Tuesday's AM practice featured both the exhilaration and frustration that
Stanford fans have grown used to over the years.
The better moments if the morning came from the second team offense. Chris
Lewis is showing the flash and brilliance that many expected from him all along.
The redshirt sophomore showed distinct patience, exhibited by several scrambles
for significant gains he had in 11-on-11 drills. On one instance after not
finding an open receiver, he promptly ran straight up the middle for a big gain,
sliding feet first to avoid a hit. "Never done that before," the 1999
High School Player of the Year said. "I usually just dive right in
there." Lewis later fired a beautiful rope to Caleb Bowman, where the
speedy #3 rolled on the ground to make a not-so-pretty grab. Judging by the
drops that he would occasionally have last year, Cardinal fans should be
nonetheless pleased by the result.
Then there was of course, the punting. Exasperated Stanford fans are dying
for a consistent punter (Oh Doug Robison where art thou?). However don't hold
your breath. With Mike Sgroi doing placekicking and kickoffs today, it was Eric
Johnson and Greg Davis again doing the kicking. The local media attendees were
fittingly not impressed. "I guess their goal is to score on every
possession," said one anonymous scribe, after another 30-yard duck quickly
fell earthward. Flash back to the 2000 Rose Bowl: Wisconsin averaged 44 yards on
8 punts which consistently pinned the Cardinal back deep in its own territory.
Special teams are a key winning games (You gotta kick the football to win the
football game as Dan Reeves would say), and once again it look like the Cardinal
will be handicapped by a poor punting unit.