.jpg "Stanford-at-Oregon-State-(ESPN)")
If you thought that the Stanford Cardinal were going to collapse after a 1-2 start, you haven’t paid much attention to David Shaw. Stanford dropped back-to-back road games against USC and San Diego State, but has won four in a row and controls its own destiny in the PAC-12 North. The last time we saw the Cardinal, they absolutely demolished Oregon 49-7 in their best defensive performance of the season. This Thursday night Stanford’s biggest opponent may be complacency as it faces an Oregon State team that has yet to defeat an FBS team.
This matchup in Week 8 of the regular season will take place on Thursday, October 26, 2017, at 9 p.m. ET at Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon. This game will be broadcast on ESPN.
College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Stanford -21.5
Oregon State +21.5
Odds Analysis
Oregon State put together its best performance of the season last week against Colorado. The Beavers were left for dead after getting blown out by at least four touchdowns in four straight games, but showed that they haven’t given up yet. Oregon State actually took a lead into the fourth quarter, but couldn’t hang on in the end.
The Cardinal defense was on point against Oregon last week. Stanford capitalized on Oregon’s inability to move the ball through the air without quarterback Justin Herbert, and held the Ducks to just 33 passing yards and picked off two passes. That meant they could stack up against the run and Oregon finished the game with just 12 first downs.
Player to Watch
Any time you talk about Stanford football, you have to talk about Bryce Love. Love isn’t the all-purpose threat that Christian McCaffrey was, but is a phenomenal runner. Despite only carrying the ball more than 20 times twice in seven games, he has amassed at least 147 rushing yards in each outing.
Love is starting to get a lot of Heisman buzz and is considered the third-favorite behind Saquon Barkley and Baker Mayfield at the moment. Amazingly, more than halfway through the season he is still averaging more than 10 yards per carry and has found the end zone 11 times. Because he is averaging less than 20 carries a game, there isn’t a fear of him wearing down over the last part of the season and he should carry the team.
Coaching Angle
Everyone was stunned when Gary Andersen decided to leave a bunch of money on the table and quit in the middle of the season. Andersen was in the middle of his third season in Corvallis, but had had enough and pointed to in-fighting within the staff he had selected as the reason for his early departure.
Leaving at the halfway point was interesting for another reason. Oregon State’s PAC-12 schedule was extremely frontloaded with Washington State, Washington, and USC as its first three opponents. After Stanford, the Beavers might not face a ranked team the rest of the way and it is very possible this team can pull off an upset or two.
Oregon State’s performance against Colorado shows that everyone still has something to prove. Oregon State racked up 569 yards of offense against the Buffaloes’ defense and were somewhat unfortunate to lose.
Free ATS Pick
Both teams had a bye last week to prepare for this Thursday night showdown, but Stanford may have a hard time getting up for the game. The Cardinal have the meat of their schedule coming up in November with games against Washington State, Washington, California, and Notre Dame on the docket.
A rejuvenated Oregon State will do enough to pull off the cover in this game. Stanford will slowly pull away on the back of Love, but won’t be able to light up the scoreboard and will be content with a win.
College Football Odds: Stanford 31, Oregon State 20
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