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Know Your Opponent: UCLA Football vs Stanford Cardinal

By Michael Chavez

Sep 17, 2016; Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal team prepares to enter the field prior to a NCAA football game against the USC Trojans at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 17, 2016; Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal team prepares to enter the field prior to a NCAA football game against the USC Trojans at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /
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Stanford Offense

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past two seasons you know the one guy that makes this offense go is stud RB McCaffrey. With a combination of size, speed, vision and burst rarely seen, it’s no wonder the Cardinal want to get him the ball as often as they can.

Well the Bruins displayed more of an attacking look up front last week against BYU. In addition to penetrating into the backfield more, they were stout across the line and used their speed to string out running plays which is one way to contain this Stanford running game.

Offensive coordinator Mike Bloomgren calls a conservative but quintessentially Cardinal one. The Stanford offense is predicated on power, execution, and efficiency. With a powerful and deep offensive line, the Cardinal are often able to impose their will on opponents. The bread and butter of this offense is the run game. The Cardinal use it from almost every formation you can think of whether it be the power-I, the pistol, four wide or even direct snaps to the running back.

There’s plenty of power calls with pulling interior linemen and even a sprinkle of read option in the gameplan.

Led by senior quarterback Ryan Burns who earned his first start when Stanford kicked off the season, this unit is just limited to running the ball. Burns who measures in at 6’4″ 232lbs, has a strong arm and although not a burner has the ability to move the chains with his legs. He’s accurate with his throws but is still is green.

The Cardinal have always had a plethora of tight ends and this season is no different where they can lineup in three tight end formations. Not only do they function as extra blockers but they account for a huge chunk of offensive production. That is of course providing they actually throw the ball.

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In two games this season the Cardinal have logged 33 passing attempts for a total of 269 yards. Most offenses average that per game. What most teams do not average is 11.69 yards per pass completion. Clearly when the Cardinal throw the ball they make it count. This stems from teams being so focused on stopping the run that they are willing to take a hit in the passing department.

They also like to get the ball into their playmaker’s hands and that can lead to some tricky formations. One they used a few times against Kansas State was a stacked formation outside with speedster Michael Rector lined up in front of McCaffrey who was split out wide. This alignment is especially difficult for defenses to combat because there is no way to press both receivers and one of them will by default have a free release. The corner has to decide at the line who to take and if he takes the man in front, McCaffrey will be wide open. If he covers McCaffrey, Rector will be open for an intermediate throw.

How does UCLA’s defense stack up against this? Well the Bruins displayed more of an attacking look up front last week against BYU. In addition to penetrating into the backfield more, they were stout across the line and used their speed to string out running plays which is one way to contain this Stanford running game.

They also were able to spy BYU QB Taysom Hill and keep him from making too much happen with his legs. That will be vital this week against an opportunistic runner in Burns.

Lastly, the UCLA secondary has been hyped as one of the best in the country and will need to show it against the Cardinal. While mostly quiet, the Stanford wideouts are talented but have limited opportunities in an offense that wants to keep Burns from having to sling it all over the place. Should the Bruins force the Cardinal to throw more often, they have the talent to stick with the receivers.