Preview: Stanford heads to Pasadena to face #12 UCLA
On Saturday at 7:30 PM PT on ESPN and KNBR 1050 AM radio, Stanford football will take on #12 UCLA on the road at The Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Stanford comes in at 3-4 overall and 1-4 in the Pac-12 while UCLA comes at 6-1 overall and 3-1 in the Pac-12.
Stanford Football Depth Chart: UCLA
Last time out: Stanford defeated Arizona State 15-14 last week. It was homecoming weekend on The Farm and Stanford scored all of their points via five field goals from Joshua Karty.
RECAP: Stanford squeaks past Arizona State to win homecoming game
On UCLA: The Bruins won their first six games of the season before falling at now #8 Oregon last weekend by a final score of 45-30. When looking at the Bruins’ schedule, it does look like their 6-1 record might be a tad inflated. Their first three wins were all at home against Bowling Green, Alabama State, and South Alabama. Their first Pac-12 game was an easy win at Colorado, who is terrible.
The final three games are where things finally got tough for them as they faced Washington (40-32), Utah (42-32), and then Oregon. The Washington and Utah games were both at home and in total, UCLA will have just four games away from Pasadena this year. That’s nice.
Now while they have had a bit of a favorable schedule, this UCLA team is still very good. Their quarterback Dorian Thompson-Robinson has thrown for 1772 yards, 17 touchdowns, and only three interceptions. He’s also rushed for 267 yards on the ground, doing a great job of being a legitimate dual threat.
Wide receiver Jake Bobo has 32 receptions for 486 yards and six touchdowns, making him the top receiver on the team by a wide margin. Kazmeir Allen leads the team in total receptions with 36, but he has 244 yards and just one touchdown on the season.
As for their rushing attack, running back Zach Charbonnet leads the way with 766 yards on the season for seven touchdowns and a ridiculous 7.2 yards per carry average. He averages well over a hundred yards rushing per game with his 127.7 yards per game average.
On defense, linebacker JonJon Vaughns leads the team in both total tackles (34) and interceptions (2). He’s having a fantastic season in the middle and is a guy who opposing offenses have to account for at all times.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they have to do is contain Thompson-Robinson. He’s such a versatile quarterback that can beat you with his legs and his arm. If he goes wild, it’s going to be lights out for the Cardinal. Containing him is job number one.
The number two job for Stanford is containing Charbonnet. He’s a real threat on the ground and will look to run all over them. If Stanford can play the kind of defense they’ve been playing the past couple of weeks and bog him down, this game could get interesting.
Third, Stanford’s passing attack is going to need to come alive. Without Casey Filkins, Stanford is going to need to really do damage in the passing game. If Tanner McKee has a big night and gets his receiving game going, Stanford could make this game closer than expected.
Finally, as a bonus key to the game, Stanford needs to make use of Joshua Karty, but not overly rely on him. Karty is such a good kicker that his leg could keep them within striking distance, but in order to actually win, Stanford will need to find the end zone at least twice. If they do, then the kicking of Karty has a chance to make the difference. 15 points + 14 points = 29 points. That just might be enough to win if the defense does their job.
Prediction: UCLA’s schedule up to this point has been kinda soft and they are coming off a pretty decisive loss at Oregon. Given all that, I actually like Stanford’s chances to make this game more competitive than expected, but I still have to pick UCLA to win. 38-27 Bruins is how I see this game shaking out.
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