Rule of Tree staff predictions: Stanford Cardinal at Arizona Wildcats

John Loop: It's two teams trying to find a competent/healthy quarterback to do battle in Tucson this weekend, and I couldn't be dreading it more. These past few weeks have been disappointing, to say the least. That being said, I'm actually quite anxious to see if the change of scenery at QB will make any difference for Stanford. This game is going to be decided by the run game, getting McCaffrey re-acclimated on offense and shutting it down on defense. If the Cardinal can do both of those things well, they'll be one win away from a decent bowl. Stanford prevails here, 23-20.

Charlie Foy: Stanford may be bad this year, but Arizona is much worse. At 2-5 and without a conference win, Arizona should be an easy win for new starter Keller Chryst; however in the PAC-12 and on the road, nothing is guaranteed. Heck, Arizona forced overtime versus the Huskies. I think the defense holds the Wildcats to under 14, and the offense manages to find more rhythm against a soft Arizona defense. Stanford wins 24-14.

nerdnation23: Arizona has two wins.... to Hawaii and Grambling St. Stanford needs to go back to basics but right now I don't know if they can. This will probably be another ugly game and Stanford will win 17-14.

TonyFernandesSports: It's time for a change; probably two games too late, but it's worth the look. Keller Chryst will step into an ideal situation as the QB1 as the Wildcats pass rush is non-existent. Look for the Cardinal to gain confidence this week, and be one step closer to bowl eligibility. Stanford puts a full game together, takes it 31-17 in Tucson.

nickdempsey: The Stanford offense has stalled. Playmakers like Christian McCaffrey, Bryce Love and Michael Rector just are not having a significant enough impact on the the game, the offensive line continues to struggle with injuries and other issues, and the Cardinal just made a quarterback switch hoping to get things turned around. On the plus side the Stanford defense is still playing extremely well even with injuries. While I doubt bringing in Keller Chryst will magically ignite the offense it should do just enough against a struggling Arizona defense. While the Wildcats do get some key players back in their decimated backfield the Cardinal defense should still be able to hold on. Stanford wins 19-10.

Matt Vassar: Stanford is making a change under center as Keller Chryst will make his first career start tonight. Honestly, though, the change in QBs is mostly for appearances. The talent difference between Chryst and Burns isn’t significant, and neither has experienced a lot of success this season. Nonetheless, I expect the Stanford offense to do significantly better under Chryst than it did under Burns. Not because Chryst is demonstrably better, but because the Arizona defense is atrocious. Arizona might have enough offensive weapons to keep it close, but Stanford will ultimately prevail 27-24.

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