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No. 16 Stanford visits unbeaten Washington Saturday
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Published: 9/26/2014  at  2:00:00 AM
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STANFORD CARDINAL (2-1)
at WASHINGTON HUSKIES (4-0)

Kickoff: Saturday, 4:15 p.m. ET
Line: Stanford -8, Total: 47.5

Washington looks to remain undefeated in a Pac-12 matchup against No. 16 Stanford on Saturday afternoon.

The Cardinal bounced back from a tough loss against USC with a dominating victory against Army. In that game, Stanford allowed Army to throw for only nine yards. Last season, these two teams played in Palo Alto, with the Cardinal escaping with the 31-28 victory. Wide receiver Ty Montgomery was the star of that game, as he finished with 290 all-purpose yards, including a 99-yard kickoff return to open play. However, the last time the Cardinal went on the road to Washington, the Huskies pulled out a 17-13 upset victory. Washington has been very competitive in this series, covering the spread in each of the two past games, and posting a 7-3 SU mark (6-4 ATS) in the past 10 home meetings in this series. With new coach Chris Peterson taking over, the Huskies are looking for their first 5-0 start since 1992. After a tougher than expected Week 2 victory against Eastern Washington, the Huskies have won by an average of 28 points. Although Stanford is 9-1 ATS on the road after a win by 28+ points since 1992, Washington benefits from the trend that shows underdogs of 3.5 to 10 points coming off 2+ straight Unders, with a poor first-half defense (16.0 PPG) are 69-33 ATS (68%) since 1992. Washington is relatively healthy, and the Cardinal are also in good shape with RB Reumond Wright and LB Kevin Palma both being upgraded to probable despite their undisclosed injuries

Will Stanford avenge last season's loss with a comfortable win over Washington? For the answer, connect to College Football Best Bets for all the StatFox Experts picks throughout the 2014 regular season and bowl season. The experts went a combined 10-7 ATS (59%) last week, highlighted by StatFox Scott's 3-1 ATS mark and StatFox Gary's 2-1 ATS record.

The strength of this Cardinal team is the defense, but QB Kevin Hogan (705 pass yards, 73% completions, 9.5 YPA, 7 TD, 1 INT) has been a terrific player during his time for Stanford. He does not make the big mistake to hurt the team, but he can also lead a long drive to give the unit a break. RB Barry Sanders Jr. (142 rush yards, 7.9 YPC) has the potential to make a big play every single time he touches the ball. He has elite speed, but it his quickness that makes him such a special player. RB Kelsey Young (122 rush yards, 5.8 YPC) is more of the prototypical running back, as the senior is a very strong runner at only 195 pounds. If these two are able to carry the ball effectively and force opposing defenses to respect them, that will open up the big play downfield for WR Ty Montgomery (22 catches, 246 yards, 2 TD). With the big game last season against the Huskies, Montgomery is going to have to face a lot of double-teams, so the play of TE Austin Hooper (12 catches, 170 yards, 1 TD) and WRs Michael Rector (6 catches, 101 yards, 2 TD) and Devon Cajuste (7 catches, 96 yards, 3 TD) will be vital to the team's success. At 6-foot-4, 254 pounds, Hooper is a huge threat down the middle of the field at the tight end position. The Cardinal have had a lot of success putting tight ends into the NFL the past few seasons, and Hooper has that type of talent. Cajuste, also 6-foot-4, had a huge game against Army, with all three of his touchdowns coming in that game. With the home-run threat of Montgomery, these two are going to find themselves with one-on-one matchups, and they will have to win those. On defense, the Cardinal are allowing only 4.3 PPG, tops in the country. LB Blake Martinez (24 tackles) leads the team in tackles, while LB A.J. Tarpley (19 tackles, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble) is the playmaker on the unit. The Cardinal defense is so good because of its intelligence and discipline, as the unit is rarely caught out of position. The defense will be challenged in this game though, against a Washington offense that can score.

In Week 2, the Huskies defeated Eastern Washington, 59-52. However, the team has been much more impressive recently with two convincing victories over the past two weeks. QB Cyler Miles (525 pass yards, 68% completions, 5 TD, 0 INT) has played very well since being suspended in the opener. Even more importantly, he has not thrown an interception. He also has 114 rushing yards (4.1 YPC) and 3 TD on the season, forcing defenses to worry about him running the ball as well. Freshman RB Lavon Coleman (286 rush yards, 4.4 YPC, 1 TD) has continued to show that he is a talented running back. However, another guy to look out for is LB/RB Shaq Thompson who has 82 rushing yards on six carries. He is not on offense a lot of the time, but whenever the Huskies put him in the backfield, defenses have to be worried. Sophomore WR John Ross (6 catches, 224 yards, 3 TD) is quickly emerging as one of the best playmakers in college football. He has a 91-yard touchdown reception on the season, and has the quickness to take a short gain to the house. This offense is talented enough to put up some points, but the play of the defense will have to improve. One star on the defense is senior DL Danny Shelton (40 tackles) who leads the nation with seven sacks, and he has helped the Huskies get after the quarterback. However, LB Hau’oli Kikaha (19 tackles) is tied for second in the country with six sacks, giving the Huskies the best pass-rush duo in the country. The aforementioned Thompson (28 tackles, 1 INT, 1 forced fumble) is a playmaker on the defensive side of the ball, and has proven to have a knack of forcing turnovers. This is an opportunistic defense with nine takeaways over the past three games, but they will have to be ready for a physical style of football that the Cardinal are going to bring.


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