{"id":8326,"date":"2017-09-05T07:30:48","date_gmt":"2017-09-05T11:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosoncfb.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=8326"},"modified":"2017-09-02T16:32:00","modified_gmt":"2017-09-02T20:32:00","slug":"2017-stanford-cardinal-schedule-preview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/2017\/09\/05\/2017-stanford-cardinal-schedule-preview\/","title":{"rendered":"2017 Stanford Cardinal Schedule Preview"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is finally here. The 2017 college football season has begun. The Stanford Cardinal Schedule Preview breaks down the rest of Stanford’s 2017 schedule, after that beatdown of Rice in Week Zero. Some outlets rank Stanford\u2019s remaining schedule as the nation\u2019s most difficult. Let\u2019s evaluate how Coach David Shaw<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s squad will do the rest of the way.<\/p>\n

2017 Stanford Cardinal Schedule Preview<\/h1>\n

Road Warriors<\/h2>\n

Week 0: @Rice (in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) (W)<\/strong>
\nThere is not much to say about this one. Stanford took a business trip to Sydney, and shellacked Rice. Significantly, the offense clicked right from the start, scoring touchdowns on each of its first four possessions. The Cardinal faithful who feared a time-zone crossing-induced offensive coma (a la @Northwestern in 2015) were\u2014and are\u2014quite relieved.<\/p>\n

Week 2: @USC (L)<\/strong>
\nThis matchup will feature two of the top teams in the PAC-12 in 2017, and perhaps two of the top teams in the entire nation. It is a bit unfortunate that this titanic clash happens so early in the season. Stanford\u2019s roster is loaded, but so is Southern Cal\u2019s, and Heisman candidate Sam Darnold<\/strong><\/a> is at home. These teams may well meet again in Santa Clara at season\u2019s end for the PAC-12 title.<\/p>\n

Week 3: @San Diego State (W)<\/strong>
\nDonnel Pumphrey<\/strong><\/a> took his talents to Philadelphia following the 2016 season, having exhausted his SDSU eligibility. The Aztecs will miss him and his skillset greatly. Stanford will use its superior size to grind down SDSU\u2019s defensive front, and will grind out a win.<\/p>\n

Week 4: UCLA (W)<\/strong>
\nDavid Shaw<\/strong><\/a> owns Jim Mora.<\/strong> Like, he made a down payment of some kind and possesses a title for the man in a filing cabinet in his office. Stanford has beaten UCLA nine consecutive times since Shaw became head coach at The Farm. Make it 10 consecutive times.<\/p>\n

Week 5: @Arizona State (W)<\/strong>
\nShaw has done well against Todd Graham,<\/strong> but the ownage hasn\u2019t been quite as severe. That said, the Sun Devils are not better than Stanford at any position group. Sometimes it is not the Xs and the Os, it\u2019s the Jimmys and the Joes. Stanford\u2019s Jimmys and Joes are better.<\/p>\n

2017 Stanford Cardinal Schedule Preview<\/h2>\n

Week 6: @Utah (W)<\/strong>
\nOne of the few current PAC-12 coaches to get the best of David Shaw in each of their previous meetings is Kyle Whittingham.<\/strong> This game represents the toughest trip the Cardinal will take other than the visit to the Coliseum. Stanford will pass the test, but just barely.<\/p>\n

Week 7: Oregon (W)<\/strong>
\nWillie Taggart<\/strong> returns to the west coast after two successful head coaching stints east of the Mississippi, at Western Kentucky and South Florida. He will get the Ducks back to the top of the conference, but he will not do so in his first season. Ninth year senior Royce Freeman<\/strong><\/a> will give Stanford\u2019s D-Line all it wants, but he won\u2019t be able to win the game on his own.<\/p>\n

Week 9: @Oregon State (W)<\/strong>
\nCorvalis is a notoriously difficult place to play, and this game looked like an obvious trap game before the season started. Oregon State played horribly in Fort Collins against Colorado State, and Gary Andersen\u2019s<\/strong> seat is warming a bit. Stanford will roll in this one.<\/p>\n

Week 10: @Washington State (W)<\/strong>
\nEleventh year senior Luke Falk<\/strong><\/a> returns to lead the Cougars\u2019 offense, which promises to be prolific. The Pirate\u2019s squad destroyed Stanford in 2016 in Stanford Stadium, though, so motivation will not be hard to find. Also, Stanford\u2019s back seven will hold up well on the road, and in the cold. Stanford will squeak by.<\/p>\n

Week 11: Washington (W)<\/strong>
\nHeisman candidate Jake Browning<\/strong><\/a> (quick aside: is there a conference in the nation more loaded at the QB position?) hopes to lead the Huskies to defend their hard-won PAC-12 Championship. Stanford was humiliated in Seattle last season, and Shaw will use that to rally his troops. Stanford will ease past the Huskies to take control of the PAC-12 North race.<\/p>\n

Down The Stretch<\/h2>\n

Week 12: California (W)<\/strong>
\nStanford has beaten California seven straight years to retain possession of the coveted Stanford Axe. Cal promises to be better soon, especially on defense. Expect the Golden Bears to put up a fight, but to fall just short in their quest to end the longest Big Game losing streak in the 119 year series.<\/p>\n

Week 13: Notre Dame (W)<\/strong>
\nNotre Dame and Stanford play each other very tough each year, irrespective of whether either team is up or down. The 2017 contest will follow that trend. Each team will be playing for bowl position, and potentially for an elite game. Look for Stanford to win a thriller, similar to the last game played at Stanford between these teams.<\/p>\n

Yes, this projects to an 11-1 record for the 2017 Stanford Cardinal. This could be an historic season for the men in red. Let\u2019s watch the season unfold and see whether the team\u2019s depth and talent translate to wins on the field.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Main Image Credit:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 27: Bryce Love of Stanford makes a break during the College Football Sydney Cup match between Stanford University (Stanford Cardinal) and Rice University (Rice Owls) at Allianz Stadium on August 27, 2017 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Steve Christo – Corbis\/Corbis via Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It is finally here. The 2017 college football season has begun. The Stanford Cardinal Schedule Preview breaks down the rest of Stanford’s 2017 schedule, after that beatdown of Rice in Week Zero. Some outlets rank Stanford\u2019s remaining schedule as the nation\u2019s most difficult. Let\u2019s evaluate how Coach David Shaw\u2019s squad will do the rest of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,8,2],"tags":[537,259,200,84,509],"class_list":["post-8326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pac12","category-fbs","category-featured","tag-david-shaw","tag-notre-dame-fighting-irish","tag-stanford-cardinal","tag-usc-trojans","tag-washington-huskies"],"modified_by":"Don King","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8326","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8326"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8326\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8344"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8326"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8326"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8326"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}