Toby Gerhart took the handoff and crossed the goalline
with nine seconds left in Stanford’s game last week. That
touchdown did more than put the finishing touches on
the Card’s 23-10 win over San Jose State. It also, as it turns out, ignited a
mini-furor amongst Cardinalmaniacs.
Many have maintained that Stanford already had the game
in hand, and that there was no need to risk a turnover. Many have worried that
Stanford’s final touchdown was a case of the Cardinal
running up the score. Some have said that opting
to hand the ball to Toby Gerhart instead of kneeling on the football wasn’t the classiest
thing to do.
That’s the thing I love
about The Internet Age. No matter where you are,
you’re never far away from a huge Controversy Of The Week, no matter how contrived that
“controversy” actually is.
So some folks are accusing the Cardinal of running up the
score. When I think of teams running up the score, I think of what Oregon did to
Stanford in 1994. I think of some games the New England Patriots played last year. I think of what cal
did to Washington State a couple weeks ago. I think of what U$C might do to
us this year.
It’s hard for me to call a 13-point victory “running up
the
score.” Now, if that final touchdown had given Stanford
a 73-10 lead, then there’s no question that would have been running up the score. 23-10?
Not so much.
Some people call that touchdown “meaningless.”
Meaningless to whom? It wasn’t meaningless to the coaches, who wanted to make
sure that this team walked off the field knowing that they finished out the
game. Let’s face
it; Stanford has struggled to finish drives this year,
both offensively and defensively. That touchdown meant both sides of the ball could feel good about
finishing an opponent.
Football is all about imposing your will on the other
team until they finally snap. Stanford accomplished that goal last Saturday
against San Jose State… and now some Cardinal fans are complaining about it?
Heaven knows we’ve watched this team snap way too often over the past six years.
But now that the shoe is on the
other foot for one night, some folks aren’t comfortable
with how it fits. I don’t understand it. Do I have to go all Herm Edwards
on people? Hello??!?
Also, and I hate to bring
this up, that touchdown certainly wasn’t meaningless in Las
Vegas. Thank goodness that game wasn’t on TV… there would have been a riot at the
Caesars sports book!
It’s also hard for me to call that final touchdown
“classless.” When I think of classless football, Oregon State strutting and
preening all over the Fiesta Bowl against Notre Dame immediately comes to mind.
That’s classless. What Stanford
did last week doesn’t even come close. Besides, the
Cardinal are not in a position yet where winning a football game can actually reflect badly
on the program.
If the other team gets offended because Stanford
dominates them when the game is on the
line, well, that’s their problem. They should have done
something to try to prevent it. And if they’re not tougher next time, they’ll get more
of the same.
If the other team’s fans get all in a huff and take
losses to the Cardinal personally, oh well. I’m not concerned about what other
teams’ fan bases think about the Cardinal. I am concerned with the daily task
that the coaches, players, support
staff, university community, and fan base all share an
equal part in: restoring Stanford Football to permanent relevance. And you can’t make an omelet without
breaking some eggs.
Just remember, it’s not
personal. It’s business. Which brings us to this week’s
opponent, the Washington Huskies. Unfortunately for them, they’ve already had some experience this year in getting
broken and scrambled.
The guy in the skillet is, of course, That Guy, also
known as Tyrone Willingham. Only
the President, Congress, and the new Facebook layout have
lower approval ratings than That Guy. (Yes, count me among the folks who don’t like the
new Facebook, either.)
I’ll be honest. I feel badly for Willingham. We came to
know each other pretty well during his time on The Farm, and I genuinely
like him. Even now, on the rare occasions when
we get a chance to talk to each other for a moment, we always have a
laugh or two.
But if he had to lose only one game a year, that game had better
be to Stanford.
Oh by the way, I seem to remember a November evening in
2003 in which a team classlessly interrupted Stanford’s Senior Day
introductions, and then ran
up the score in a 57-7 rout, calling a
fake punt in the fourth quarter along the way. I also remember who was coaching that
other team, too.
Given that, nothing
would make me happier than to have questions raised
this weekend about whether Stanford ran up the score on the Huskies. And did it for
real this time.
********** ********** **********
RANDOM PAC-10 THOUGHTS
So let me get
this straight… the Stanford-San Jose State game was not televised… but UC Davis-Montana was? Am I
missing something here?
You think TE Rob Gronkowski makes a difference in
Arizona’s offense? He sure looked good out there after missing the first three game of the
season with mono…
In the aftermath of their team’s upset loss to Boise State at home, many Duck fans were wondering why the offense kept running the
ball while the Broncos’ lead kept getting bigger. Simple answer… with QB
Jeremiah Masoli sidelined with a concussion and Chris Harper in the game,
running the ball was their only shot at winning. Harper’s lack of passing skills
forced Mike Bellotti and his offensive braintrust to try to win the game with
RBs Jeremiah Johnson and LeGarrette Blount (which normally isn’t a bad plan, by
the way). Hindsight being 20-20, Darron Thomas should have had his redshirt
ripped off earlier in
the game, since he actually could complete a pass.
But as long as Harper was in there, Oregon had little reason to try to throw
the ball consistently…
If you want to see how an offense can use play-action to
completely
befuddle a defense, watch what Boise State’s offense did
to Oregon’s defense. Play-action totally killed the Duck defense... and offensive coordinators around the Pac-10 surely
are taking notice…
Our Quote of the Week comes from Oregon TV play-by-play
announcer Joe Giansante, who was pretty depressed after
the Broncos took a 24-6 lead late in the
first half: “I haven’t felt like this in this stadium in a while. Maybe [not since]
that Indiana game.”
Keegan Herring can’t come back fast enough for the
Sun Devils. But it irks me that his only playing time this year has come against
Stanford. Of course…
Not a Pac-10 thought, but… do you think that when NFL
commissioner Roger Goodell gets
up in the morning, he looks in the mirror
and practices saying the words: “With the first pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, the Kansas City Chiefs select…”
Not a Pac-10 thought, but…
since the federal government wants to bail out every sinking ship that passes, how about bailing
out the Raiders?
********** ********** **********
CLARDY’S CORNER INBOX
Agree with this Corner? Disagree? Got something else on
your mind? Drop me a line at my Scout.com inbox (username:
troyc) or e-mail me at troyc@thebootleg.com
. The best e-mails will be answered in next week’s
Clardy’s Corner Inbox!
********** ********** ***********
PAC-10 PICKS
U$C @ Oregon State. The last time the Trojans went to
Corvallis,
I wanted to pick the upset, but didn’t. Of
course, the Beavers won. Do I pull the trigger this time? Are you nuts? I like
U$C by 19.
Oregon @ Washington State. Drew Bledsoe is retired. Tony Graziani is in the Arena League. Dan Fouts and Drew Bledsoe are unavailable.
Where are Bill Musgrave and Timm Rosenbach when you need them? Both teams will
try to sort out
their quarterback woes, but only one team has a
bonafide rushing attack. Unless the Coug defense somehow shows up in the first half, I like
Oregon by 23.
Last week: 1-0
(straight-up and ATS).
This year: 3-0
(straight-up and ATS).
Last year: 26-10
(straight-up), 20-15-1 (ATS).
********** ********** **********
Troy Clardy hosts the Stanford Daily Update, airing
every weekday at 7:30p on Cardinal Sports Network flagship radio station KTRB
(860 AM) in San Francisco. Clardy’s Corner appears Wednesdays on TheBootleg.com.
You can also check him out online at TroyClardy.com.
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