Stanford Football: 5 reasons Bryce Love will win 2018 Heisman Trophy
By Zach Bigalke
2. He will keep Stanford in Pac-12 and national contention
The surest way to ensure a strong Heisman campaign is to play on a team that is high in the national polls and on a hot streak in the win column. Stanford has the benefit of entering 2018 as the defending Pac-12 North champions, and they played conference champion USC close in the title game rematch.
Funny enough, the Heisman campaign of Bryce Love could boil down to how well the defense rebuilds in 2018. David Shaw’s crew must cope with the loss of eight defensive starters from last year’s division champs. The Cardinal have traditionally featured strong defenses, though, and there is plenty of talent waiting in the wings for their chance to shine.
Love already showed last year how critical his contribution is to the Stanford effort. When he missed the Oregon State game to nurse his ankle injury, the Cardinal nearly coughed up an upset to the Beavers. Even in Corvallis, and even given Oregon State’s penchant for pulling off stunners, that would have been right up among their greatest heists ever.
It wasn’t meant to be, and a Stanford team that was supposed to be in transition instead pulled back atop the Pac-12 North. With its veteran offense leading the way, the Cardinal should have no trouble keeping pace with Washington in the North and threatening to win the Pac-12 outright in 2018.