Seeing the law
With the game clock rule returning to its 2005 state (it doesn't start until the ball is snapped on a change of possession, and doesn't start on a kickoff until the ball is fielded), the game was a lot longer. It is part of the reason Stanford ran 85 plays, and why UCLA ran 79.
So in looking at Stanford hitting three plays for more than 40 yards, Bruins defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker said the number of plays must be considered.
"I think it's the law of averages,'' Walker said. "You're playing the same guys over and over again. It could have easily been a game where they got 600 yards of offense against us. Eighty-five plays is a lot of plays. Not to say we played perfectly, because we didn't, but we could have played a lot worse.''
Comments
I am glad they moved the kickoff spot back to the 30 yard line (nice seeing more kickoff returns), but honestly, I don't think returning to the old clock rules was a good idea. There are going to be some VERY long games this year. I don't think we would have beaten SC last year under the old clock rules if they had 10 or 15 additional plays.
Posted by: mrybill | September 2, 2007 07:52 PM
I thought the games were way too long. 4 hours! 3 hours is enough. Walker has a valid point obviously ... offenses are going to have more plays to get yards. But Stanford had 300 yards already by the 4th quarter if I remember correctly, which is still almost double what they got against us last year, so that argument is a bit misplaced.
Posted by: BruinCore | September 3, 2007 09:23 AM