Stanford Football: 3 takeaways from ugly win over Oregon State
By Jesse Smith
Stanford football avoided a monster upset against Oregon State in Corvallis Thursday, and here’s what we learned.
The Stanford Cardinal had to travel to Corvallis, Ore., on Thursday for a primetime game on ESPN to face the Oregon State Beavers.
Stanford came into the game 5-2 overall and 4-1 in the Pac-12 and Oregon State came into the game 1-6 overall and 0-4 in conference play, so many expected No. 20 Stanford to make easy work of Oregon State. However, without star running back Bryce Love, they looked out of sorts and kept Oregon State in the game.
It took a late turnover to seal the deal for No. 20 Stanford to defeat a very gritty Oregon State team, 15-14. Here are three takeaways from the near-upset.
3. No love without Bryce Love
Junior running back Bryce Love didn’t play on Thursday against Oregon State. Love is a Heisman front runner and nation’s leading rusher with 1,387 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns. He averages 10.3 yards per carry — yes that is a first down a carry. He missed the game due to an ankle injury.
Follow junior running back Cameron Scarlett got to hold down the fort without Love in the fold. Scarlett ran for just 72 yards on 17 carries for 4.2 yards per carry. With quick math, it shows he ran for more than six yards a carry less than the normal starter.
Love averages 193 yards per game and the Stanford unit only tallied 81 yards without the Heisman candidate in the lineup. Scarlett also had one catch for three yards, but as a whole they couldn’t fill the shoes of their star.
Without Love on the field, Stanford looks like a below average team that could barely win in the MAC (I’m from the Midwest so I’m going to use them as an analogy). Without Love, Stanford has no chance at the Pac-12 title. It needs to do everything in its power to get him healthy, because the Cardinal had no business winning Thursday night.