Stanford Football: Game-by-game predictions for 2017

Stanford football enters the 2017 season with high expectations, but what does each game have in store?

Coming off a solid season in 2016, Stanford football looks to build on a 10-3 finish and mold itself into one of the best teams in the country. The talent is there, too. David Shaw has assembled a solid team under his watch and he’s ready to kick things off on Saturday.

The Cardinal are one of the first Power Five teams in the country to start their season on Saturday, Aug. 26, and for fans of Stanford, that’s perfect. The long offseason has brought plenty of anticipation and fans of opposing schools are probably jealous that Stanford gets to give its fans a taste of football a week earlier than everyone else.

Even more intriguing is the fact that the Cardinal begin the season across the Pacific Ocean in Sydney, Australia. They will face off against a Rice team in which they closed the 2016 regular season against.

Let’s take a look at that matchup and the rest of the regular season schedule’s game-by-game predictions.

As previously mentioned, Stanford and Rice met at the end of the 2016 season, and the Cardinal had their way with the Owls, pulverizing them at home to the tune of 41-17.

The same will happen this year. With a revamped offense and an improving defense, Stanford will likely hold the Owls to 10 points or less. The Cardinal had a strong 2016 season, but the 2017 crop of talent seems to be on the up-and-up.

Rice, on the other hand, returns just 11 total starters and must replace its quarterback, running back, tight end and two receivers on an offense that finished 86th in the nation last year. This one could get ugly early on and Owl fans will be turning off their TVs in rapid succession.

Final: Rice 6, Stanford 41 (1-0)