Coming off back-to-back Rose Bowl seasons, the Cardinal are ready to make their mark on the post-BCS era football scene. Three very winnable games and three potential pitfalls against teams that have upskittled Stanford in recent history await them in the first half of the season. How will they fare? Let’s take a look at the first six games.
2014 Stanford Cardinal Schedule Analysis: Games 1-6
Game 1: vs. UC Davis, August 30
Stanford will kickoff the 2014 season by taking on the Aggies of UC Davis. Everyone expects this game to be a blowout, and it’s highly likely that it will be. To review, UC Davis went 5-7 last season, while Stanford went to the Rose Bowl. Stanford will unload their most painfully boring offensive plays that will see Kevin Hogan/Evan Crower/Ryan Burns handing the ball off to just about every player on the team, possibly including the Stanford Tree. Despite lots of new starters on defense, they too will find their footing quickly and the game will be out of hand by half time.
Prediction: Stanford wins by at least three touchdowns, taking them to 1-0.
Game 2: vs. USC, September 6
So, in Week 1, Stanford plays UC Davis and in Week 2, they take on USC. Well, that was a rude welcome to the 2014 season. Once again, the Cardinal face USC before the students are even back on campus after summer break. Regardless, the stadium will be packed and the atmosphere will be “spirited” if not a mite chippy. Stanford will be eager to erase the memory of last year’s misery in the Coliseum, when Stanford lost to USC for the first time in David Shaw’s head coaching tenure. Stanford also has beef with the Trojans’ new Head Coach, Steve Sarkisian, who accused players of faking injuries during the Washington game last year. Rivalry games are fun, but grudge matches are better. This will be one fun game to watch.
Prediction: Stanford wins, but it’ll be close. No, USC wins, but it’ll be close. Aw, heck, I don’t know. It’s too close to call.
Game 3: vs. Army, September 13
Stanford fans love/hate this game for so many reasons. Love because it’s Army and we all have respect and affectionate feelings for the armed forces. Hate because that darn triple-option, cut blocks, and injuries. The triple-option will give the Stanford defense some trouble earlier in the game, but eventually Army will succumb to Stanford’s sheer brute strength. As an aside, look for Stanford’s John Flacco (brother of Joe Flacco) to lead the Cadets in the Rocket at some point during the game. Seriously, Army loves them some J-Flac.
Prediction: Stanford wins by at least two touchdowns. Hopefully no one will sustain a knee injury.
Game 4: at Washington, September 27
Weird things happen in Seattle. The Fail Mary and Stanford’s last loss in Seattle happened within four days of each other. Even though both of those events happened at CenturyLink, I’m fairly certain that Seattle is haunted. It’s Chris Petersen’s first season at Washington after more than a decade at Boise State, and this guy scares me. When Jim Harbaugh left for the 49ers, many wanted Stanford to hire Chris Petersen, but he wasn’t interested. Don’t get me wrong; Stanford fans are glad that David Shaw is at the helm, but Chris Petersen is an excellent coach, and most would prefer that he had taken a new coaching job outside of the PAC-12. This’ll be a good one.
Prediction: This could go either way, but I think Stanford wins by a touchdown.
Game 5: at Notre Dame, October 4
Unless you’ve been residing under a rock for the past few days, you’ll know that some Notre Dame players are being investigated for academic fraud. Thankfully for the Fighting Irish, Everett Golson has stayed out of trouble long enough to rejoin the team. Despite what happens with the investigation, it’s likely that Notre Dame will come into this game 4-0 on the season, and Stanford, still bitter from the events in South Bend two years ago, would like nothing more than to ruin that. I’m picking Stanford to win this game, but I can’t decide if it’s by three points or 20.
Prediction: Stepfan Taylor scores the game-tying touchdown in overtime. Again. Kidding, Stanford wins by a field goal, though if Shawn Hochuli is allowed to preside over referee this game, there will be riots. Oh, he’s in the NFL now? I can’t wait to see how professional football players handle his inability to correctly call touchdowns.
Game 6 vs. Washington State, October 10
I’m going to avoid making the obvious joke drawing the parallel between high school football games being played on Friday nights and the Washington State v. Stanford game being played on a Friday night. Joke officially sidestepped. Anyway, until Colorado joined the PAC, Washington State was the whipping boy of the conference, but the last two times they’ve played at Stanford Stadium, it’s been uncomfortably close for the Cardinal. This WSU team confuses me. They beat Utah and USC last year (two teams Stanford lost to), yet lose their bowl game to Colorado State. I have no explanation for that.
Prediction: Palo Alto traffic will be horrendous about half way through the third quarter, as fans rush out of the stadium. Washington State will stage a comeback in the fourth. Stanford still wins by at least 10.
All in all, the best-case scenario is that Stanford trounces through the first half of their schedule with a 6-0 record. This will happen if Kevin Hogan makes plays with his feet and his arm; if the Trent Murphy/Ben Gardner/Shayne Skov-less defense can pick up where they left off; if the Tunnel Workers can jell early and live up to their name; and if Ty Montgomery can get and stay healthy. Worst case, they lose to USC and on the road to either Washington or Notre Dame. Stay tuned for my article on games 7-12.
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