David Shaw takes blame for Stanford’s offensive woes

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Though much of the attention fell on quarterback Kevin Hogan during and after Stanford’s loss to Arizona State on Saturday night, head coach David Shaw said somebody else deserves the blame: himself.

“I’ve got to do a better job on offense, getting our guys chances to be successful,” he said Tuesday. “I take the blame. There’s been a lot of criticism of our offense. I deserve it.”

Changes need to be made to strengthen the stumbling offense, he said, without specifying what those changes might be. He clearly was talking about strategic tweaks rather than personnel changes.

The Cardinal’s loss in Tempe, Ariz., dropped them to 4-3, 2-2 in the Pac-12. It’s the first time since 2009 that they’ve lost three regular-season games.

The Cardinal showed last year that they still can get to the Rose Bowl despite two conference losses. To have a chance to do that again, they’ll probably have to run the table against some very tough competition.

For that matter, it probably won’t be easy against Oregon State at home Saturday, especially because nose tackle David Parry is unlikely to play. Wide receiver Devon Cajuste is likely to return after missing the ASU game, Shaw said.

Arizona State held the Cardinal to 76 yards rushing, two weeks after they had 47 against Notre Dame. Stanford’s rushing yards per game (139.9) and per play (4.3) are its lowest since Jim Harbaugh’s first season as head coach, 2007, when the team went 4-8.

Stanford head coach David Shaw says changes are needed on offense, but that doesn’t mean different personnel. Stanford head coach David Shaw says changes are needed on offense, but that doesn’t mean different personnel. Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close David Shaw takes blame for Stanford’s offensive woes 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

This is not to say Stanford is nearly that bad running the ball. It’s not, even with four new starters on the offensive line. Barry Sanders, for instance, averages 7.1 yards per carry. The net total was brought down by 15 sacks, which count against rushing yardage.

Being held to 10 points in two losses and 14 in another is “inexcusable” with the playmakers Stanford has on offense, Shaw said.

One of the players Shaw wants to help is Hogan, who struggled with his footwork and accuracy against ASU’s pressure. “He could have played better the other night,” Shaw said. But the quarterback wasn’t “terrible,” he said.

Radio commentator Todd Husak, a former Stanford quarterback, and ESPN analyst Rod Gilmore were critical of Hogan during the game.

Shortly after the game, Shaw defended Hogan and said the blocking was the main problem. Hogan threw 20 incompletions in 39 passes. He also seemed to be looking down his receivers; that and his long delivery gave defenders a chance to break on the ball.

Early in the game, Hogan didn’t read a blitz, got hit and fumbled, although he recovered. He forced a couple of throws to Ty Montgomery, one of which probably should have been intercepted in the end zone. Hogan threw another pass behind Michael Rector.

In a final, desperate series, he was off the mark on four of five throws, and only on the last one was he under heavy pressure.

Assessing Hogan’s reading of blitzes, Shaw said that “90 percent of the time, Kevin’s eyes were in the right spot.”

Shaw credited Arizona State for “a phenomenal job of scheming us. They gave us a bunch of different looks to make us hesitant. … When you hesitate at guys running full speed, they hit your quarterback. That’s what happened multiple times.”

Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. E-mail: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @tomgfitzgerald

Sinking feeling

Stanford’s rushing yards have dropped this season: