Stanford @ Washington preview
Husky Stadium
Last Meeting ( Sep 26, 2009 ) Washington 14, Stanford 34
The two teams with the most successful graduation rates in the Pac-10 Conference clash this week, but you can bet that Stanford and Washington are more concerned with what happens between the lines rather than inside a classroom on Saturday.
Washington (3-4, 2-2 in Pac-10) keeps pressing forward behind battered quarterback Jake Locker, a senior who is playing through some sort of physical issue for the fifth consecutive week. Locker’s main problems have been a deep thigh bruise and sore ribs, one injury that affects his running and one that affects his passing.
Still, coach Steve Sarkisian said this week that Locker would remain the starter.
Locker has still thrown for 1,614 yards and 14 touchdowns against only four interceptions in 232 attempts. He’s the team’s No. 2 rusher (252 yards) behind Chris Polk (636 yards, four touchdowns).
No. 14 Stanford (6-1, 3-1) is off to its best start since 1970, when the Cardinal started 8-1, won the conference title and beat Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.
Stanford relies heavily on its quarterback too. Andrew Luck is among 16 players on the short list for the Davey O’Brien Award. He’s thrown for 1,728 yards and 19 touchdowns and ranks seventh in the nation in passing efficiency at 165.43. In the last two games, Luck is 40 for 52 with six touchdowns.
Stanford has more contributors on offense. Running back Stepfan Taylor has run for more than 100 yards in each of the last four games and kicker Nate Whitaker is 11-for-11 this season on field goals and has made 16 straight going back to the 2009 season. Stanford’s prolific attack averages 42.57 points and has punted only 15 times. This is potentially good news against a Washington defense that has had trouble stopping the run.
But the Cardinal defense has been poor the last three games, especially against the past four opponents. Stanford has 17 sacks and has been able to bring the heat, but the secondary has been soft. The possible absence of safety Delano Howell (wrist injury) won’t help them against Locker.
Washington is expected to be without defensive end Cameron Elisara (stinger), but could get linebacker Victor Aiyewa (knee contusion) and offensive tackle Erik Kohler (mono) back in the starting lineup.
Stanford hopes to keep its Rose Bowl dreams alive with a road victory over Washington, which is still striving toward bowl eligibility. Despite its loss to Oregon, Stanford could play in the Rose Bowl if the Ducks are in the BCS Championship game and either Boise State, TCU or Utah is their opponent.
Washington leads the series 40-36-4, but Stanford won 34-14 in Palo Alto in 2009.