Washington State football looks to maintain momentum at Stanford
Washington State football is fresh off an emotional win and will look to avoid a letdown against Stanford, hoping to keep pace in the Pac-12 North race.
Washington State football coach Mike Leach dubbed last week’s atmosphere “Cougstock” amid College GameDay’s first visit to Pullman. An electric crowd helped the Cougars jump all over Oregon early, and hang on for a 34-20 win that lifted them all the way up to No. 14 in the AP poll, and positions the Cougars for a potential run at the Rose Bowl.
With Washington State joined by Washington and Stanford with only one conference loss, along with Oregon waiting in the wings to get back into it, the Pac-12 North is crowded at the top, and might just be the most intriguing divisional race in college football down the stretch.
Washington State is certainly on the upward trend, and Leach’s crew has certainly already exceeded expectations for this season, but they’re hoping to continue their momentum in Palo Alto as they look to set up a potential winner-take-all Apple Cup against Washington at the end of the regular season.
After blowout losses at the hands of Notre Dame and Utah, Stanford was forgotten about, but last week’s road win over Arizona State has the Cardinal in prime position to make a play for the PAC-12 North title. Their fate will be decided over the next two weeks as they host the Cougars this week, and then travel to Seattle to take on Washington next.
This hasn’t been your traditional Stanford team, with a leaky defense and a rushing attack that has been unable to get going. Even still, David Shaw has his Cardinal in position to make serious noise in the Pac-12 if they can knock off Washington State on Saturday night.
Here’s how you can watch Saturday night’s Pac-12 showdown between Washington State and Stanford:
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Date: Saturday, Oct. 27
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Location: Stanford, Calif.
Venue: Stanford Stadium
TV: PAC-12 Network
Live Stream: Pac-12 Live | FuboTV
Keys to Victory
Washington State will look to continue to stymie the Stanford ground attack, and make the Cardinal one-dimensional. The Cougars’ defense rarely gets praise, but they held a high-powered Oregon offense to just 328 yards last week. If they can bring similar energy to the table on the road, then they should have similar defensive success against a stagnant Cardinal offense.
Stanford must figure out a way to unlock Bryce Love and Cameron Scarlett; Stanford ranks 126th nationally in rushing yards per game at just 91.6, a far cry from the typical Stanford dominance up front. They’ll likely need to score some points to keep up with Washington State’s air-raid attack, as the Stanford defense has also uncharacteristically struggled this season, ranking 80th in the country in yards allowed. They’ll need to put some pressure on Cougars’ quarterback Gardner Minshew, or the graduate transfer senior will likely light up the Stanford secondary.
Betting Odds
Odds courtesy of oddsshark.com
Point Spread: Stanford -3
Over/Under: 53
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Prediction
If this is the week that Stanford finally gets their ground game going, then the Cardinal will have a great shot at pulling out the home victory. That feels unlikely, though, as at this point in the season you mostly are who you are, and this just hasn’t been your typical ground-and-pound Stanford team that wears opponents down. Their defensive struggles aren’t likely to get any better this week either as Washington State brings one of the nation’s most prolific offenses into town. Look for Washington State to maintain their momentum and take one step closer to the Pac-12 title game.
Final Score: Washington State 34, Stanford 24