Stanford vs Washington: Is it upset season?

Even though they’re on the road, Washington is heavy favorites to beat Stanford this Saturday. Vegas has them as a 14.5-point favorite, and a Cardinal win would be an upset to say the least.

The Huskies are favorites for good reason. They are 4-1 this year, and their transfer quarterback Jacob Eason has been getting better and better every game. He could present big problems for Stanford’s pass defense, which is one of the worst in the PAC-12. Stanford’s rush defense will also be challenged, as the Huskies have a very balanced offensive attack. Their running back, Salvon Ahmed, ran for 153 yards versus USC last week.

Stanford will undoubtedly need to be more successful on offense if they want to have a chance in this game. The Washington offense is averaging almost 40 points per game, so the Cardinal offense will need to click. Davis Mills will need to play extremely well against the playmaking Huskies secondary, who have seven picks on the year. Avoiding turnovers will be key for the Cardinal if they want to keep it close, but it’ll be hard to pass on Washington’s strong secondary.

In Washington’s lone loss, Cal ran for 192 yards. If Stanford can run the ball effectively, I think they could upset the Huskies. However, Stanford has not come close to collectively rushing the ball for 200 yards in a game yet. The Huskies front seven is typically a solid group, so I doubt Stanford is able to find anymore success on the ground.

Washington is good. They just controlled a USC team that handily beat us. I don’t see the Cardinal winning this game, and I don’t see it being super close.

I predict Washington to win 35-14.