Stanford Will Have A Huge Test This Weekend Against Washington

After Stanford's 44-14 smashing against Washington St. last week on the road, the Cardinals improved to 6-0 for the first time in 60 years since 1951. Jim Plunkett won the Heisman Trophy in 1970 but his Cardinals lost their undefeated season very early that year when they fell to unranked Purdue in week 4. Even with the great John Elway behind center, the Cardinals never started a season 6-0. With the Cardinals unbelievable start and Heisman favorite and future number 1 overall pick Andrew Luck at quarterback, there is obviously a lot of buzz in Palo Alto. However, the Cardinals will have to avoid looking ahead to their top 10 clash with Oregon later in the year because they have a difficult test this week against #25 Washington.

The Washington Huskies struggles in the past few years have been very well documented. Since their 27 consecutive seasons with a record of .500 or better from 1977 to 2003 (the longest streak in Pac-12 history), the Huskies have really struggled to have any success. The Huskies have only had one season in the last 8 years where they have been over .500 in conference play including two seasons where they went winless. However, the Huskies look like they have completely turned their program around under Steve Sarkisian, especially recently. Since Washington began last season 3-6, they are 9-1 including a 5-1 start this year.

Washington's offense is capable of getting into a shootout with the Cardinals because they have a high-powered attack that can score a lot of points. The Huskies have scored more than 30 points in each of their 6 games this year and are averaging 37 points per game. Stanford's defense will not be able to sit back on the pass or pack the box for the run because the Huskies have great balance on offense. Washington will be Stanford's first opponent all season with a passing game and a running game that ranks inside of the top 50 in the FBS in both categories.

Keith Price has played behind even his coaches expectations and he is probably the best quarterback that nobody has heard of, as he ranks 5th in quarterback ranking and 2nd in touchdowns in the FBS. Price will have his toughest test this weekend because the Cardinals defense has shown that it is very good against the pass. In Stanford's 37-10 win over Arizona in Tucson in Week 3, Nick Foles threw for just 239 yards To put that in perspective, in Foles other 6 games, he has thrown for more than 375 yards 5 times. Aside from Foles, no quarterback has thrown for more than 215 yards against Stanford's defense.

The bigger question may be Stanford's ability to stop the run. Stanford has not played any team with a running back that is anywhere near as talented as Chris Polk. Polk has rushed for over 100 yards in 5 of Washington's 6 games this season and in the only game he didn't rush for 100 yards, he had 85 receiving yards and a touchdown to go along with his rushing touchdown. The Huskies will likely ride Polk once again this weekend, as he has run the ball at least 20 times in 5 of 6 games. 

Although the Huskies offense against the very solid Stanford defense is an intriguing matchup, the key to the game will be Washington's ability to stop the Stanford offense. Washington's defense has not been too impressive thus far. Nebraska scored 51 points and racked up 464 total yards against the Huskies defense in week 3, which is a sign for deep concern because the Stanford offense ranks 5th in the nation in points scored per game at 45.8.

Stanford will have to remember that Washington is a scary opponent because of their high-powered offense and be careful to not overlook them. Top teams overlook their opponent so often and often fall in an upset. Just look at the Big 12 last year. #5 Nebraska was 5-0 heading into a game against unranked and 3-2 Texas. Expecting to face the Oklahoma St. Cowboys in an undefeated clash the next week, the Cornhuskers played a horrible game and lost at home 20 to 13. Oklahoma was expecting an undefeated clash down the rode against their rival Oklahoma St. but at 6-0 they lost to Missouri to end that dream.