No. 15 Stanford Seeks Eighth Consecutive Win

STANFORD, Calif. — You might assume Stanford has been UCLA’s largest obstacle as they continue to try and climb the Pac-12 ladder — most recently last season when the unranked Cardinal upset the then top-10 ranked Bruins squad at the Rose Bowl, effectively knocking them out of the Pac-12 Championship.

The two are a little more evenly ranked as they head into their Thursday night contest on The Farm; Stanford currently sits No. 15 and carry a seven-game winning streak, while UCLA sits No. 18.

For the first time since 2011, the Cardinal have scored over 40 points in three consecutive games. Tack on the fact Stanford has also rushed over 300 yards in its last two games, and you have to believe the boys in red are ready to welcome the boys in blue for this contest and extend that streak to eight.

The engine seems to be running on all cylinders these past few weeks — the offensive line has been opening holes for star running back Christian McCaffrey, and allowing plenty of time for fifth-year senior quarterback Kevin Hogan to do his job as well.

Hogan has been averaging 11.8 yards per completion in conference play.

As you prepare for tonight’s heated matchup, here are a few more notes to consider from our friends at gostanford.com.

• The Cardinal (4-1 overall, 3-0 Pac-12) sits alone atop the Pac-12 North Division. Most recently, the Cardinal picked up a 55-17 win against Arizona while rushing for over 300 yards for the second time in as many weeks.

• Dating to 2014, Stanford has won seven of its past eight games while averaging 40.2 points/game in those victories.

• Stanford’s seven straight wins over UCLA are tied for the program’s best active win streak against any opponent (seven straight vs. Washington State), and marks the longest winning streak for either team in the series. Stanford has scored at least 24 points in each of the past seven wins against the Bruins.

• Stanford head coach David Shaw is undefeated against six Pac-12 opponents, including UCLA. In addition to the Bruins, the Cardinal has not lost to Arizona, Cal, Colorado, Oregon State and Washington State during Shaw’s tenure. Shaw has five wins over UCLA, the most against any program.

• Stanford’s offense struggled to put up points in a 16-6 season-opening loss at Northwestern. Since then, the Cardinal is one of five FBS teams to score at least 31 points in each of their past three contests, and one of two to do so without facing an FCS program.