Stanford Football: Way-too-early game-by-game predictions for 2018

The 2017 season was somewhat successful for Stanford football and head coach David Shaw, but could 2018 be even better?

Stanford made an unthinkable run to the Pac-12 Championship Game in 2017, beating out Washington for the Pac-12 North crown. The Cardinal return guys like Bryce Love, JJ Arcega-Whiteside and KJ Costello is the presumed starting quarterback for 2018 with Keller Chryst announcing his intention to transfer.

With all the returning talent, does that mean the Cardinal will have a good chance to defend its Pac-12 North title from 2017? It sure looks that way, but it might be too early to tell.

How will the Cardinal fare during the 2018 season? Here are some way-too-early predictions.

In 2017, San Diego State pulled off a massive upset of Stanford after the Cardinal climbed the polls to No. 19. The Aztecs were able to neutralize Bryce Love’s big day with an impressive showing from Rashaad Penny and quarterback Christian Chapman.

The Cardinal will host San Diego State in 2018 with one thing on their minds: revenge.

Luckily Penny is gone and that will force junior Juwan Washington into the backfield as the starting running back. He could be just as talented as Penny but we have yet to see him get a steady workload. Stanford’s run defense may struggle with him early, but the Aztecs are going to rely too heavily on him which will cause the Cardinal to focus solely on the run game. Chapman is a decent quarterback, but he’s not going to beat the Cardinal through the air.

Moreover, the KJ Costello era is going to get off on the right foot with a convincing performance of over 250 passing yards and three total touchdowns while Bryce Love adds 150 rushing yards of his own.

Final Score: San Diego State 20, Stanford 34 (1-0)