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Stanford Football: 5 reasons Cardinal will beat Oregon State

By Connor Muldowney

PALO ALTO, CA - OCTOBER 14: JJ Arcega-Whiteside #19 of the Stanford Cardinal is congratulated by teammates after he catches a three yard touchdown pass against the Oregon Ducks during the first quarter of their NCAA football game at Stanford Stadium on October 14, 2017 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
PALO ALTO, CA - OCTOBER 14: JJ Arcega-Whiteside #19 of the Stanford Cardinal is congratulated by teammates after he catches a three yard touchdown pass against the Oregon Ducks during the first quarter of their NCAA football game at Stanford Stadium on October 14, 2017 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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Stanford football travels to Corvallis on Thursday night to take on the hapless Oregon State Beavers and here’s why the Cardinal will win.

Heading into Week 9 and looking to keep that positive momentum going, Stanford football will hope to avoid a trap against a seemingly hapless Oregon State team in Corvallis. The Cardinal play the first important game of the week on Thursday night and the Beavers will be hopeful for a monster upset to shake up the Pac-12 race.

Currently, Stanford is atop the Pac-12 North division, but things could change in a heartbeat, and 2017 has been the year of the upset. Will the Cardinal take care of business against the Beavers in Week 9? If I were a betting man, I’d say yes, and there are many reasons for that.

Here’s why Stanford will take care of business against Oregon State on Thursday night and become bowl eligible.

5. Oregon State’s poor defense

There’s not much Oregon State does right on the defensive side of the ball. Against Stanford’s rising offense, the Beavers are going to struggle and a certain running back for the Cardinal will take advantage.

For starters, the run defense ranks No. 101 in the country, the pass defense ranks 121st, the scoring defense is No. 128 (third-to-last), the Beavers rank 115th in total sacks and 78th in interceptions. This defense just doesn’t have the firepower to keep any offense with a pulse in check and that will burn Oregon State on Thursday.

Although Keller Chryst isn’t an elite passer, by any means, he will have a nice game against that lackluster secondary and Bryce Love and Cameron Scarlett will put up big numbers on the ground. There’s a good chance this Stanford offense eclipses the 500-yard mark for total offense and when that does happen, this game will be a blowout.

Oregon State’s defense could get embarrassed yet again.

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