Two of the top academic universities in the country will match wits on the football field the opening week of the season as the no. 25 Stanford Cardinal host the Northwestern Wildcats. Kickoff is set for 4:00 EST on Saturday, August 31, at Stanford Stadium in Stanford, California. The game will be broadcast nationally on Fox.
According to our Week 1 college football odds, Stanford is favored by 6.5 points at home. The over/under for the game is listed at 47.5 points.
Despite winning nine games, including a Sun Bowl victory over Pitt, Stanford will be a little disappointed with their 2018 season. The Cardinal began as a top-15 and rose as high as no. 7 in the polls. However, a stretch of four losses in five games ended any hope of reaching the Pac-12 Championship Game for a second straight year. Ultimately, the Cardinal settled for a 9-4 record.
Of course, Stanford remains one of the most consistent programs in the Pac-12. The Cardinal has played in a bowl game in all eight seasons under David Shaw, earning a top-20 ranking in six of those seasons. They will once again have hopes of winning what promises to be a competitive Pac-12 North division and would like to begin their season with a statement win over a Big Ten team.
Northwestern, on the other hand, couldn’t be more excited about how their 2018 season turned out. After starting the season 1-3, the Wildcats won seven of their next eight games to finish 8-1 in conference play, win the Big Ten West division, and play in the Big Ten Championship Game for the first time in school history.
Despite losing to Ohio State in the conference title game, Northwestern rebounded with a win in the Holiday Bowl to finish 9-5 and ranked in the top-25 for the third time in the last four seasons. The Wildcats will begin the 2019 season outside the top-25, but that will not stop them from setting their sights on another trip to the Big Ten title game, despite a tough schedule that includes six games against ranked teams.
There have been just seven previous meetings on the gridiron between these two academic heavyweights. The last game came in the 2015 season opener when Northwestern was victorious at home in a 16-6 slugfest. Four years later, Shaw and Fitzgerald are ready to match wits once again.
All betting aside, this is one of the more intriguing matchups of the opening weekend. I understand why Stanford is favored at home, but I don’t see many areas where the Cardinal will be significantly better than the Wildcats. I actually wouldn’t mind taking Northwestern to win straight-up, so I have no problem picking them to at least beat the spread.
Not many teams can lose a four-year starter at quarterback and actually upgrade at that position, but that could be the case with Northwestern. Clayton Thorson was trusted and reliable, but he doesn’t have the arm talent that his replacement Hunter Johnson possesses. Once among the top quarterback recruits in the country, Johnson transferred from Clemson and sat out last season at Northwestern. He’s now ready to take the reins from Thorson, giving the Wildcats a quarterback with big-time arm talent who can push the ball down the field.
Northwestern is lacking an elite receiver, but they have several options who should be able to help Johnson spread the field. The Northwestern running game also came on strong late last season with the emergence os Isaiah Bowser. I think the Wildcats will have the playmakers to give the Stanford defense trouble. The Cardinal lost two 90-plus tacklers at linebacker and have some questions in the secondary outside of all-Pac-12 cornerback Paulson Adebo, making the Stanford defense a little vulnerable, especially if Johnson can hit the ground running.
On the other side of the ball, Stanford lacked the kind of dominant running attack in 2018 that we’ve grown accustomed to seeing. There are still questions about their offensive line and they no longer have Bryce Love in their backfield. With Love battling injuries for much of last season, the Cardinal never got their rushing attack going. A lot of the pressure fell on quarterback K.J. Costello, who ended up having a good season. But he’ll be without his top three receivers from last season, so it could take time for him to develop chemistry with less experienced receivers.
Meanwhile, the Northwestern defense is in great shape heading into 2019. The Wildcats are strong at linebacker, which should help them keep the Stanford running game contained. If they can force Costello to throw the ball, Northwestern has several capable pass rushers who can get after the Stanford quarterback and disrupt the passing game.
In the end, I think both offenses will get off to a sluggish start. This figures to be a close, low-scoring game, which figures to favor the underdogs. While Stanford has the more proven quarterback, I like the potential of Johnson and the Northwestern offense. I also prefer the Northwestern defense over Stanford’s defense, so I’ll take my chances with the Wildcats beating the spread and possibly winning the game.