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Stanford football: When conservatism decreases your odds

Like any number of presidential candidates, David Shaw wears his conservative badge proudly. We don’t know his political leanings, but as a football strategist, he’s to the right of Fox News.

Take Saturday’s loss to Northwestern. On a 3rd-and-14 play from the Stanford 29 in the first quarter, most coaches would have sent Francis Owusu, or tight end Austin Hooper or tailback Christian McCaffrey downfield or on a crossing pattern in the hopes of breaking a big gain. He called for a run. Remound Wright was stopped well short of the first down.

Next possession.