Stanford football can make statement vs. upset-minded Northwestern
Stanford football looks to make its first playoff appearance in 2019. Can the Cardinal start the season off right with a crucial win over Northwestern?
In one of the biggest games of the first full weekend of college football, the Northwestern Wildcats go on the road to take on the Stanford Cardinal. In only the eighth meeting (Stanford leads the series 3-2-2) between these two teams, each is looking to make their name known early throughout their respective conferences.
For the Cardinal, they look for quarterback KJ Costello to have a big season after stepping up in 2018. Costello will be without his top target from a year ago, as well as his partner in the backfield, Bryce Love, both of whom entered the NFL.
The Wildcats on the other hand, will have a new QB1 under center with Clemson-transfer, Hunter Johnson. The former five-star recruit looks to carry a Wildcat team fresh off a Big Ten West division title, looking to make it back to Indianapolis in 2019.
It’s the top game of the mid-afternoon matchups and it should be a good one.
Here’s how you can watch Saturday’s game between Stanford and Northwestern:
Date: Saturday, Aug. 31
Time: 4 p.m. ET
Location: Palo Alto, Calif.
Venue: Stanford Stadium
TV: FOX
Live Stream: FOX Sports Go | FuboTV
Keys to Victory
For Stanford, they’ll want to get Costello going early because once he’s clicking, it is hard to slow him down. Defensively, the Cardinal will need to get to Johnson early. Although he is a top talent, Johnson hasn’t played in over a year and is making his first career start on the road. Expect the Cardinal defense to apply pressure and force Johnson to throw some first half interceptions.
On the opposite side, the Wildcats have experience and will need everyone to step up defensively for Northwestern to pull off the upset. A couple of turnovers could push momentum into the Wildcats’ favor. For the Wildcats offense, they’ll need to ease Johnson into the atmosphere. Make his first few throws easy completions and get the run game going early on.
Betting Odds
Odds courtesy of Bovada
Point Spread: Stanford -6.5
Over/Under: 48
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Prediction
The Northwestern Wildcats are a tough opponent to play, just ask their Big Ten foes. But the Cardinal are able to take advantage of a weak Wildcat offensive line and force several first half three-and-outs and jump out to a decent lead that they never give up. The Wildcats have a chance to make things interesting late in the game but the Cardinal force Johnson to throw an interception and the Cardinal add an early quality win on their playoff resume.
Final: Northwestern 20, Stanford 31