Stanford Washington ST OTB
- Thread starter turksure
- Start date
Passing, yes, but no Tuel
Don?t count on the Jeff Tuel vs. Andrew Luck showdown for Saturday.
Washington State coach Paul Wulff said quarterback Marshall Lobbestael will start Saturday?s game against Stanford even if Tuel is cleared to play.
Wulff said ?it?s more likely? Tuel will return from his broken collarbone Oct. 22 against Oregon State at CenturyLink Field in Seattle? or even the following week. Tuel was injured in the season-opening win over Idaho State and has not played since.
Still, a passing duel will likely be on display.
Lobbestael, who has started every game this season, is superior to Luck in two major passing statistics.
Lobbestael makes no pretense that he?s on par with Luck. Still, he tops Luck in passing yards (1,570-1,383) and touchdown passes (15-14).
Luck, of course, is a leading candidate to win the Heisman Trophy and go No. 1 in the 2012 NFL draft.
?He?s the best player I?ve seen in 12 years,? said Rob Rang, an NFL draft analyst for CBSSports.com.
Luck has thrown 37 fewer passes (145) and owns a higher completion percentage (73.1) and quarterback rating (182.3) than Lobbestael. Stanford runs the ball better and more frequently than WSU, and Luck often leaves games early, since the Cardinal ranks in the top seven nationally with per-game averages of 46.2 points for and 10.6 against.
Stanford coach David Shaw, promoted from offensive coordinator when Jim Harbaugh left to take over the NFL?s San Francisco 49ers this year, occasionally lets Luck call his own plays ? something most NFL teams don?t allow, let alone a college team.
?I have never seen someone with that much football intelligence,? UCLA safety Tony Dye said.
BOWL GOAL
Last week?s loss to UCLA may prove quite costly to the Cougars? goal of playing in a bowl game for the first time in eight years.
Three of WSU?s seven remaining games involve ranked teams: No. 7 Stanford, No. 9 Oregon (4-1) and No. 18 Arizona State (5-1). The other four contests match the Cougars against 1-4 Oregon State, 3-2 California, 2-3 Utah and 4-1 Washington.
The Cardinal (5-0, 3-0 Pac-12) is riding a 13-game winning streak, longest in the nation. The Cougars (3-2, 1-1) have lost 15 straight games to Top 25 opponents since knocking off 16th-ranked Oregon in 2006.
Stanford is favored by 21 points in the game, which is homecoming for WSU.
STRANGE BUT TRUE
Stanford has the top-ranked defense in the Pac-12 but did not force an interception until last week.
On the 172nd passing attempt of the season, safety Michael Thomas finally broke the cold streak when he picked off Tyler Hansen?s pass in the fourth quarter of the Cardinal?s 48-7 rout of Colorado on Saturday.
For a defense that is allowing a league-low 10.6 points per game, erasing that perplexing omission has been the No. 1 goal.
?What I love about it, even with all that chatter about interceptions, our guys haven?t been running out of position to try to make it happen,? Shaw said. ?We?ve got our hands on balls. It?s not like guys are running wide open. We?ve had a couple chances. It?s just the way that it is. There?s nothing schematically we have to change.?
Stanford?s defense has dominated for long stretches in every game and is perhaps the biggest reason outside of Luck that the team has outscored opponents 231-53.
The interception streak lasted so long it became a running punchline on the sidelines every time somebody whiffed on a pass.
?We?ve been making jokes about it the whole time,? Thomas said. ?So I?m glad it happened.?
EXTRA POINTS
The Cardinal is second only to Alabama in rushing defense, allowing 61.8 yards on the ground per game. ? Stanford is tied for the fewest turnovers. The Cardinal has lost the ball three times, setting the pace with LSU, Wisconsin and Texas Tech. ?
Don?t count on the Jeff Tuel vs. Andrew Luck showdown for Saturday.
Washington State coach Paul Wulff said quarterback Marshall Lobbestael will start Saturday?s game against Stanford even if Tuel is cleared to play.
Wulff said ?it?s more likely? Tuel will return from his broken collarbone Oct. 22 against Oregon State at CenturyLink Field in Seattle? or even the following week. Tuel was injured in the season-opening win over Idaho State and has not played since.
Still, a passing duel will likely be on display.
Lobbestael, who has started every game this season, is superior to Luck in two major passing statistics.
Lobbestael makes no pretense that he?s on par with Luck. Still, he tops Luck in passing yards (1,570-1,383) and touchdown passes (15-14).
Luck, of course, is a leading candidate to win the Heisman Trophy and go No. 1 in the 2012 NFL draft.
?He?s the best player I?ve seen in 12 years,? said Rob Rang, an NFL draft analyst for CBSSports.com.
Luck has thrown 37 fewer passes (145) and owns a higher completion percentage (73.1) and quarterback rating (182.3) than Lobbestael. Stanford runs the ball better and more frequently than WSU, and Luck often leaves games early, since the Cardinal ranks in the top seven nationally with per-game averages of 46.2 points for and 10.6 against.
Stanford coach David Shaw, promoted from offensive coordinator when Jim Harbaugh left to take over the NFL?s San Francisco 49ers this year, occasionally lets Luck call his own plays ? something most NFL teams don?t allow, let alone a college team.
?I have never seen someone with that much football intelligence,? UCLA safety Tony Dye said.
BOWL GOAL
Last week?s loss to UCLA may prove quite costly to the Cougars? goal of playing in a bowl game for the first time in eight years.
Three of WSU?s seven remaining games involve ranked teams: No. 7 Stanford, No. 9 Oregon (4-1) and No. 18 Arizona State (5-1). The other four contests match the Cougars against 1-4 Oregon State, 3-2 California, 2-3 Utah and 4-1 Washington.
The Cardinal (5-0, 3-0 Pac-12) is riding a 13-game winning streak, longest in the nation. The Cougars (3-2, 1-1) have lost 15 straight games to Top 25 opponents since knocking off 16th-ranked Oregon in 2006.
Stanford is favored by 21 points in the game, which is homecoming for WSU.
STRANGE BUT TRUE
Stanford has the top-ranked defense in the Pac-12 but did not force an interception until last week.
On the 172nd passing attempt of the season, safety Michael Thomas finally broke the cold streak when he picked off Tyler Hansen?s pass in the fourth quarter of the Cardinal?s 48-7 rout of Colorado on Saturday.
For a defense that is allowing a league-low 10.6 points per game, erasing that perplexing omission has been the No. 1 goal.
?What I love about it, even with all that chatter about interceptions, our guys haven?t been running out of position to try to make it happen,? Shaw said. ?We?ve got our hands on balls. It?s not like guys are running wide open. We?ve had a couple chances. It?s just the way that it is. There?s nothing schematically we have to change.?
Stanford?s defense has dominated for long stretches in every game and is perhaps the biggest reason outside of Luck that the team has outscored opponents 231-53.
The interception streak lasted so long it became a running punchline on the sidelines every time somebody whiffed on a pass.
?We?ve been making jokes about it the whole time,? Thomas said. ?So I?m glad it happened.?
EXTRA POINTS
The Cardinal is second only to Alabama in rushing defense, allowing 61.8 yards on the ground per game. ? Stanford is tied for the fewest turnovers. The Cardinal has lost the ball three times, setting the pace with LSU, Wisconsin and Texas Tech. ?
Though Washington State coach Paul Wulff has said backup Marshall Lobbestael will start at quarterback, as he has since Jeff Tuel fractured his left, non-throwing, clavicle in the opener against Idaho State on Sept. 3.
Tuel has been working with the first team in practice this week and, though not cleared to play by Tuesday, could make his first appearance against visiting Stanford on Saturday.
"We always go into games thinking everybody's going to play," Shaw said. "We prepare for everybody. If they don't happen to play, that's fine, but we're not going to be surprised."
Tuel has been working with the first team in practice this week and, though not cleared to play by Tuesday, could make his first appearance against visiting Stanford on Saturday.
"We always go into games thinking everybody's going to play," Shaw said. "We prepare for everybody. If they don't happen to play, that's fine, but we're not going to be surprised."
I will happily go to battle with Lobbestael, I was impressed with their offense. They will be a live DOG against Trees.
