On Saturday at 12:30 PM PT on ACC Network, Stanford football will take on No. 23 Louisville for Senior Day. Stanford comes in at 2-7 overall and 1-5 in the ACC while Louisville comes in at 6-3 overall and 4-2 in the ACC.
VIDEO: Stanford Football Weekly Press Conference: Louisville
Last time out: Stanford is coming off a bye week having not played last week. The previous week before that, they lost at NC State by a final score of 59-28.
RECAP: Stanford falls apart at NC State
READ: Five questions at the November bye
Senior walk: There has been a bit of drama this week over the senior walk. At first, it was worded in a way to the team that only players who were going to be done with their college football careers after the season could participate in the senior walk. This sparked outrage among players who were graduating but wanted to leave open the possibility of playing elsewhere next season. The decision got reversed and now all academic seniors can walk if they want.
Personally, I think this was the right decision. Pageantry stuff like this is all about the players and honoring their contributions to the team. If a guy wants to walk with his family and hold flowers, let him. I don’t really understand why this issue had to come up in the first place. Just a case of poor communication. I don’t think head coach Troy Taylor meant any harm by it. Just something that could have been handled better up front and thankfully was rectified in the end.
On Louisville: The Cardinals are having a strong season, hence their presence in the AP Top 25. They’re coming off back-to-back wins at Boston College and at home against Clemson. Like Stanford, they are also coming off a bye week. Every loss they’ve had has been by seven points, so they’ve been in every game that they’ve played. They should certainly be confident in their ability to pick up a third straight win given how rough things have gone for Stanford.
Redshirt senior quarterback Tyler Shough has been playing very well for the Cardinals throwing for 20 touchdown passes and only five interceptions to go along with 2,504 yards on a 63.16 completion percentage. Shough’s favorite receiving target is redshirt senior wide receiver Ja’Corey Brooks, who has 48 receptions for 841 yards and eight touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Chris Bell is the number two target on this team with 23 receptions for 380 yards and two touchdowns. On the ground, freshman running back Isaac Brown has rushed for 800 yards and seven touchdowns on 106 carries for an average of 7.5 yards per carry.
On defense, sophomore linebacker Stanquan Clark is leading the way in total tackles with 57.0 (35 solo). Clark also has 4.5 tackles for loss. Leading the team in sacks in redshirt junior defensive lineman Jared Dawson and redshirt senior defensive lineman Logan Tramel with 3.0 sacks each. As for tackles for loss, senior defensive lineman Ashton Gillotte leads the flock in that department with 5.5 tackles for loss.
The Cardinals only have two interceptions on the season as a defense, so ball hawking isn’t their strongest suit as a defense. They’re much better at making plays in the backfield and backing teams up.
As for their kicking game, senior Brock Travelstead has gone 13-20 (65.0%) on his field goals. He’s 4-5 on kicks in the 20-29 yard range and 3-3 on kicks in the 30-39 yard range, so inside the 40 yard line he’s pretty reliable. Outside the 40 yard line and especially from 50+ yards out is where he starts to struggle. He’s 5-7 on kicks from 40-49 yards out and 1-5 from 50+ yards out. His long is 56 yards, so he does have the leg strength.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is keep getting positive yardage. Louisville is going to look to back them up and force a lot of 2nd and long, 3rd and long situations. If Stanford can keep moving the ball forward and avoid getting backed up, that will really help them win this game. Running the ball will be really key to this.
Secondly, Stanford has to contain Ja’Corey Brooks. He’s going to look to torch the vulnerable Stanford secondary. If Stanford can make things tough on him and not allow him to have a big day, maybe Stanford makes this a bit interesting. If he torches them for a couple long touchdowns, it’ll be over really quick.
Third, Stanford needs to come up with big plays on 3rd down. Both on offense and defense. Stanford’s defense has had moments where they’ve delivered in these situations as has the offense. It’s just a matter of doing it consistently.
Finally, Stanford has to take care of the ball. This has been an issue all season for them whether it be interceptions or fumbles. Stanford has to make sure that if they lose this game, it won’t be due to beating themselves.
Prediction: I gotta roll with Louisville in this one. I will be shocked if Stanford pulls this one out. I got Louisville winning rather comfortably: 42-17.
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