Tonight at 7:30 PM PT on FS1 and KNBR Radio, Stanford football will welcome the Utah Utes to The Farm. Stanford comes in at 3-5 overall and 2-4 in the Pac-12 while Utah comes in at 5-3 overall and 4-1 in the Pac-12.
Last time out: Stanford fell to Washington 13-20 last week on the eve of Halloween. Stanford had a chance to win that game late but failed to close.
RECAP: Stanford unable to shut the door on Washington
Key Stanford notes: Per David Shaw on Tuesday, Salim Turner-Muhammad, Ethan Bonner are probable. Bradley Archer and Michael Wilson will be back as well. Tanner McKee is questionable, John Humphreys is questionable, and Elijah Higgins is questionable. Casey Filkins is out as well as Lukas Ungar.
The biggest name on that list of course is sophomore quarterback Tanner McKee. Based on information that CardinalSportsReport.com has picked up over the last few hours, it seems like it’s a knee injury for McKee. Alex Markham of UteNation.com in our network is hearing McKee has a broken kneecap, though it needs to be stressed the team hasn’t confirmed anything. So, at a minimum it’s safe to say it’s a knee and that he’s been on crutches. Though based on knowledge of the source of Markham’s info, it seems to be solid.
Obviously, getting Michael Wilson back is big for Stanford, but if McKee is indeed out, that takes some of the excitement away. That isn’t to say Jack West or Isaiah Sanders can’t step up.
On Utah: The Utes have had an up and down year a bit, but sophomore quarterback Cameron Rising looks like the real freaking deal. He can run, pass, do it all as a quarterback. He’s becoming one of the more electric quarterbacks in the Pac-12 and will be difficult for Stanford to contain.
On the defensive side, junior linebacker Devin Lloyd is a beast, one of the top linebackers in the country. Stanford’s offense will have their work cut out for them with him on the field.
All in all, this Utah team is pretty dangerous. Really explosive offensive potential with Rising, a defense that’s physical and plays hard. Without McKee Stanford could be in for a rough night.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing the have to do is find a way to contain Rising. If he goes wild and has a big night, it’s gonna be lights out for the Cardinal. The defense has to contain him and make him work harder than he’s been used to the past few weeks.
Secondly, Stanford’s running game needs to be big. Assuming McKee is indeed out, running backs Austin Jones, Nathaniel Peat, and E.J. Smith are gonna have to step up in a huge way. Dual threat quarterback Isaiah Sanders will need to do his thing in full force as well.
Third, Stanford has to be sound on special teams. They can’t be shanking punts, missing field goals, and having a weak sauce return game. That was a problem last week and they paid for it.
Lastly, Stanford has to find ways to get some turnovers. They gotta get an interception, recover a fumble, something. They will not win if they aren’t able to force a turnover.
Prediction: Earlier in the week, I told UteNation.com Utah 27 Stanford 17. I think with more intel on McKee I gotta say Utah 37 Stanford 13. It’s just hard seeing Stanford making this game competitive without their star quarterback. But hey, last time I had a prediction like this, it was Oregon and Stanford won that game. So maybe they’ll surprise all of us once again.
