Bad-Ugly-Good: Taking stock of 1-2 Stanford

By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Sept. 20, 2017

With Stanford kicking off at 10:30 Saturday evening against San Diego State, I was flying solo for my football-watching this past weekend. I stopped by a downtown Durham barcade, where I chatted and played pinball with my pal D— and his girlfriend; I also set a high score on Star Trek: The Next Generation (836 million and change, good enough for No. 2 on the machine’s “honor roll”).

Then I walked over to Tobacco Road. At that hour, the joint was much less crowded than it had been the prior week at 8:30 p.m. A bartender recognized me and asked which channel the game I wanted to see was on; I told him and it was put up on a monitor at my end of the bar almost immediately.

• The Bad 

Stanford got off to a slow start offensively, gaining just 15 yards on its first 11 plays from the line of scrimmage. Three explosive Bryce Love runs — touchdowns of 51 and 53 yards and a 47-yard carry in the third quarter — accounted for nearly 60 percent of the Cardinal’s 254 yards of total offense.

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Stanford falls to 1-2 after offense sputters against San Diego State

By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Sept. 19, 2017

Author’s note: The day after this post was published, I adjusted some erroneous references to statistics about Stanford’s total offense. The team gained 254 yards, not 238. MEM

A feeble offensive performance doomed the Stanford football team to a 20-17 loss at San Diego State on Saturday evening.

The Cardinal dropped to 1-2 by generating just 254 238 yards of offense, including an abysmal 64 yards passing, and converting only three of 11 third-down tries. Starting quarterback Keller Chryst completed only eight of 19 attempts for 56 yards and coughed up the ball on two interceptions and a fumble. To be fair, his offensive line surrendered four sacks, including a blind-side hit that led to his losing the ball.

Only two offensive players for the Cardinal turned in worthwhile efforts against the Aztecs, who moved to 3-0 after beating Arizona State and Stanford in consecutive weeks. Junior wideout Trenton Irwin had six receptions for 49 yards, including 11- and 17-yard gains. Junior tailback Bryce Love was his usual explosive self, accumulating 184 rushing yards on 13 carries.

Unfortunately, the Cardinal offense was all or nothing. Love accounted for 150 yards and two touchdowns on three of his carries. Aside from that, Chryst and his compatriots generated a paltry 104 88 yards on 39 snaps, an average of less than 2.7 2.3 yards per play. That production wouldn’t suffice against a slate of Mountain West opponents, let alone the run of eight Pac-12 foes and Notre Dame that Stanford will face starting this weekend.

Bad-Ugly-Good: Taking stock of 1-1 Stanford

By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Sept. 13, 2017

I saw most of the Cardinal football team’s demoralizing defeat at the hands of USC Saturday night. I rendezvoused with my fellow Stanford alum Jim at Tobacco Road, a downtown Durham sports bar that I particularly favor, right around kickoff.

But we decided to leave shortly after my arrival: The joint was packed, and none of the TVs seemed to be tuned to the game we wanted to see. We hiked over to Bull McCabe’s, where I’d watched Stanford’s 42-16 home loss to Washington State last October. We sat down in front of a television just in time to see Stanford wrap up its first possession, which yielded a meager 36 yards and concluded with a punt.

The game was exciting — but only for a time.

• The Bad 

Look, when your defense surrenders 623 yards to the opposing team and allows them to convert 10 of 12 third downs, there’s absolutely no question about it — they’re going to be labeled The Bad. Yes, I know USC was ranked No. 6 in the nation and is full of talented players, and I know Alijah Holder and Justin Reid each intercepted highly touted Trojans quarterback Sam Darnold.

Trojans stomp Stanford football, 42-18

By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Sept. 12, 2017

The sixth-ranked University of Southern California football team imposed its will against visiting Stanford on Saturday night, scoring touchdowns on its first four possessions en route to a 42-24 victory.

The Trojans moved to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the Pac-12 by rushing 48 times for 307 yards. Sam Darnold showed why he might join several earlier Trojans quarterbacks as Heisman Trophy winners: The sophomore completed his first 10 pass attempts and finished the evening 21 for 26 with 316 yards and four touchdowns.

The maroon and gold squad was forced to punt just once by the Stanford defense, which recorded only one tackle-for-loss, a single pass breakup and no quarterback hurries. The Trojans, by contrast, were credited with 10 breakups, five tackles behind the line of scrimmage (including two sacks) and a hurry.

Stanford quarterback Keller Chryst, playing by far the most challenging opponent of his college career, completed 15 of 28 throws for 172 yards and two scores. But while the Cardinal offense finished with a respectable average of 6.5 yards per rush, the team only ran the ball 26 times, and the Trojans were able to stifle most carries between the tackles.

The most telling numbers of all were the third-down conversion rates. No. 14 Stanford, now 1-1 overall and 0-1 in league, was successful six times in 12 tries, while the hosts missed twice in a dozen opportunities.

Bad-Ugly-Good: Taking stock of 1-0 Stanford

By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Sept. 1, 2017

I missed the early scoring in the Stanford football team’s season-opening win over Rice last weekend. I played (poorly overall, alas; details forthcoming) in a Scrabble tournament in Durham that day before driving to my friends’ home in Northern Virginia. (R— seemed happy to see me; then again, I think she’s pretty much happy to see everyone.)

I’d planned to listen to the start of the game while driving courtesy of the good offices of KZSU, the Stanford radio station, but every time I tried tuning in via my smartphone, I only heard music. Belatedly, I came to understand that the station hadn’t sent broadcasters (or even a single broadcaster!) to Sydney, Australia, presumably because of the expense involved.

So it wasn’t until after I arrived at my destination and spent a while chatting with my friends, and eating some of their food, that I settled down in front of a television to watch the game. By that point, Stanford held a 35-0 lead. Fortunately, it’s relatively easy these days to find video highlights.

Cardinal drops highlights aplenty in 62-7 season debut vs. Rice

By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Aug. 31, 2017

Stanford cruised to victory down under Sunday as it opened the 2017 campaign with a 62-7 win over Rice in Sydney, Australia.

The field seemed to be tilted in the direction of the Cardinal from the start of the contest. The white-clad squad outgained the Owls 656 yards to 241, scored touchdowns on its first four drives, and failed to produce points just three times in 13 possessions — one of which came at the very end of the game.

The contest’s opening play seemed to forecast the beatdown to come. Head coach David Shaw and offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren decided that the first play from scrimmage should be a handoff to Bryce Love, the junior who started two games last year in place of all-world athlete Christian McCaffrey, now employed in the NFL. The tailback burst through a hole cleared by sophomore guard Nate Herbig, zipped out of the arms of two would-be tacklers and hit the open field at full speed. A dive by Owl cornerback V.J. Banks enabled fellow cornerback Justin Bickham to force Love out of bounds at the 13-yard line following an electrifying 62-yard run.

Two plays later, senior quarterback Keller Chryst tossed a nicely placed ball to freshman Colby Parkinson for a 13-yard touchdown. The 6-foot-7 tight end, who had lined up out wide, exploited his six-inch height advantage over Bickham in making his first collegiate reception.

Cheeps and Chirps for March 2017 (catching up)

By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
June 19, 2017

More catching up from my Twitter feed!

• ZOMG Donald Trump (and comrades)!

Thread on March 1 revelations regarding Russia and the Trump campaign/administration. https://t.co/UwUOd1wZ2l

— (( Matt Milliken )) (@memomoment) March 2, 2017

Interesting analysis of Sessions' and the Trump campaign/administration's Russian contacts. https://t.co/qdI2VjkEDw

— (( Matt Milliken )) (@memomoment) March 3, 2017

Ah, I think you misspelled 'met with Russian officials and then made misleading statements to Congress about it.' https://t.co/6F0xB8hZDg

— (( Matt Milliken )) (@memomoment) March 4, 2017

Poor little President Donald. Did you have bad dreams, Comrade Small Hands? pic.twitter.com/zlfMYAJCwk

— (( Matt Milliken )) (@memomoment) March 4, 2017

Alas — InfoWars, Breitbart and their buddies can produce tinfoil-hat fodder effortlessly. @MrWalterShapiro https://t.co/lOmaKgtMKX

— (( Matt Milliken )) (@memomoment) March 4, 2017

Stanford tops UNC, 25-23, in Sun Bowl nail-biter

By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Dec. 31, 2016

Stanford football closed out its 2016 season with a down-to-the-wire 25-23 victory over the University of North Carolina in the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas.

Fittingly, the game played out like a revue of some of Stanford’s 2016 highlights and lowlights. Among the latter, the opening-series three-and-out struck a familiar chord, and the team’s inability to score a touchdown in five red-zone trips called to mind the Cardinal’s offensive futility for much of September and October.

The highlights included a few dynamic, if isolated, moments from the passing game as well as the elusive quickness that backup running back Bryce Love had flashed a few times throughout the season and the surprising toughness that he demonstrated when he got the start for an injured Christian McCaffrey in Stanford’s 17-10 win at Notre Dame.

In the end, the Stanford squad won the exact same way it had in the opening weeks of the season: Thanks to the contributions of a salty defense that stepped up when the offense faltered.

Speaking of McCaffrey, he was absent from this game, too, having declared his intention to enter the NFL draft after the Rice game and subsequently opted out of playing in the Sun Bowl. He had to feel good about that decision after not one but two Cardinal players sustained injuries that at least one former athlete blamed on the stadium’s artificial turf.

Bad-Ugly-Good: Taking stock of Stanford football at the close of the regular season

By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Nov. 30, 2016

Stanford’s season finale against Rice was only the second game of 2016, following the team’s 52-27 win at Oregon that largely coincided with my Scrabble tournament, which I didn’t get to watch on television as it took place. Because the game was carried on the Pac-12 Network, and because many TV carriers don’t have the channel, it can be hard to find places that show Pac-12 programming.

Dish does carry the Pac-12 Network nationally — but which bars are Dish subscribers? Ultimately, because I wasn’t in my home territory of Durham, I didn’t find one.

• The Bad 

Although Stanford concluded the regular season on a five-game gave winning streak, which pushed its record to 9-3 overall and 6-3 in the Pac-12, the team had another less savory string going on in November: Three straight games in which the team was penalized either seven or eight times.

Cardinal easily overwhelms Rice, 41-17, in post-Thanksgiving workout

By Matthew E. Milliken
MEMwrites.wordpress.com
Nov. 28, 2016

The Stanford football team outran and outmuscled Rice on Saturday, outrushing the visiting Owls by more than 200 yards in a 41-17 victory to complete its 2016 regular season schedule.

The 9-3 Cardinal used the same formula that had served it so well throughout the squad’s five-game winning streak: A lot of Christian McCaffrey, now fully healthy, nicely complemented by unremarkable but largely reliable and mistake-free quarterback play from Keller Chryst, a strong performance from an increasingly confident offensive line, contributions from the rest of the offensive and special-teams units, and a suffocating effort by the defense.

The fact that Stanford was playing another team with an at-best mediocre offense (see also: Arizona and Oregon State) and a lousy defense (see also: Arizona, Oregon State, Oregon and Cal) played a pretty important part, too.

The Cardinal banked 20 points in the first half, scoring on four of six possessions, including a one-play, nine-second possession that closed out the second quarter. The Owls, meanwhile, didn’t cross midfield until the second quarter and scored only a field goal before intermission, and that on their final drive of the half. What’s more, Stanford’s defense engineered four three-and-outs by the visiting offense.