by Jerry Feitelberg

The Stanford Cardinal will meet the Beavers of Oregon State University Friday night at 7 pm in Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon. The Cardinal will be playing their third road game of the season and have a 1-1 record on the road and a 2-1 record overall. The Cardinal rallied to beat the USC Trojans last Saturday in Los Angeles. The Beavers are 2-1 this year and the game against Stanford will be their first in Pac-12 Conference play. The Beavers beat Weber State in their opener and beat San Jose State last Saturday. Their lone loss came at the hands of Jim Harbaugh’s Michigan Wolverines in game two of the season. The game will be televised nationally on Fox Sports 1.

There is some question regarding the status of starting quarterback Kevin Hogan. Hogan may not be able to play to a sprained ankle that he suffered in the USC game. Stanford coach David Shaw that they would evaluate his status on Thursday. If Hogan can’t play, either redshirt freshman, Keller Chryst, or redshirt sophomore Ryans Burns will start in his place. Each is listed as second string on the depth chart. Another key player that may not be available is the linebacker, Kevin Anderson. Coach Shaw said that Anderson probably will not play. Anderson is the second leading tackler on the team. Joey Alfieri or Mike Tyler would start in Anderson’s spot.

Coach Shaw was pleased with the performance of the team’s offensive line against USC last week. The line did its job with crisp blocks and goal-line efficiency. Running back Remound Wright scored three touchdowns and Hogan passed for 279 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. The offensive lines opened up holes for running back Christian McCaffrey, Barry Sanders, the explosive Bryce Love and Remound Wright. Tight end Austin Hooper had a big game against USC with four catches for 790 yards. Coach Shaw said this about Hooper “it’s all coming together. We felt that it would. It’s just coming faster  than we anticipated.”  Wide receiver Devon Cajuste is another example of the mismatches that Stanford can create in the passing game. Shaw said “talk to most quarterbacks, and they like big targets. When they’re covered, they’re not really covered. You have a chance to put the ball high and it’s a completion or an incompletion, but there’s no chance to get intercepted.”

The offensive line is led by Guard Josh Garnett, guard Johnny Caspers and tackles Kyle Murphy and Casey Tucker. These young men will have their hands full with the Oregon State defense. The Beavers have creative defenses and varied blitz packages that will challenge the Cardinal’s O-line.

Conrad Ukropina, in his first year as a starter, has been perfect making all five field goals attempted. He made one from 52 yards out against UCF and one from 46 yards against USC.

The Beavers are led by quarterback Seth Collins. Collins has completed 32 passes in 59 attempts good for 306 yards with four touchdowns and one interception to his credit. Collins has carried the ball forty-four times for 294 yards. Storm Woods and Chris Brown are the main rushers out of the backfield. Woods rushed 35 times for 227 yards while Brown ran for 94 yards on 24 carries. Jordan Villain and Victor Bolden are the main targets for Collins. Villain has 10 catches good for 141 yards and two TDs while Bolden nabbed eight passes good for 60 yards and one TD.The OSU offense has had trouble converting on third downs. The Beavers are just 12 for 42 in that department. They also have to cut down on turnovers deep in their own territory. The Beavers had three turnovers in each of the three games played so far and those turnovers have put extreme pressure on the defense.

The Cardinal is ranked 21st in the nation while OSU is unranked. Stanford is meeting OSU for the 82nd time. They are 53-25-3 all-time against the Beavers. The Cardinal has won five straight and six of the last seven. Should be a good game. Coach Saw has said that there are no upsets in college football. Stay tuned and let’s see what happens Friday night in Corvallis.