Back in September we ran out to a 21-10 lead on this team. Had a chance to go up 28-10, but instead found ourselves down at halftime 24-21. We came out of the break and took the lead 28-24 before the wheels fell off. Stanford is not invincible. They only outgained us in total ydg by a 47 yards, but time of possession was in their favor 39 to 21 and that killed us in the 4th.
I don't think we stop them using a 3/4. I believe we need 4 down lineman on d. I also believe we need to pressure and man up like we did against UCLA and for about 1 quarter against Oregon. There receivers don't scare you, but they will beat you with the tight end and McCaffery. Stopping the run is imperative.
On offense our speed can hurt them. If ND knew how to score td's in the red zone they may have won. The time of possession should be a lot more even in this game as we are more of a run oriented team since Helton took over and we tend to have more success with the run...however ND showed that our receivers will have many opportunities to get open and Rojo and Davis should be able to burn them on the outside edges.
This game is gonna be fun. Paying back the Trees would be great, giving us the Pac and a trip to the Rose Bowl. The cherry on top is this: Stanford was ranked 9th in the playoff picture and beat an ND team ahead of them and Baylor lost. For those of you playing at home they will be ranked 7th next week. One team is guaranteed to fall behind them (the loser of Iowa/MSU). Although it is HIGHLY UNLIKELY, a loss by Alabama to Florida and a Clemson blowout loss to NC coupled with a dominant performance by Stanford over USC could propel them into the playoffs. What am I getting at???? We can salvage our season and absolutely ruin their's. How satisfying it could be.
I don't think we stop them using a 3/4. I believe we need 4 down lineman on d. I also believe we need to pressure and man up like we did against UCLA and for about 1 quarter against Oregon. There receivers don't scare you, but they will beat you with the tight end and McCaffery. Stopping the run is imperative.
On offense our speed can hurt them. If ND knew how to score td's in the red zone they may have won. The time of possession should be a lot more even in this game as we are more of a run oriented team since Helton took over and we tend to have more success with the run...however ND showed that our receivers will have many opportunities to get open and Rojo and Davis should be able to burn them on the outside edges.
This game is gonna be fun. Paying back the Trees would be great, giving us the Pac and a trip to the Rose Bowl. The cherry on top is this: Stanford was ranked 9th in the playoff picture and beat an ND team ahead of them and Baylor lost. For those of you playing at home they will be ranked 7th next week. One team is guaranteed to fall behind them (the loser of Iowa/MSU). Although it is HIGHLY UNLIKELY, a loss by Alabama to Florida and a Clemson blowout loss to NC coupled with a dominant performance by Stanford over USC could propel them into the playoffs. What am I getting at???? We can salvage our season and absolutely ruin their's. How satisfying it could be.
