No. 21 Stanford’s College Football Playoff hopes got a major boost on Saturday when it shocked USC in a gripping Pac-12 showdown at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The Cardinal will look to build on the momentum from that huge victory when they take on the Oregon State Beavers in a critical clash this coming Friday.
Who will grab the edge in this pivotal showdown? Read on below for an in-depth breakdown of this college football matchup and while you’re at it, you can check out our previews of Utah vs. Oregon and Mississippi State vs. Auburn.
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Stanford Cardinal vs. Oregon State Beavers Preview
Now that was a shock. Stanford recorded one of the upsets of the season thus far with a remarkable 41-31 victory over the USC Trojans on Saturday night. It was an incredible victory for the Cardinal, who entered the game as 10-point underdogs.
[sc:NCAA240banner ]Leading the way for Stanford in this match was Kevin Hogan. The senior quarterback threw for 279 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. He was especially deadly with his long-range passing, going 8-of-11 for 164 yards and a touchdown on passes of 10 or more yards. Hogan, in total, completed 18 of his 23 passes and finished the game with a QB rating of 98.5.
For the Cardinal to extend their winning streak this coming Saturday against Oregon State, they will need to sustain their highly-efficient play. Stanford was 8-of-12 on third down opportunities (67 percent) against USC after converting just 9 of 30 chances (30 percent) in its first two games against Northwestern and Central Florida.
That certainly helped Stanford’s cause on Saturday as the team got to rack up 475 yards of offense against the Trojans. The Cardinal will have their work cut out for them, however, against an Oregon State defense that has been rock-solid thus far this season. The Beavers are 17th in the FBS in the total defense department, allowing just 278.7 yards per game this campaign. That being said, Stanford will fancy its chances against Oregon State, as it has fared extremely well against the Beavers of late. The Cardinal have won their last five games against the Beavers.
The Cardinal are 5-5 SU and 4-6 ATS in their last 10 road games.
The Oregon State Beavers returned to winning ways on Saturday with a convincing 35-21 victory over San Jose State at Reser Stadium. It was a morale-boosting win for the Beavers, who suffered a stinging 35-7 defeat to Michigan the previous weekend. With the victory, the Beavers improved their record this season to 2-1.
Providing the impetus for Oregon State’s comeback victory was their phenomenal ground attack. The Beavers ended up amassing 303 rushing yards against the Spartans on Saturday. That’s their highest rushing total since 2008, when they racked up 323 yards in a game against Washington State. Leading Oregon State’s charge in this department was Storm Barrs-Woods. He rushed for a career-high 151 yards on only 17 carries against the Spartans.
Quarterback Seth Collins also showed that he can mix it up with big boys, scoring the first two rushing touchdowns of his career in that 14-point win. He’s now ranked third among quarterbacks in the rushing yards department with 294 to his name. He’s just behind Army’s Ahmad Bradshaw (333 yards) and SMU’s Matt Davis (302 yards). Collins is averaging 6.7 yards per carry this season.
That ground game will be crucial for the Beavers if they are to stop the surging Cardinal this coming weekend. It certainly won’t be easy, though, as Stanford has one of the best defensive lines in the country today. The Cardinal have conceded just two rushing touchdowns in their first three games this season.
The Beavers are 5-5 SU and 3-7 ATS in their last 10 home games.
