The 2019 college football season is right around the corner and that means predictions, as well as season previews, are here. Today we are looking at the University of Stanford. Let’s take a quick look at the season schedule for the Cardinal:
- August 31 – Northwestern
- September 7 – @ USC
- September 14 – @ UCF
- September 21 – Oregon
- September 28 – @ Oregon State
- October 5 – Washington
- October 17 – UCLA
- October 26 – Arizona
- November 9 – @ Colorado
- November 16 – @ Washington State
- November 23 – Cal
- November 30 – Notre Dame
*December 6 – Pac 12 Championship*
(Bold indicates Pac 12 game)
Stanford will start the season against Northwestern at home, which can be a big game immediately. With a somewhat new roster but playing at home this can be a confidence booster early in the season. From the middle of September to the end of November is going to be a key piece of the schedule for Stanford as this will be all of their Pac 12 games. Playing on November 9th and 16th in Colorado and Washington State can be a big battle test for Stanford. With it being November and the weather starting to turn to the colder side, depending on how Stanford plans to strategize for the season, these two games can be a big game with weather playing a vital role.
When looking at the roster the biggest note to mention is the loss of Bryce Love (drafted in the fourth round to the Washington Redskins). He had a good but not amazing senior year campaign. Bryce had a total of 739 yards with 6 touchdowns, which is not great compared to his Junior year. Senior Dorian Maddox will be replacing Love according to the Cardinal depth chart currently.
On the other hand Quarterback, K.J. Costello will be returning for his senior year at Stanford. This is key because Stanford has one of the toughest seasons in the nation this year and having a QB that is comfortable and used to the system will play aid for them heading into the 2019 season. Costello ended up with 3,540 total passing yards with 29 touchdowns (but 11 interceptions). Costello will be looking to build off of a strong season while at the same time building with junior wideout Connor Wedington and Sophomore Simi Fehoko. Going against the Pac – 12 I think K.J. will have a strong year possibly hitting the 4,500-yard mark with about 35 touchdowns. Some of the defenses in the Pac – 12 aren’t top defenses but they can have their moments which can strengthen or snap during the year which can be positive or negative for K.J.
Overall for Stanford, I still see them being a middle of the pack team overall. I think they will be a 7-5 team with wins over Northwestern, Oregon State, UCLA, Arizona, Colorado, Cal, and Notre Dame. At the same time, I can see the games with Colorado, Cal, and Notre Dame going the other way also. I think this will be a big year before a big rebuilding year in 2020 for Stanford. It will be interesting to see what head coach David Shaw looks to do in the 2019 season with what type of offense and how aggressive they plan to play on defense.
Written by Tyler Pastorius
Images Credit: Nick Windsor
