Photo credit: bleacherreport.com

By: Ana Kieu

The #24 Stanford Cardinal has a top 25 matchup versus the #14 Washington State Cougars at Stanford Stadium on Saturday night. Not only that, it’ll be a Homecoming game for the home team, so that gives the coaches, players, media members and fans another reason to be excited to be at The Farm on Saturday.

If you haven’t already purchased your tickets for this matchup, you can do so by clicking on the tweet below.

Anyhow, let’s get to the fun stuff regarding Stanford football!

There has been nine clips of nine touchdowns by senior wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside, including the clip in the tweet below.

Whiteside told Stanford football: “You know it’s coming. You can’t stop it.”

Wednesday was a good day for senior running back Bryce Love, who’s a Human Biology major, who was named one of ten finalists for the Senior CLASS Award. Love’s not only a team captain, but also an aspiring pediatrician. Love set the school record with 2,118 rushing yards in 2017 and recently surpassed 4,000 career all-purpose yards. Love’s an unanimous All-American and Pac-12 All-Academic honoree. Moreover, Love’s expected to graduate in December.

Enough about Love. How about senior wide receiver Trenton Irwin? Okay, Irwin may not be the flashiest player on the team nor does he possess blazing speed, but let’s not forget that he has caught at least one pass in 35 consecutive games for the eighth-longest streak in the country.

Last week, Irwin accomplished a few feats at Arizona State. Irwin matched his career-high with seven receptions and was selected Stanford’s Offensive Player of the Game.

Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football David Shaw told Stanford Football: “I think Trent has been phenomenal … He’s been awesome on third downs, he’s made big plays downfield, he’s made game-changing plays, both with the fumble recovery against San Diego State and a key block in this last game. He’s given us everything he’s got.”

Fun Fact
Irwin likes to collect jerseys–mostly football ones–and has at least 120 of them.

Junior quarterback KJ Costello has been blossoming on the field. Costello has been refining his craft in more ways than one.

Shaw commented on Costello’s performance at Arizona State to Stanford Football: “It was one of his most efficient games … He took care of the football, scrambled for positive yards, checked down a couple times, and was seeing the defense very well. This was a big step for him from an efficiency standpoint and he still was able to make those big throws down the field.”

And, of course, we’ll go over this week’s NFL standouts who were Stanford alumni.

Philadelphia Eagles tight end Zach Ertz continued his stellar season with another standout performance in the Eagles’ 21-17 loss against the Carolina Panthers, leading the team in targets (11), receptions (9) and receiving yards (138). Ertz’s 57 catches are the seventh most in NFL history after seven games and, in 2018, lead all other tight ends by 19. He ranks fifth in the NFL in receiving yards (618) and third in targets (78), and is on pace for 130 catches and 1,413 yards, which would pass the previous all-time records set by Jason Witten (110 catches in 2012) and Rob Gronkowski (1,327 yards in 2011), respectively.

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck continued his excellent season with a four-touchdown performance in the Colts’ 37-7 rout against the Buffalo Bills. Luck completed 17-of-23 passes for 156 yards and zero interceptions, upping his season total to 20, which ranks second in the NFL. Luck’s four-game run of tossing three or more touchdowns is the longest active streak in the NFL, while his 65 percent completion rate is a career-high.

Minnesota Vikings defensive tackle David Parry made three solo tackles on 34 percent of defensive snaps in the Vikings’ 37-17 win at the New York Jets. Parry added two quarterback hurries and two run stops while earning a 74.5 grade from Pro Football Focus, the fifth-highest of any Viking.

Houston Texans safety Justin Reid played all 68 defensive snaps of the Texans’ 20-7 win at the Jacksonville Jaguars, finishing with five solo tackles. Over the course of the Texans’ last three games, Reid has played 186 of 192 possible defensive snaps. On the season, Reid has surrendered just six catches for 74 yards with zero missed tackles.

NFL Season Preview

• Henry Anderson registered two tackles, including one for loss, two run stops, two quarterback pressures and one pass deflection in the New York Jets’ 37-17 loss against Minnesota.
• Johnson Bademosi appeared on 18 special teams snaps in Houston’s 20-7 win at Jacksonville.
• Cameron Fleming was active but did not appear in Dallas’ 20-17 loss at Washington.
• Joshua Garnett was inactive for San Francisco’s 39-10 loss against the Los Angeles Rams with a toe injury sustained in Week 1.
• Ryan Hewitt appeared on 26 offensive snaps and 12 special teams snaps in Indianapolis’ 37-7 win against Buffalo.
• Kevin Hogan was inactive for Denver’s 45-10 win at Arizona on Thursday night.
• Austin Hooper caught three of four targets for 48 yards in Atlanta’s 23-20 win against the New York Giants.
• Peter Kalambayi appeared on a team-high 21 special teams snaps in Houston’s 20-7 win at Jacksonville.
• Josh Mauro made one tackle on 11 defensive snaps in the New York Giants’ 23-20 loss against Atlanta.
• Quenton Meeks appeared on 18 special teams snaps in Jacksonville’s 20-17 loss against Houston.
• Christian McCaffrey caught all six of his targets for 51 yards in Carolina’s 21-17 win at Philadelphia, also carrying the ball seven times for 29 yards on all 59 offensive snaps.
• Trent Murphy recorded two pressures and one tackle in Buffalo’s 37-7 loss at Indianapolis.
• Andrus Peat was inactive for New Orleans’ 24-23 win at Baltimore with a concussion.
• Harrison Phillips registered two tackles in Buffalo’s 37-7 loss at Indianapolis.
• Jordan Richards started and appeared on 24 defensive snaps in Atlanta’s 23-20 win against the New York Giants.
• Brennan Scarlett made one special teams tackle on 18 special teams snaps in Houston’s 20-7 win at Jacksonville.
• Dalton Schultz made his NFL debut in Dallas’ 20-17 loss at Washington, catching one of three targets for 12 yards on 19 offensive snaps.
• Richard Sherman was inactive for San Francisco’s 39-10 loss against the Los Angeles Rams with a calf injury.
• Michael Thomas made one tackle on 20 defensive snaps and a game-high 22 defensive snaps in the New York Giants’ 23-20 loss at Atlanta.
• Solomon Thomas made five tackles, including three solo, with three run stops in San Francisco’s 39-10 loss against the Los Angeles Rams while playing 64 percent of defensive snaps.
• Levine Toilolo appeared on 21 offensive snaps in Detroit’s 33-21 win at Miami.

Byes
Green Bay Packers (Blake Martinez, Ty Montgomery); Pittsburgh Steelers (David DeCastro); Seattle Seahawks (Doug Baldwin)