Stanford Football: Will David Shaw bring edge back to Cardinal in 2019?

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PALO ALTO, CA – AUGUST 31: Head coach David Shaw of the Stanford Cardinal talks with K.J. Costello #3 after the Cardinal scored a touchdown against the San Diego State Aztecs at Stanford Stadium on August 31, 2018 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

How will the Cardinal fare in 2019?

Week 1: Northwestern (Aug. 31)
Week 2: at USC (Sept. 7)
Week 3: at UCF (Sept. 14)
Week 4: Oregon (Sept. 21)
Week 5: at Oregon State (Sept. 28)
Week 6: Washington (Oct. 5)
Week 7: BYE
Week 8: UCLA (Oct. 17)
Week 9: Arizona (Oct. 26)
Week 10: BYE
Week 11: at Colorado (Nov. 9)
Week 12: at Washington State (Nov. 16)
Week 13: California (Nov. 23)
Week 14: Notre Dame (Nov. 30)

The slate isn’t easy for Stanford. The Pac-12 may be down, but they catch a few tough matchups in the conference. The November trip to Washington State will be a difficult one, as will hosting Washington in October. The three-week salvo that features Stanford traveling to USC and UCF, and then hosting Oregon will be especially difficult.

Additionally, the Cardinal the should be applauded for going out and scheduling interesting and fun non-conference matchups. While the Alabamas and Clemsons of the college football world are still scheduling jokes like Wofford and Western Carolina, the Cardinal lined up Northwestern, UCF and Notre Dame.

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Prediction: 8-4, 6-3 Pac-12

An identical finish to 2018 will say more about the schedule than Stanford. They should be a better team, but they also play a much tougher schedule. Everything gets judged on the surface record in college football, but this 8-4 team will be a better unit than the 2018 squad.

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