feel with USC bearing down on him!
By hoyaparanoia on 08.28.17 1:09pm
I couldn’t believe that was Colby Parkinsons first game when i found out afterwards. Hes got unreal talent ran some great routes and hands looked a treat.
By ausraider32 on 08.28.17 1:51am
Great Post...
I just hope we don’t go all Josh Nunes again and waste a vastly talented team on a "stick with your guy" mentality from Shaw. After last year, I realized both Burns and Chryst were not what I was hoping for, but Costello looks like the real deal. Get him in sooner than later.
By drkato9 on 08.30.17 5:21pm
Some Positives and Some "Needs to Improve"
Positives: - How do you prepare to defend a team that throws to 4 different tight ends?
- Bryce Love really is as fast as advertised. Boy does he get through a hole quickly.
— Jet Toner looks like he’ll be just fine in the kicking game.
— Jake Bailey has added unbelievable height to his kickoffs and the special team coverage was in mid-season form.
— The two defensive ends may not get into the backfield much, but that both run side to side very well. Gonna be difficult
to run off tackle against them.
— Shaw could have just pounded the line against a clearly overwhelmed Rice, but decided to open the pass section of the play book.
His willingness to do that bodes very well against teams that will try to load up the box against the run.
— No apparent serious injuries.
— Unlike a few years back, when the defense was looking over to the side for instructions until just before the snap, this
defense reacts to the hurry up offense pretty well.
Needs to Improve: - Right offensive tackle. Way too slow to react to defensive pressure on pass plays. He was beaten time and again.
- Punt returns. Simply non-existent. Tyler’s not the guy.
— The Ryan Burns experiment should be over. He simply can’t throw accurately. Costello should clearly be the #2 QB. He has a
gun for an arm. The more he plays, the better he’ll get. His inaccuracy at times seems to be more from a lack of playing time than
from anything else.
— Chryst does indeed stare down his receivers. He does throw a nice long ball, but he will need to speed it up against better
defenses.
— The defense still doesn’t handle it well when the other team lines up three receivers on one side and then dumps off a 10 yard
pass. One outside linebacker can’t cover two guys, but it always looks like that’s what they have to do.
By SU74 on 08.27.17 10:16am
I think wedington should be our primary PR and KR alongside love
By layman on 08.27.17 10:29am
Withholding all the judgments for this glorified scrimmage
After those first 3 plays on either side it was clear that this is over. But this was still a good morale booster for the team going into SC and hopefully they leave that overconfidence when they fly to the right side of the pacific.
Having said that I was definitely thrilled about the freshman talent. Seeing coach shaw put 4 true freshman on the field indicates the talent that has been acquired on that side of the ball. Now we just need good QB play to reach this team’s ceiling.
For all its worth, I saw many kinks on the fabled defense actually. The DL didn’t get the penetration apart from harry and the ILB were still mismatched in coverage (why did they have a banged-up alfieri play in the 4th quarter and watch him get hurt?). I think our OLBs are good playmakers (not difference makers) and our secondary is good at keeping things in front of them. But they rely too much on the opposition making mistakes rather than inducing mistakes which comes down to coach anderson’s bend-but-don’t break scheme. Unfortunately good accurate QBs will still have their way.
I’ll reserve my pre-SC thoughts until I watch that SC O-Line but darnold scares me
By layman on 08.27.17 10:25am
Lots of Positives, but Some Definite Needs to Improve
Positives:
1. This team has 4 (yes, 4) very good tight ends. And they are all being used. Nobody else in the pros or college can say that.
2. Bryce Love is as fast as advertised. Boy does he get through a hole quickly.
3. Jet Toner will do fine in the kicking game.
4. Jake Bailey has added amazing height to his kickoffs, giving the special teams tons of time to get down there.
5. The defensive ends both have good speed and cover off tackle runs to the opposite side very effectively.
6. Shaw could have simply pounded an obviously overwhelmed Rice, but chose to open the passing section of the play book and even
insert a true freshman in Wedington. Both bode very well against teams that intend to stack the box against Stanford.
7. No apparent major injuries.
8. KJ Costello is the real deal. He has a gun for an arm. His incomplete passes seem to be a function of inexperience and not
any lack of talent. No question he should be the #2 QB.
9. Both sides of the team seem very well prepared for an opening game. Nice job by the coaches.
Needs to Improve
1. The right offensive tackle position needs a lot of work. Simply could not keep up with the speed rush of the defensive end.
2. Tyler is not the guy for punt returns. There were several chances to get good yardage, but nothing happened.
3. Time to end the Ryan Burns experiment. He simply can’t throw accurately. Good as a Tim Tebow type running QB, but that is about it.
4. Chryst stares down his receivers. He does throw deep passes well, but takes too long in the pocket.
5. The defense does not handle it well when the other team stacks 3 receivers on one side. It seems like it is asking one outside
linebacker to cover two guys, which can’t be done. Hence, an easy 8 yard gain before the safety comes up.
By SU74 on 08.27.17 10:43am
Apparently we all saw the same game...
All things considered, I have to say I feel more confident this morning than I did at the end of the Sun Bowl…
By Plan Man on 08.27.17 11:07am
let's not get toooooo excited...
we all felt pretty confident after kansas state also.
By hutre67 on 08.27.17 5:15pm
Hey guys i went along yesterday as a Raiders fan and draft geek, really enjoyed the quality of football and generous play calling. Way better than last year when davis webb was throwing screen passes all day at cal vs Hawaii. I loved watching Keller bark audibles whilst under centre of a pro style offense, air raid gimmick football not really my cup of tea.
82 and 84 both look like very promising tight ends, your defense is well coached and talented and Bryce love looks like he could be special. I apologise for the lack of authentic American food and the crowd being a bit low, lost at least ten thousand ppl due to Mayweather McGregor fight im guessing.
Good luck this year and beat Cal.
By ausraider32 on 08.27.17 5:49pm
Ps just seen you have Trojans next…hopefully the tree falls on the sam darnold hype train after that game when you guys win.
By ausraider32 on 08.27.17 5:58pm