On Saturday at 7:30 PM PT on ESPN and KNBR 1050 AM radio, Stanford football will face #25 UCLA on The Farm. Stanford comes in at 2-4 overall and 1-3 in the Pac-12 while UCLA comes in at 4-2 overall and 1-2 in the Pac-12.
Last time out: On Friday the 13th, Stanford had an historic comeback at Colorado, trailing 29-0 before coming back to win 46-43 in double overtime.
RECAP: Stanford pulls off Prime Time comeback at Colorado
On UCLA: Despite having a couple of losses, both in Pac-12 play, UCLA is still a ranked team. Their two losses are on the road at Utah and at Oregon State while their lone win of league play is at home against Washington State. They’re kind of a mystery team a bit in that it’s hard to know if they should truly be ranked or not. If they are deserving of their ranking than on paper they should win tonight, so this game will tell us a lot about them.
Their freshman quarterback Dante Moore is having a strong season, throwing 1304 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 7 interceptions while completing 50.9% of his passes. His top targets are senior wide receiver Logan Loya (23 receptions, 271 yards, & 3 touchdowns) and redshirt sophomore wide receiver J. Michael Sturdivant (18 receptions, 353 yards, & 2 touchdowns).
On the ground, junior running back Carson Steele (93 carries, 523 yards, & 3 touchdowns) and sophomore running back T.J. Harden (56 carries, 333 yards, & 3 touchdowns) are the ones leading the attack. The Bruins have a nice combination of running and passing game, making their offense tough to stop.
On defense, redshirt senior defensive back Alex Johnson leads the Bruins with three interceptions on the season. Safety Kamari Ramsey, junior linebacker Oluwafemi Oladejo, and senior linebacker Kain Medrano each have 27 total tackles. Redshirt senior linebacker Darius Muasau is the top tackler on the team with 32 total tackles. Both Muasau and Ramsey each have 18 solo tackles on the season.
On special teams, senior kicker R.J. Lopez has made 6-8 field goals attempted this year, but only 1-2 from 40-49 yards. Inside the 40, he is money making 5-6. So, they have a good kicking game provided they aren’t kicking from too far out.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is stop the run. UCLA likes to run the ball and will look to establish it early and often. If Stanford does a nice job stopping the run and not allowing UCLA to get in the kind of rhythm they want in the backfield, that will help a ton.
Secondly, Stanford needs to get off to a strong start. They can’t fall down like they did against Colorado and expect to win. They have to come out with the right energy and focus from the opening kickoff if they are to win this game.
Finally, Stanford needs to give Ashton Daniels and Justin Lamson enough protection. Whoever is under center at quarterback needs to be given enough time to make the throws that they need to make. If they are protected well, that will really allow the offense to open up like it did at Colorado. Guys like Elic Ayomanor need to be found in the right spots of the progression and that only comes with quality pass protection.
Prediction: I’m going to pick UCLA only because they’re ranked and on paper, they are the better team. That said, a Stanford victory wouldn’t surprise me. UCLA winning 30-27 is how I see this shaking out. I think Stanford will play a very spirited game coming off the win at Colorado and give themselves a chance to win. Should be interesting to see what happens.
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