What the Cardinal need to do to get back on track

The Stanford Cardinal head to 13th ranked Oregon for a late night showdown

Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports

The Stanford Cardinal are heading north to face off against a rival in the Oregon Ducks. Stanford can't catch a break with their schedule at all this season. This will be their third ranked opponent in a row, with two being on the road. With a 1-2 record there are some already putting head coach David Shaw on the hot seat. Not only will Shaw be coaching for potentially his job at the end of the year in week 5, but to get his team back on track. Just how does he do that against an explosive Oregon team?

Stopping Oregon's Offense

The Oregon Ducks only loss came to arguably the best defense in college football, the Georgia Bulldogs. After that Oregon has been humming on offense. The Ducks are averaging 39.5 points a game, behind Auburn Transfer quarterback Bo Nix. The only problem for Oregon is they are similar to the Cardinal, both have an offense that can score points but their defense can be like swiss cheese. This means they both have many holes in the defense, which allows for points be put up on them. Each defense gives up around 31 points per game, this is not good. 

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It'll be a challenge to stop the Oregon offense full of speed and offense that puts pressure on opposing defenses. They average five yards shy of 500 per game. The Cardinal defense gives up 400 per game. Explosive plays are what we will see from Oregon. It'll be hard to stop the offense from scoring and putting up points. What Stanford needs to focus on is getting a few stops. You will not be able to eliminate the Oregon offense, the plan needs to be to get a few stops that keep them in the game. 

Attacking The Ducks Defense

Good thing for Stanford, Oregon has a shakey defense themselves. They give up 388 yards per game and 31 points per game. A potential problem for the Cardinal is the fact that Oregon only allows 86 rushing yards a game. Stanford wants to run the ball, but it might have to lean on Tanner McKee to lead the offense through the air. Good thing Stanford has the weapons on offense to do. Expect big days from Michael Wilson, a player that has put himself on many NFL team radars. Elijah Higgins has been off to a slow start, should have a fairly solid game, also a player who intrigues NFL scouts. The Stanford offense will also need to be explosive in order to compete with Oregon. 

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A good thing is they'll have the ability to get into a shootout with Oregon. A way to stay in the game is not to give away the ball. Oregon has struggled to take away the ball from opposing offenses. They only have 4 takeaways on the season through four games. A few more than Stanford's defense has been able to create, but both teams don't take away the ball. Stanford has turnover problems that can get in their way from trying to upset the Ducks. Stanford must not turn the ball over in order to win this game, sounds cliche,  but when you have a negative ten turnover ratio that is a big reason you lose games. 

Predicting The Outcome In Oregon

David Shaw is on the hot seat, but he has a reputation for always upsetting a ranked opponent. This is the game he gets his team on track when upsetting an explosive No. 13 Oregon offensive team. If things go right they will need to not turn the ball over, get the passing attack going and get behind one another. If you are interested in a lot of offense, tune in Saturday night, because the over/under for points scored is at 62.5. The over will be hit, while Stanford finds its way to a .500 record winning in Oregon 41-38.