No. 16 Stanford Faces Tricky Visit To Washington
Kevin Hogan and Stanford will look to avoid a slip-up at Washington.
No. 16 Stanford faces a tricky test on Saturday, facing division rival Washington on the road.
Kickoff at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Wash., is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. ET.
While few expect the Huskies to challenge this season, a road trip to play the undefeated side should have the Cardinal on upset alert.
The Story So Far
Stanford (2-1, 0-1 Pac-12) ranked inside the bookmakers’ top 15 entering the season and got off to a solid enough start with a shutout victory over UC Davis.
The Stanford offense, which tallied 45 against the Aggies spluttered the following week against Southern California, and despite a spirited defensive performance, David Shaw’s side came up on the wrong end of a 13-10 final score against the Trojans.
The home loss was a big setback for a Cardinal side that has one eye on the Pac-12 championship.
The offense found its rhythm once more against Army, putting 35 on the board, while the defense registered its second shutout of the season.
Stanford now heads into Saturday’s game on the back of a first ‘real’ bye week in two years.
Washington (4-0, 0-0 Pac-12) enters the game undefeated after taking care of business against lesser opposition.
A road win in Hawaii to start the season was followed by home victories over Eastern Washington, Illinois and Georgia State.
A 44-19 drubbing of the Fighting Illini might have been considered a strong victory were it not for the Big Ten’s diminished reputation. For Chris Petersen and the Huskies, Saturday’s game marks the first true test of the season.
The Pac-12 Landscape
No. 4 Oregon (4-0) remains the undisputed favorite to take the Pac-12 North title before emerging as the overall conference champion and working its way into the College Football Playoff conversation. Of course, all it takes is one loss to derail that plan.
Stanford and Washington will be the favorites to finish runners up to the Ducks, so this early head-to-head meeting will have plenty of implications in relation to the North Division.
For Stanford, a team that has to be thinking bigger even if it says it’s not, the game will also have implications further afield. With two losses, there’s no way the Cardinal beat out those SEC contenders to be considered for the College Football Playoff, even with a win over Oregon on November 1. That makes this a must-win game.
Head-to-Head
In a rivalry that dates all the way back to 1920 and the old Pacific Coast Conference, Washington leads the head-to-head series 41-38-4. The Huskies are 21-18-3 at home against the Cardinal.
Washington earned a 17-13 victory the last time these two sides met at Husky Stadium (Nov. 27, 2012), snapping a three-game home losing streak to the Cardinal in the process.
Last season, Stanford walked away with a 31-28 victory at Stanford Stadium. That’s seven wins in the last nine head-to-head meetings for the team from Northern California.
Injury Report
Washington will be without running back Jesse Callier, who is out for the season after suffering an Achilles injury in last week’s game against Georgia State.
Wide receiver John Ross missed last week’s game with a leg injury, but reports suggest he is expected to play on Saturday.
Stanford has no significant injuries to report.
Can Cyler Miles and the Washington Huskies upset the Cardinal?
Betting Report
Below you’ll find Betting Sports’ breakdown of odds and betting trends.
Stanford Cardinal vs. Washington Huskies odds for 09/27/2014
Moneyline: Stanford (-295) opened as the favorite over Washington (+254) on the moneyline and has seen its advantage grow slightly since.
While casual viewers might expect this game to be Stanford’s for the taking, that moneyline is a clear indication of how close this game really could be. It’s worth noting that the past two meetings have each been decided by one score.
Stanford has beaten Washington in five of the last six head-to-head meetings and three of the last four played at Husky Stadium.
Spread: The spread opened at 5.5 in favor of the Cardinal but at the time of writing had climbed to 8.
Stanford (2-1-0 ATS) has gotten the better part of the spread through its first three games, while Washington (1-3-0 ATS) has struggled to meet bookmakers’ expectations.
Stanford is 6-3-1 ATS in its last 10 games against Washington, and 4-1-0 ATS in its last five trips to Seattle.
Total: The total opened at 47.5 and has remained constant.
Both Stanford (0-2-0 O/U) and Washington (1-3-0 O/U) have favored the under so far this season, albeit a small sample size.
The total has gone under in seven of the last 10 head-to-head meetings, and in four of the last five the two sides have played at Husky stadium.
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