Massive lame: Stanford loses Axe for third yr in a row

For the third straight yr, the Axe will reside in Berkeley, because the California Golden Bears (5-6, 3-5 Pac-12) secured a 27-15 win over the Stanford Cardinal. The Golden Bears pulled away towards the top of the fourth quarter, holding their bowl eligibility hopes alive. 

Regardless of enjoying poorly for a lot of the first half, the Cardinal discovered themselves down simply eight factors because of well timed defensive performs and a few kicks from senior kicker Joshua Karty. After the Golden Bears took a 21-6 lead early within the third quarter, Stanford went on a 9-0 scoring run after a 41-yard catch from freshman Tiger Bachmeier and a 50-yard Karty area aim. 

However regardless of holding solely one-possession deficit early within the fourth quarter, Cal quarterback Fernando Mendoza engineered a 13 play, 75-yard drive to increase the Golden Bears’ result in twelve. That was all Cal wanted, because the protection was prevented the Stanford offense from scoring once more. 

For Stanford followers, the sport highlighted the workforce’s lack of offensive rhythm and working recreation, in addition to points with defensive personnel.

Lack of offensive rhythm

All through the sport, sophomore quarterback Ashton Daniels did not get in sync together with his large receivers. All through the sport, regardless of some efficient play calls by Stanford head coach Troy Taylor, Daniels threw to receivers off-target and off-time. The outcome was that Daniels had a pedestrian 51% completion proportion paired with solely 188 yards. A lot of Stanford’s offensive success within the Colorado and Washington video games got here when Daniels was linked with Bachmeier and Elic Ayomanor on perimeter throws, like comebacks and back-shoulder fades. These routes usually required the quarterback and large receivers to be on the identical web page. Sadly for the Cardinal, that was not the case yesterday.

Defensive personnel nonetheless a problem

Going into the sport, Stanford followers knew they might see a gradual dose of Cal working again Jaydn Ott. After yesterday’s recreation, Ott is now the Pac-12 chief in speeding yards. However Cal quarterback Mendoza recognized one other mismatch on the sphere with walk-on large receiver Trond Grizzell. Grizzell had a profession day in opposition to the Cardinal, accumulating seven receptions for 136 yards. He usually leveraged his mixture of measurement and velocity to keep off Stanford defenders.

Whereas Grizzell could have been an ignored expertise, his efficiency exhibits that Stanford wants to enhance in figuring out gifted safeties and corners that may match up in opposition to Energy-5 competitors. This contains bringing in personnel which have the size and velocity to maintain up with good receivers and tight ends. 

Moreover, the Stanford line of defense was constantly beat off the road of scrimmage in opposition to Cal. The Golden Bears excelled in pinning the Cardinal again on their gap-scheme runs and permitting offensive linemen to dam in house in opposition to the again seven. Whereas there have been a number of instances Stanford was in place to make tackles that may hold Ott’s features minimal, the star working again was capable of break tackles in opposition to the shaky Cardinal secondary. To stop this from occurring sooner or later, the Cardinal will want stronger linemen and secondary gamers who can sort out in house. 

Lack of working recreation

Stanford’s speeding chief throughout the recreation was quarterback Ashton Daniels, who tallied 67 yards on twelve rushes. Whereas on the floor, this will not appear horrible, it’s regarding to see a quarterback who had harm issues going into the sport lead the workforce in rush yards. 

Regardless of working by means of a steady of gifted working backs all year long, Stanford has not been capable of develop a floor recreation because of its shaky offensive line. Senior working again E.J. Smith averaged simply three yards a carry in opposition to Cal, and different individuals who had touches weren’t a lot better.

The absence of a standard run recreation impairs the Cardinal offensively, because it makes them rather more predictable and the run performs can definitely be telegraphed, akin to when sophomore quarterback Justin Lamson comes into the sport. This lack of run recreation places the Cardinal in third-and-long conditions, which makes it troublesome to maintain drives. To ensure that Taylor’s offense to work sooner or later, the offensive line might want to drastically enhance its run blocking.

Up subsequent, the Cardinal will tackle the No. 20 Notre Dame Preventing Irish (8-3, Unbiased) for the ultimate recreation of the season. The Preventing Irish have a balanced workforce that possesses the sixteenth finest scoring offense and twelfth ranked scoring protection. The sport will spherical out a difficult schedule for the Cardinal this yr, which included six ranked groups. Kick-off is at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 25.