This Group Needs to Step Up For Stanford Against San Jose State

Last Saturday afternoon in Charlottesville, VA, Stanford had a tough showing, especially against the sailing Virginia offense. They allowed 48 points, scoring just 20. Defense was definitely a place for improvement, but a position room that may have been overlooked, is the negative offensive line play that Stanford showed on Saturday.

In the offseason, Stanford’s offensive line wasn’t regarded as one of their top position groups, especially considering their issues from the previous season. However, early in the season, the offensive line had moments where they looked great. In games against Hawaii and Boston College, they looked exceptionally good, even with star players injured.

Going into Virginia, the ACC injury report announced that Stanford, once again, would be without their top two O-linemen, Simione Pale and Nick Fattig. Against Boston College, the O-line depth stepped up, but it would take another great performance on Saturday, which the room failed to do.

The most notable statistic of the night was simple. Ben Gulbranson was sacked five times. That matched his total from the entire season, through the previous three games.

Throughout the game, there weren’t many glaring issues, but it seemed like each and every play, Virginia would get their defensive players attacking the quarterback. Most of the time, it was an edge rusher that broke through, but luckily Gulbranson got it out in time.

And that goes for a lot of the game. It felt like at times, Micah Ford’s bruising rushing completely made a solid play out of nothing. The run blocking wasn’t great, and although the pass blocking was better, it took heroics from Gulbranson to make plays, even while being hit.

With all this being said, some credit is deserved. Stanford’s O-line has had a solid start to the year, proving that they have the ability to show vast improvement over where the group has been in recent seasons. With their top two blockers down, it’s hard to be as solid, and therefore mistakes are more likely as the new group comes together.

But in order to win football games, players have to step up. Against Boston College, every single player on the line stepped up, and made it easier for Gulbranson, Ford, and others to look fantastic. But when blocking doesn’t work, sometimes you lose by four touchdowns.

Football starts at the offensive line, which is what gives the quarterback time to throw and the running back room to run. The O-line has to be great in order to win a football game, and we have seen glimpses of what Stanford's group can be. But with that being said, improvement is needed as well.

If Stanford’s O-line can work around a few errors, the Cardinal should be back in business, and have a great chance to take down San Jose State in the Bill Walsh Legacy Game on Saturday.