Stanford Football: 5 reasons the Cardinal will beat Arizona State in Week 5

1. Stanford will be treating this like a must-win

Every game here on out for Stanford will be crucial. In fact, the Cardinal began the season 1-0  after beating Rice in Australia, but they dropped two straight games, including the Pac-12 opener to USC. On top of the USC loss, the Cardinal dropped, on the road, in upset fashion against San Diego State.

Those two defeats dropped this team from a potential Pac-12 favorite to unranked. Sure, other teams have lost two games early in the season before making serious runs (Penn State, USC and Oklahoma in 2016) but the College Football Playoff is likely out of the question.

Still, the Arizona State game remains crucial for the Cardinal if they’re going to keep their Pac-12 North hopes alive. They control their own destiny in the North and if the Cardinal win out, they will be crowned the division champ with a chance to avenge the Week 3 loss against USC.

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When teams play like everything is on the line, it usually means the sense of urgency works in their favor. Stanford will be playing with that sense of urgency and Arizona State will be completely caught off guard.