STANFORD, Calif. – In football this fall, protests during the national anthem have become bigger stories than games themselves.
Two former Stanford players -- the Seattle Seahawks' Doug Baldwin and the Miami Dolphins' Michael Thomas -- have been at the forefront in this area. Baldwin led the Seahawks' unified arm-locking stance, and Thomas has kneeled in protest while holding his hand over his heart in respect.
At Stanford games, both teams are off the field during the anthem. But David Shaw, Stanford's Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football, addressed the subject at his Tuesday press conference in advance of Saturday's game against UCLA at the Rose Bowl.
"I love our anthem," said Shaw, whose father, Willie, was an Air Force sergeant who served in Vietnam. "I love our flag, I love what it stands for. I love the history of our flag and our anthem.
"I've told our guys, 'If you want to stand for something, understand the history of it and be able to defend your position.' As much as I love this country and our military, and I think we need to support our police officers every way we can, I'm also one of the people who sit here and say, we can make things better than they have been.
"That's the great thing about our country and our Constitution. It never was meant to be set in stone, it was meant to be adjusted and grow as our country grows. I understand if there are things that people want to have changed, and I'm all for it. We need to be better to each other.
"We need to support our police officers. The biggest thing we need for them are: We need them to protect us, and we need them to get home safely. That's the mantra we need to take.
"For those people who just want to complain, that does nothing for me. But for those people who say, 'Hey, let's make this country better,' I think that's on all of us as American citizens."
Kicker Conrad Ukropina has been so dependable and deadly accurate -- his 80 consecutive successful extra-point tries are a Stanford record -- that it's natural to wonder what his limits are.
Holder Dallas Lloyd insists that Ukropina made a 60-yarder while they were vacationing together in Hawaii. Ukropina said he hit from that distance in practice under the eyes of special teams coordinator Pete Alamar.
"If I didn't see it, it didn't happen," Shaw said.
However, "He's been really good from the mid-50's. With the game on the line, I don't mind stretching that, because he's a gamer."
Ukropina, whose career-long is 52, isn't picky.
"I don't really have a range," he said. "Wherever the ball is, I'll go out and kick it. I'll kick it as far and as straight as I can."
Ukropina is co-terming, meaning he will earn his master's in communication in one year. Ukropina has embraced the use of virtual reality and has been fascinating with the technology.
His master's thesis involves building empathy and awareness of the plight of the homeless through virtual reality. By the time he's done, 1,000 volunteers to the project will wear the Oculus Rift headset in San Francisco while chronicling the different stages of homelessness. The idea is to give the virtual reality viewer a different perspective on homelessness that somehow makes it appear more real.
"It's basically seeing how we can take virtual reality to raise awareness by putting you in situations that you wouldn't be able to go into in real life," Ukropina said.
One of the oddest trends in college football is a player dropping the ball just before reaching the goal line on a long play.
The past two weeks, it happened to Cal on a late fourth-quarter run against Texas, on a Clemson punt return against Troy, and on an Oklahoma kickoff return against Ohio State. The latter was the only of the three not reversed by instant replay, though it should have been.
"I don't understand it, personally," Shaw said. "I don't think anybody that's coached anybody who's dropped the ball understands it either."
And don't worry about Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey, the reigning national AP Player of the Year. He has no plans for a 'drop' of his own.
"I have the same opinion as you do: What are you doing?" McCaffrey said. "Finish through the end zone with the ball in your hands."
Is there a 'coolness' factor behind the drops?
McCaffrey says no.
"I don't think that's a thing," McCaffrey said. "A lot of guys get too excited before they actually get into the end zone."
Kori Shaw, Coach Shaw's wife, is none too happy about it either.
"The biggest pet peeve she has is guys who celebrate before they cross the goal line," Shaw said. "If she can't handle it or understand it, it drives her insane. So, when I go home, I like to have a peaceful, restful night. The best way that's going to happen is if our guys cross the goal line and hand the ball to the official."
There was hope that defensive tackle Harrison Phillips would be available for the USC game after being injured in the opener against Kansas State.
It didn't happen, and Shaw is thankful.
The Cardinal defense did just fine and the extra time has enabled a fuller recovery.
"Harrison is making great progress," Shaw said. "It looks like he's on course to play this week."
McCaffrey said he never has lost motivation to improve. Asked, 'In what specific areas?'
"Everything," McCaffrey said. "Coach Shaw always harps on being the most complete back you can be. That's something I work on every single day, always trying to improve my craft. There are a lot of things I need to fix based on the last two games. I'm definitely going to try to work on those."
Cornerback Alijah Holder is having an outstanding season. Shaw said that Holder was the team's co-defensive player of the game against Kansas State and the overall player of the game against USC. He leads the Pac-12 with five pass breakups and had seven tackles and forced a fumble against the Trojans.
"Most important for me, he's playing very disciplined," Shaw said. "He's got long arms, he's athletic, he's learned to be physical at the line of scrimmage. He does a good job reading routes, not taking the cheese -- not jumping on things he doesn't need to jump on -- and coming up and being physical in the running game."
The secondary shut down USC receiving star JuJu Smith-Schuster, allowing him only three catches for short gains. This week, the opponent to watch is the Bruins' quarterback, sophomore Josh Rosen. He passed for 343 yards against Texas A&M and 307 more against BYU.
"The biggest thing is being disciplined," Shaw said. "You can't be a guy who trusts the quarterback's eyes. Josh is a guy who could be looking to the left and flip around and go to his right and throw a strike. You need to make sure you are conscious of your zone, who's in your zone, and stay disciplined no matter where the quarterback's looking.
"In man-to-man, regardless of how far down the field you are, you can't relax because the quarterback's got a big arm. You just can't ever relax when you're playing defensive back against a quarterback like this."
Second-half leads have dictated a conservative approach down the stretch in Stanford's first two games, the better to use the clock and shorten the game and reduce the amount of possessions by the opponent.
Ryan Burns, a senior quarterback who earned his first starting assignment this season, is 22 of 32 for 258 yards passing this season, with two touchdowns and one interception. Fans still haven't seen what he can do when Stanford is forced to go the air, or when trying to rally the team.
However, Shaw said he is content with Burns' progress.
"Ryan's continued to make strides," Shaw said. "He's been very efficient, he's been very decisive. He's scrambled a couple of times for first downs, which has been huge. A big part of our success over the years are big athletic quarterbacks who can move the chains with their feet."
The game plan? "We've got to make sure we're high percentage and also explosive, and that we're taking care of the football and scrambling when we need to."
Stanford has dominated UCLA in recent years, winning the past eight meetings. The one-sided series has not been easy. Don't forget the 2012 Pac-12 title game, won by Stanford 27-24 in a rainy Stanford Stadium.
Previous success has no bearing, Shaw said.
"Nothing that happened before this year and nothing that happened before this game, matters," Shaw said. "Everything is about what's in front of us Saturday. We don't live life in a rearview mirror."
The return of Bryce Love to the backfield against USC immediately paid off. A play fake to Love helped free McCaffrey for his 56-yard touchdown reception, for example. However, the partnership still has room to grow. Love missed much practice time and his time on the field will be limited at first to specific plays and situations, and will grow as Love increases his reps.