Few purchases rival that of a jersey bought in the light of a beautiful sport’s moment. Allowing the crazed excitement of an incredible play or an unforgettable instant to dictate the acquisition of a players jersey is all part of this thing we call being a sports fan. In the spirit of such a moment, this is the jersey from week one I would buy in the heat of the moment.
The jersey belonging to the player who raised me to my feet the most, elevated my blood pressure consistently and gave me no choice but to invest in his numbers. This is the winner of the Compulsive Purchase Award- week four.
It was looking quite grim for the Stanford Cardinal, down 24-7 at halftime to the Oregon Ducks.
The Ducks were explosive on both sides of the line of scrimmage; getting their running game into the second level of Stanford’s defense, keeping the pocket clean for quarterback Justin Herbert and on the other side holding the Cardinal to 22 rushing yards in the first half.
But again, Stanford quarterback K.J. Costello found a way to shrug off the inefficiencies on the ground to lead his team past the Ducks in an overtime thriller.
Winner - K.J. Costello
Stat Line - 327 passing yards, three passing touchdowns and 73 percent completion percentage
As if they were coming out of a comma, the Cardinal jolted to their senses following an overturned touchdown from Ducks running back C.J. Verdell. The following play, Stanford burst through the offensive line, overtaking quarterback Justin Herbert and forcing a fumble. A fumble that linebacker Joey Alfieri took all the way to the house, swinging the momentum of a game that was dangerously close to becoming out of reach.
The defense finished with four sacks, seven tackles for loss and a key interception in overtime, springing to life and bogging down the Ducks offense, allowing seven points after halftime.
But what was truly impressive was the offensive production, led by Costello. Again, Costello was forced to shake off the one phase of Stanford’s football team that failed to come to life: the running game.
Love was able to net 48 yards in the second half (seven more than the first half) in another performance that failed to capture his dazzling 2017 season.
The speed of the Ducks linebackers refused to give up the edge, while the Stanford offensive line continued to struggle between the tackles. Another team found a way to hold down Love, a formula that would have crippled the 2017 Cardinal.
But Costello now has the ability and the right set of tools around him to carry the offense. The defense of the Ducks had the right plays drawn up, but Costello made the correct reads, putting the ball in the right spots without forcing throws or turning the rock over.
Costello threw to seven receivers in the passing attack, attacking with a myriad of positions. Hitting tight ends Kaden Smith and Colby Parkinson down the middle put stress on the safeties, who had to compensate for the miss matched nickel corners and linebackers. These throws, in turn, exposed the man to man coverage on the outside, letting Osiris St. Brown scar Oregon deep, while J.J. Arcega-Whiteside and Trenton Irwin victimized the smaller corners in single coverage.
Costello reached all of them, speaking to both an understanding of the play schedule and a quarterback making through his reads to find the right receivers.
It was a qualification that separated Stanford from the playoff teams last season. A key piece they needed to make a run for the PAC-12 title, and beating the no. 20 team in the country goes a long way towards proving his metal.
Play that sealed the purchase -
Comments
Give some love too Adebo
Agree with your purchase of Costello who, by the way, needs to heap plenty of praise on the offensive line who created a consistently comfortable pocket to deliver the rock. The tunnel workers have not dominated in the running game but they have kept Costello upright.
On the D side, Adebo needs some love. Adebo has played like an All-American this year and his one-on-one cover play in overtime was really impressive. Which reminds me, can anyone explain pass interference? It seems to me, receivers and defenders are hand fighting all the time until the ball reaches them. A penalty seems to come down to whether the defender turns his head to locate the ball. There were several instances of pass interference on both sides that were not called in this game.
Can anyone explain to me why the critical reversal of Oregon’s TD? The runner appeared to stay inbounds and hit the pylon and landing out of bounds after hitting the pylon. No replay clearly shows where the ball was when the runner crossed the goal line. Reversing the called TD on the field was surprising. That said, Oregon still got the ball on the 1-yard line and, well, you know the rest.
Way too many video replays and commercials make the games too drawn out. I dream of the old days when the call on the field stood and the game moved on.
By farmboy2 on 09.24.18 6:26am
The pylon is out of bounds
The runner touched the pylon with his foot and the ball was at the 1 yard line when that happened. Therefore, the ball get spotted at the 1 yard line. However, if he had gone inside the pylon and not touched it with his foot, it might have been ruled for a touchdown.
By Intellectual_Brutality on 09.24.18 7:26am
similar to what happened with bryce love's ensuing td
i.e. running inside the pylon and not touching it. couldn’t get overruled.
By hutre67 on 09.24.18 9:42am
Yup. Where the ball was...
…the moment his left foot touched the pylon is where the spot should be. Not quite a yard, but that’s not particularly relevant. Good still here. The Schmucks imploded immediately following.
If there was a truly questionable call, I say it was the non-call for PI in the end zone. Contact without play on the ball. We skated on that one.
All hail KJ, for now. I pray to the pigskin gods that this was the wake-up call the Cardinal were (plural ;)) looking for.
So much for the Cristobal approach of "playing to win" with no regard for situation. A couple of knees and time expires, O get the O (and cover the spread) and nearly everyone in Eugene is happy. There is something to be said for knowing when to holster your sidearm…
By Plan Man on 09.24.18 8:00am
I can't blame Cristobal
I won’t put that on the coach. There’s every reason for Oregon to run the ball and put an exclamation point on the win. A running back should absolutely be able to not fumble on the most important carry of the night, it’s not like he asked the punter to run between the tackles.
You’ll recall that Chris Peterson did the same thing against Arizona or someone. Instead of taking a knee and punting the ball, UW ran it, fumbled it, and then lost the game as Arizona came down and scored. Peterson was roasted by the local media using the same arguments about running the clock out, running around for 7 seconds, etc.. Let’s also go back to the Michigan vs Michigan State game where Harbaugh decided to punt the ball. It go blocked and MSU won on the resulting TD. Fact is, all options have associated risk and its on the players to execute. Shit happens.
By Blackjoy on 09.24.18 9:24am
Definitely, it happens...
…and identity is identity, and I get trying to inspire your guys for what’s down the road, but, geez, they had us. Cold. Dead. Slabbed and processed.
I haven’t cast about to see how he’s faring in the press, but something tells me I don’t have to…
By Plan Man on 09.24.18 10:01am
i agree that adebo should have been called for the PI
hard to say what that would have done – the next play ducks were at 1st and goal anyway. i’m not convinced it made a difference in the result of the game.
By hutre67 on 09.24.18 9:42am
Had the same thought.
Even if that play is called it made no pratical difference. Oregon had 1st and Goal form the exact spot the penalty would have put them.
By Blackjoy on 09.24.18 11:17am
Agree! Adebo make some key plays
I’m excited to see how he develops over time. Great to see the new players making contributions.
As others have mentioned in the other threads… what happened to JJAW for the 1st half? He didn’t seem to be on the field or he wasn’t involved in the plays. It’s so frustrating when we have to resort to heroics like KJ had to do on Saturday night. Why didn’t the game plan include more JJAW or the tight ends?
By StanfordAA99 on 09.24.18 10:49am
Inaccurate reporting
It seems vogue for beat writers to push narratives, regardless of the facts.
Stanford’s running game against Oregon was the best it’s been this year in terms of consistency. Brice averaged nearly 4 yards a carry, after taking out his run for 22 yards. The fact was, the running game was working, but our defense was not. Oregon absolutely owned the time of possession and the lead. That means Shaw couldn’t afford to lean on the running game as he is wont to do. On the opening series, Love ran four times for 22 yards and it would have been 5 for 26 except for the holding by the center which negated another first down run. Stanford was 5/10 on third down and two of those Love got running. Shaw should absolutely expect us to be able to run it on 3&1 or 3&2 and get a yard.
According to my sports app, Stanford threw the ball 26 times and if we add Costello’s two sacks, that’s 28 pass attempts to 22 run attempts. 19 by Love 3 by Costello. The running game did not fail Stanford. In fact, I’d argue it was critical in keeping the pressure off of Costello, because he was not able to consistently avoid pressure and deliver the ball.
By Blackjoy on 09.24.18 9:16am
* 3 by Scarlett, not Costello
By Blackjoy on 09.24.18 9:18am
Off topic...
but does anyone know why Oregon has 7 home games (and only 5 away games) this season?
They opened with 4 straight at home, but still have a good chunk of home games left in the season (including UW which hopefully they can win with the HFA, not to mention the fact that their bye week precedes that game).
By ColtsButter on 09.24.18 10:59am