The Good and Not So Good From Stanford's Loss to Oregon State

Stanford lost in dramatic fashion but they had a few bright spots.

Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports

It's hard to say there is goods in a loss, but when you were in command the entirety of a game, except the final minute there is good. This isn't a morale victory as the Cardinal lost and fell to 1-4 a difficult start for players and coaches.

The Good

Stanford played its best game of the season. The offense score 27 points and were moving the ball effectively and capitalizing on the defense giving them the ball. Immediately Stanford went up 7-0 to start the game in the first quarter. The defense forced a missed field goal and the offense again capitalized. From that moment forward, Stanford lead, evening being up 14 points at one point. 

Tanner McKee and his weapons were on full display. If they can get the passing attack to get going with the weapons they have they can try and sneak a few wins towards the end of the season. The defense had four sacks, the most they have had all season. Some pressure was dialed up by the defensive coordinator, and some was the defensive line winning matchups. The defense also forced 4 three and outs which seemed like more at the time, because the defense has struggled getting off the field this season. The defense gave the offense an opportunity at home. 

Leadership. After the game Head Coach David Shaw spoke about keeping the team morale in the locker room and facing adversity. He stated "We are Stanford guys, we fight challenges. Jonathan McGrill, senior safety expressed, as a leader he needs to not get too emotional as his teammates will look to him and he will just continue to work and the team will follow suit. Leadership is on display and that is needed when a team is battling a rough stretch of games especially when you fall four straight games. Leadership and culture has a whole lot to fix, they must keep the team morale in place heading into a tough road matchup against Notre Dame.

"Stanford guys we fight challenges" Coach Shaw on keeping team morale in the locker room.

— Marco Martinez (@marco_mart1205) October 9, 2022

The Bad

Well, Stanford played its best game and still loss. Its hard to play your best and still lose a game, but Stanford did just that. The offense scored enough points to win the game but the defense couldn't hold the Beavers offense for the last minute. Not being able to finish games at home is bad. It's also bad when the crowd isn't in the stands because of the performance from the team over these last few years. The extra boost was missing from the crowd, it's bad but also sad. 

192 yards rushing allowed, now that's bad, like very bad. You can not give up 192 yards rushing and expect to win, especially when the opposing team has their back up quarterback. Bad run defense, also can put some blame on coaching not forcing Oregon State to throw the ball more by stacking the box and taking away the run. The Beavers had 40 rush attempts to 28 passing attempts and they were down 14 at one point. Allowing a team to rush their way back into a game is not ideal.

Now we will get to see how a team like this bounces back from a very tough loss. They play Notre Dame on the road next. We will get to see whether the bad are fixed, which will lead to a close game and maybe even an upset or the bad continue to outweigh the the goods.