The Stanford Cardinal are one of the favorites for the national title this season out of the Pac-12 and with the team ranked fifth in the country after starting 4-0, the Cardinal will have one of their toughest early tests, as they will play conference rival Washington at Stanford Stadium on Saturday night on ESPN at 10:30 PM.
Junior quarterback Kevin Hogan has been very solid for David Shaw's team this season with over 800 yards passing with 10 touchdowns and he has been very accurate, completing over 63 percent of his passes. Hogan passed for 207 yards in the opening game against San Jose State and he has thrown multiple touchdown passes in every game this season. Higan went for over 280 yards against Washington State last week on the road and now he will have the chance to play against the tough defense of the Huskies.
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Tyler Gaffney has been excellent as the starting running back and he has rushed for nearly 400 yards on the ground with five touchdowns and he has had an impressive 5.2 yards per carry. Gaffney has rushed for 100-plus yards in two games this season and he will be facing a tough front in Washington. Ty Montgomery has been the top receiver for Hogan and he has made 20 catches for 327 yards and four touchdowns this season, including six catches for 54 yards last year.
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Stanford is already 2-0 in the Pac-12 this season, while Washington is 1-0 after defeating Arizona in their last game and now they will face one of the most consistent teams in the nation. Stanford averages well over 400 total yards per game and the team is averaging over 40 points per game this season on offense while allowing less than 20 on defense. The team has scored over 40 points in each of the past two weeks and last week at Washington State, the team held the Cougars to just 17 points while hanging 55 on the team.
Stanford averages 218 yards per game rushing the ball and over 200 passing and against the Huskies skilled secondary, Shaw will try and game plan to the outside and up the middle. The team has a tough upcoming schedule with two of the next three games coming on the road with Utah and Oregon State, but luckily they have the tough matchup against UCLA at home. Last season the teams played twice and this year that game could have huge Pac-12 implications again.
After playing against the Beavers Stanford will have Oregon coming to California in what should be a massive game, as the Ducks are ranked number two and that will be on ESPN at 9:00 PM ET. The team then will play on the road against Arizona State before hosting California and Colorado and then the team will play back to back road games against UCLA and Oregon State. The Huskies then will play their in-state rivals to finish the season with Washington State on FOX for the final game of the year.