South Dakota State leads David Beaty's Kansas team 31-7 in the second quarter. I think it's not too early at all to crown them Bottom 10 Champs for 2015.

4 or 5 years post Harbaugh and Stanford is back to looking pedestrian.

Lose to NW in Evanston 16-6.

Stanford's had a taste. They'll fire Shaw after this season and go out and buy another maniac to prowl their sidelines.

I feel bad for Beaty, but happy for NW. I'm curious about UTEP -Arkansas

Behind Rice, I am a Stanford football fan. My wife graduated from there in '05 and we just moved back to H-town from 5 years in San Diego. We made at least 2 Stanford home football games a year and went to two Rose Bowl games when we lived there.

I was disgusted with how they played today, but I am not surprised. They have looked sluggish for a while now (ie, at least a season and a half). I think if Harbaugh would have stayed on, they could have had a serious shot at the national championship. I think they have a hard time mentally preparing for the game and they seem to always look slow and unenthused. In addition, I think Hogan is mediocre...at best.

I agree, if they go nowhere this year, Shaw should be fired. He seems like a great guy but that program is in danger of returning to absolute mediocrity.

But back to South Main....

So go Owls, let's get a big win today. I think we have a great chance of winning these first two games. Hoot 'em.

(09-05-2015 02:02 PM)talon owl Wrote:  4 or 5 years post Harbaugh and Stanford is back to looking pedestrian.

Lose to NW in Evanston 16-6.

I have long been baffled by the media and others' love affair with David Shaw. I do not think he is a bad coach, but he is nothing special. He has long suffered from over conservatism. Lost several big games because of his cautiousness.

As you rightly point out, all of Harbaugh's recruits are now gone, and it will be interesting to see how Stanford does going forward. As a Stanford fan, I am not optimistic. Admittedly, the game started at 0900 Stanford time, but Stanford should not be in school yet (it is on the quarter system) so the team might have gone to Chicago several days early to adjust for the time difference. But whatever the reason, they did not look like a decent college football team. Repeated bush league infractions, missed tackles, and dropped passes were the hallmark.

Announcers try to be complimentary. And these announcers did not want to take anything away from Northwestern. But they repeatedly remarked about how sloppy Stanford was and how conservative the play calling was, the latter so much so that they openly expressed dismay with several strategic decisions. And at one point, they said the defense looked like it was the scout team playing against the first team offense. They also remarked that Stanford fans would find reason to be very concerned by this effort.

The conservative decision to not go on 4th down from the 38 and instead punt it into the end zone was absurd. Bailiff would be smart not to make that call this season.

(09-05-2015 02:30 PM)seniorowl Wrote:  The conservative decision to not go on 4th down from the 38 and instead punt it into the end zone was absurd. Bailiff would be smart not to make that call this season.

That reminds me of the biggest boneheaded decision ever. The coach - our inimitable Bo Hagan. The year 1970. Our team was expected to make a bowl that year, at a time when there were only a handful of bowls and you did not get an invite for just being mediocre. It was anticipated that we would go 7-3, losing only to LSU, Ark, and UT. But Hagan managed to make the worst of a good situation. We were 2-4, playing Tech at home (In those days Tech meant Texas Tech, not La Tech.). We lost 3-0. But Hagan punted the ball from the Tech 30 or so yard line. Incredible. Down by three. I believe it was fourth and short. And we punt from somewhere around their 30. Gotta love the guy. He was fired after that game, and we won our last three to finish .500.

(09-05-2015 02:12 PM)Afflicted Wrote:  I feel bad for Beaty, but happy for NW. I'm curious about UTEP -Arkansas

UTEP already looks horribly overmatched.

About the next opponent:

Jordan Spieth @JordanSpieth
Texas' offense looking about as useful as my last 4 rounds....
8:50 PM - 5 Sep 2015

Just to expand on Spieth's tweet, he's been horrible the last two rounds and Texas had less than 100 yards at the half and is down 17-0.

(09-05-2015 08:23 PM)Fort Bend Owl Wrote:  Just to expand on Spieth's tweet, he's been horrible the last two rounds and Texas had less than 100 yards at the half and is down 17-0.

The only positive for UT has been their ability to stuff the direct handoff run. I'm hoping Erickson and Bailiff open up the playbook for next week, and we rely heavily on the option, and DJ rollouts even on passing plays. And can we PLEASE utilize Cella in the passing game!!!

Texas doesn't look very good. But you can easily tell that they still have loads of size, strength, and speed.

We can't hang with 'em on talent alone; our players' experience and Bailiff's coaching will determine whether or not we stay in the game.

(09-05-2015 08:51 PM)Wiessman Wrote:  Texas doesn't look very good. But you can easily tell that they still have loads of size, strength, and speed.

We can't hang with 'em on talent alone; our players' experience and Bailiff's coaching will determine whether or not we stay in the game.

I think we have just as much speed as they do. It'll come down to special teams, turn overs ....and coaching.

(09-05-2015 08:53 PM)greyowl72 Wrote:  

(09-05-2015 08:51 PM)Wiessman Wrote:  Texas doesn't look very good. But you can easily tell that they still have loads of size, strength, and speed.

We can't hang with 'em on talent alone; our players' experience and Bailiff's coaching will determine whether or not we stay in the game.

I think we have just as much speed as they do. It'll come down to special teams, turn overs ....and coaching.

We have to play far better than we did today to beat UT

(09-05-2015 02:39 PM)Ranger Wrote:  

(09-05-2015 02:30 PM)seniorowl Wrote:  The conservative decision to not go on 4th down from the 38 and instead punt it into the end zone was absurd. Bailiff would be smart not to make that call this season.

That reminds me of the biggest boneheaded decision ever. The coach - our inimitable Bo Hagan. The year 1970. Our team was expected to make a bowl that year, at a time when there were only a handful of bowls and you did not get an invite for just being mediocre. It was anticipated that we would go 7-3, losing only to LSU, Ark, and UT. But Hagan managed to make the worst of a good situation. We were 2-4, playing Tech at home (In those days Tech meant Texas Tech, not La Tech.). We lost 3-0. But Hagan punted the ball from the Tech 30 or so yard line. Incredible. Down by three. I believe it was fourth and short. And we punt from somewhere around their 30. Gotta love the guy. He was fired after that game, and we won our last three to finish .500.

Didn't the players also hate him and therefore played poorly on purpose?

So is it good or bad that UT is being beaten this badly?

(09-05-2015 09:11 PM)Chef Owl Wrote:  So is it good or bad that UT is being beaten this badly?

Yes

I guess I should have specified. Is it good or bad for us next week?

(09-05-2015 09:15 PM)Chef Owl Wrote:  I guess I should have specified. Is it good or bad for us next week?

Frankly, I think it is irrelevant. Our problem under Bailiff has been that we appear to get spooked by reputations, rankings, and hostile environments.

Regardless of the outcome today, Texas is still football royalty. We have to prove that we can actually show up for such an opponent for once, no matter the opposition's state of mind.

Based on what I've seen today, I will be done for good with Bailiff-led Rice if we get hammered next week.