Heck with college football’s national championship. It’s those state titles that make the regular season so interesting.
Too bad UCF and Florida won’t meet (not in the currently-scheduled slate anyway) because Central Florida has been busy whipping everyone else from the Sunshine State. Lane Kiffin’s failed experiment at FAU was the latest to fall, and UCF didn’t even have starting QB Brandon Wimbush’s services for the 48-14 party.
Can Stanford make a case as the finest team in all of California? That sounds a little like Richard Nixon’s stump line, “the poorest lemon ranch in all of California.” 2019 – the almanacs might say someday – was Kevin Shaw’s weakest squad in a few seasons, but it was all he had, and he was proud of it.
The Cardinal (or The Tree) has at least 1 impressive OOC performance to credit, a 17-7 pulverizing of Northwestern in Week 1 i which the Stanford defensive backfield did a low number on opposing QB Hunter Johnson. But any suggestion that the ’19 roster was an invincible defensive juggernaut died with a 45-20 loss to Southern Cal.
USC looked shaky in Week 1, so perhaps we could say that the Week 2 result is bound to be an outlier. But that’d be the case if there were problems with K.J. Costello’s offense. A hot-cold defense is another matter. Deficiency on the LOS would rob the Cardinal of its trademark weapon at a bad time.
Vegas odds-makers didn’t overlook Stanford’s potential weaknesses in making UCF a slight favorite. The betting public, however, has taken the notion and ran with it…until Central Florida began giving a whole lot of points.
Who: Stanford Cardinal at UCF Knights
When: Saturday, September 14th, 3:30 PM EST
Where: Bright House Networks Stadium, Orlando, FL
Lines: Stanford (+7.5) at UCF (-7.5) / O/U Total: (61)
I tell this story on a college football blog once a year, so veteran readers bear with me – Stanford-grad and NFL HOF’er Jim Plunkett, who struggled with the Patriots before moving westward, was asked how the fans treated him in Boston. Adopting a Beantown accent, he yelled “You stink, Plunkett! Go back ta STAN-FAAAHHD!”
The Tree probably wishes Stanford would get “back to Stanford” after the pitiful defensive performance last weekend. Alternate Trojan QB Kedon Slovis is a surprise blessing at USC, but there’s no excuse for allowing the new face to complete 28 out of 33 passes. Southern Cal’s O-line may be coming into its own, but that’s no reason why the Cardinal should have rushed the pocket so limply and allowed multiple WRs to push triple-digit yards.
I’ve read UCF-Stanford previews that say “neither team will be hampered too badly by injuries.” Huh? UCF suffered what was arguably the most-devastating injury for any FBS team when McKenzie Milton went down late last fall. The aftershock of that episode continues in Orlando.
Meanwhile, Cardinal partisans are cheering for a banged-up team:
We already knew this was coming, but the news today (9/10) that Walker Little is done for the season and Foster Sarell is doubtful for the game against UCF only brings more attention to the fact that Stanford will be starting its third offensive line combination in three games, and because of its lack of depth with injuries to Grant Pease and Dylan Powell, the Cardinal will be leaning on Walter Rouse, Barrett Miller, Jake Hornibrook, and Branson Bragg to some extent against UCF and beyond. Many believe this group of ‘19 signees has a bright future ahead of them, but that future was not supposed to be rushed into a stormy present, but that’s the situation. Stanford’s new head football trainer Nathan Peck and his staff of three assistants have their hands full already.
Stanford loves to tout an offense which requires years of apprenticeship to operate as a quarterback and to execute as a player. Problems arise when A) You don’t recruit effectively to those philosophies and B) variables like injuries jump up and hurt your team.
The line-movement for this match-up overlooks the QB carousel caused by Milton’s absence in Orlando, however. There’s already at least a temporary quarterback controversy going on around UCF as transfer Brandon Wimbush feels ready to take the field again in Week 3 just as pundits are calling for the to-date effective Dillon Gabriel to stay behind center.
I seem to recall a kid named Darriel Mack Jr. tearing it up against Memphis in the postseason last year, but maybe it’s like that Sinbad-played-Shazam memory tick.
Coaches like to say “QB is just like any other position,” but Josh Heupel may be playing it too loose and easy with his quarterbacks in 2019. The current point spread assumes that Wimbush will play and look effective, that other UCF signal-callers will patiently wait in the wings and strike when called-upon, and that the whole thing will add up to a comfortable win against K.J. Costello and Stanford.
Sure, if all of that happens, you give UCF – a proven elite team – the nod this time. But it’s a big “if” – and Stanford is good enough to win even if Wimbush goes Golden Dome-crazy.
Take Stanford to cover (+7.5).