College Football Predictions – Stanford Cardinal 2019 College Football Preview
2018 Recap
Record – 9-4
ATS – 8-5
The Cardinal rattled off nine wins but could not contend in the division thanks to a mid-season swoon in which they lost four of five games. They finished on a strong note winning their last four contests including a 14-13 win over Pittsburgh in the Sun Bowl. It should be noted that Stanford provided us with wonderful drama (and a 170,000 STAR PAC-12 MAX UNIT BOMB LOCK for our subscribers) when they pulled off a miracle road win over Oregon.
Stanford just wins games, baby. Do they have what it takes to get back to the PAC-12 Championship Game? Let’s find out.
2018 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating
North Division – #4
PAC 12 – #5
2019 Stanford Cardinal Outlook
OFFENSE
Stanford did well to win as many games as they did last season given the BIG TIME struggles they had running the football. Stanford only rushed for 108 YPG (#11 PAC-12) which is essentially half of what they routinely do over the course of a campaign. Star RB Bryce Love was not himself due to injury but the fact remains that they only averaged 3.7 YPC after posting totals over 5.0 during the previous three seasons. We still worry about the ground attack as the offensive line only returns a pair of starters and it’s unclear if they have a true #1 RB on the depth chart.
The good news for Stanford is the return of their fine junior QB KJ Costello who put the offense on his back last season (3,540, 65%, 29-11 TD to INT). Costello is one of most underrated QBs in college football but will have to figure out a way to MATRICULATE the ball down the field without his three leading targets from last season. Those three men (Arcega-Whiteside, Irwin, Smith) combined for 170 catches, 18 TDs, and over 2,300 yards a season ago. Their excellent TE Colby Parkinson returns for duty but the WR corps is unproven, albeit very talented.
We expect a similar level of offensive output as last season when they averaged 28.4 PPG.
DEFENSE
The Cardinal D has started to show some cracks recently. They have allowed over 400 YPG in back-to-back campaigns whilst allowing over 20 PPG every year dating back to 2015. The run defense? That makes four straight years allowing 140+ YPG. How do things look going forward?
It’s not great to only return four starters and two of your top-six tacklers. The good news is that the DL looks very promising and Stanford always finds a way to get to the QB (36,32,37,34,46 sacks L5Y). The LB group has a lot of highly-regarded recruits on the depth chart and you know they are smart and will be well coached. AA CB Paulson Adebo leads a secondary that should be just fine.
It’s hard to project this being a lights-out stop unit but they should perform at a level we have seen over the past few seasons (20-23 PPG).
SPECIAL TEAMS
Stanford will be glad to see MR AUTOMATIC back at PK. Jet Toner nailed 14/15 FG attempts last season. The bad news is that they lose their excellent P Jake Bailey who is off to the NFL (Patriots) as well as their PR Trenton Irwin. The Cardinal have a good history when it comes to special teams performance so we will give them the benefit of the doubt and call the group “above average”.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – Five of the first six games are nasty. They have back-to-back roadies with USC and UCF (!) and home dates with Northwestern, Oregon, and Washington. They finish up with a home clash with the Irish.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – at UCF (September 14)
This contest pops up between PAC-12 tilts with USC and Oregon. Yup, a classic SANDWICH GAME. You also know that UCF will come out with their hair on fire and be supremely motivated to SHOCK THE WORLD. And maybe even claim another national title, win or lose? Just kidding. Not really.
Season Win Total
Over 6.5 -140
Under 6.5 +120
MEGALOCKS says:
There are a lot of new faces on the roster and a nasty schedule to contend with BUT this is Stanford. David Shaw has never won fewer than 8 games. Lean to the ‘under’ but would want to play a ‘7’. Shop around.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
The nickname for Stanford is the “Cardinal”, in reference to one of the school colors. They were known as the Indians from 1930-1972. A student vote in 1975 to change the nickname to “Robber Barons” was not approved. Amaze your ANNOYING CUBICLE BUDDY with that trivia nugget.
Stanford played in the first-ever Rose Bowl back in 1902. Sadly, they took it on the chin as Michigan beat them by a score of 49-0.
MEGALOCKS ATS Outlook: Neutral
“Hey, let’s bet against Stanford!”
HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA. <FALLS OFF CHAIR> HAAAAAAAAAAAA <LOSES CONSCIOUSNESS DUE TO LAUGHTER>
Every year we sing the praises of HC David Shaw. Think about this. Shaw has an overall record of 82-26 (.759) and an incredible 59% mark ATS over the course of his eight seasons at Stanford. They haven’t won fewer than eight games in a season and have not had a losing mark vs Vegas in any of Shaw’s years steering the ship.
Here’s the issue. The team has a lot of question marks. Can they get the running game going? What about losing all that production at WR and TE? Will stars emerge on defense? And that schedule. Yikes. Normally we would put some kind of “fade” stamp on this squad but there is no way we can do that given their track record over the past eight years.
We recommend picking your spots and keep a watchful eye early on. Maybe they can be a money-making JUGGERNAUT yet again?
Want more Stanford Football ?
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https://247sports.com/college/stanford/Board/Stanford-football-and-basketball-103013/
https://stanford.forums.rivals.com/forums/cardinal-football.12/
NEWS
http://www.stanforddaily.com/category/sports/football-sports/
http://bleacherreport.com/stanford-football
http://www.mercurynews.com/tag/stanford-cardinal/
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