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Stanford Football: No Bryce Love against Oregon State

By Matthew Bartlett

SAN DIEGO, CA - SEPTEMBER 16: Bryce Love #20 of the Stanford Cardinal reacts to scoring a rushing touchdown during the second half of a game against the San Diego State Aztecs at Qualcomm Stadium on September 16, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO, CA - SEPTEMBER 16: Bryce Love #20 of the Stanford Cardinal reacts to scoring a rushing touchdown during the second half of a game against the San Diego State Aztecs at Qualcomm Stadium on September 16, 2017 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /
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Stanford football will be without Heisman hopeful Bryce Love for their Thursday night tilt against Oregon State.

No Love? No problem. The Cardinal shouldn’t have much trouble with a Oregon State team that recently had their head coach mutually part ways with the university. The Gary Anderson era is over in Corvallis, but the Beavers will still be tasked with playing out their final string of games. Oregon State is 1-6 on the season and seems destined to finish in the cellar of the Pac-12 this season.

Stanford faces that Oregon State team on Thursday. They will be without star running back Bryce Love for the game. He is out with an ankle injury. Love has 1,387 yards rushing on the season and 11 touchdowns. The entirety of the Stanford offense has gone through Love. Taking over for Love in the Cardinal backfield will be junior Cameron Scarlett.

While no coach will ever admit to overlooking an opponent, it doesn’t look like Stanford head coach David Shaw has much to worry about when it comes to the Beavers. Instead, the Cardinal have a Pac-12 title to contend for. That didn’t look to be the case when they started the season 1-2, but they enter the game against Oregon State 4-1 in the Pac-12 in the thick of the conference race.

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Stanford’s final four games are against No. 15 Washington State, No. 12 Washington, Cal and No. 9 Notre Dame. They’re going to need Love back and healthy for those contests if they have any real chance of contending for the conference crown. So for the sake of the season, it makes sense to let Love take the night off and get him as healthy as possible for the road ahead. And let’s be honest; Oregon State isn’t exactly a giant killer.

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