A victory over No. 18 UCLA on Thursday would give Stanford (4-1, 3-0) control of the North as the stretch run approaches.
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Yes, to hear him tell it, the No. 18 Bruins (4-1, 1-1) exist in an alternate football universe, one in which past wins and losses are as relevant as Kant’s “Critique of Pure Reason” might be to a Labrador retriever. The Cardinal have played much better ever since, winning and covering in every game while averaging almost 7 yards per play.
“The two practices last week I thought we were good, and then (Sunday) we were on it again”, Mora said.
Guard Johnny Caspers said the team has “a slight sense of confidence” against UCLA as a result of previous successes.
As Thursday night quickly approaches, college football fans everywhere can look forward to another one of those highly-anticipated battles on the Gridiron in the race to make it to the playoffs. The Cardinal have covered 6 of the last 7 games in this series, and are 7-2 ATS at home against the Bruins.
Washington State will have their fourth consecutive afternoon game when they head down to Tuscon on Saturday, October 24 to take on the Arizona Wildcats. Stanford has scored at least 24 points in each of the past seven wins against the Bruins.
In four games against UCLA, Stanford quarterback Kevin Hogan has completed 65 of 88 passes for 776 yards and five touchdowns, with just one interception. The Bruins never did get their running game going, although quarterback Josh Rosen almost brought them back, throwing for 280 yards and a pair of scores. “We had to rearrange the puzzle a little bit with a few guys going down and a few guys switching positions”. “People don’t like to kick the ball to him”. We will change our looks, but we need to make sure everyone plays their responsibilities. Before Wednesday, UCLA was the last team to finish atop the preseason rankings, receiving the honor two straight years in 1998-99 and 1999-2000.
The rest of the special teams have done well.
Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.
Record: 4-2, 1-2.
Stanford’s seven straight wins over UCLA are tied for the program’s best active win streak against any opponent (seven straight wins vs. Washington State), and marks the longest winning streak for either team in the series.
The loss of defensive tackle Eddie Vanderdoes and linebacker Myles Jack along with a top defensive back has put a lot of pressure on their backups.
INJURY UPDATE: Stanford – LB Noor Davis (leg), DT Harrison Phillips (knee) and LB Kevin Anderson (undisclosed) are out. In 2013, UCLA became a top-10 team for the first time in eight years – and promptly face-planted at Stanford. Bruins WR Jordan Payton needs 35 yards receiving to move into the top 10 in school history….
Strong tracked down Johnny Jackson after a 70-yard pass play, but the Wildcats wound up scoring a touchdown the next play.
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The performance lifted McCaffrey to third in the Pac-12 in rushing with 601 total yards, and he’s averaging better than 120 per game. “He’s Stepfan Taylor-like. Is he quick enough? Yes”.
