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College Football: 5 teams on upset alert in Week 4

By Nicholas Ian Allen

Sep 19, 2015; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins running back Paul Perkins (24) is hugged by teammates after running for a touchdown in the third quarter of the game against the Brigham Young Cougars at the Rose Bowl. Ucla won 24-23.Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 19, 2015; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins running back Paul Perkins (24) is hugged by teammates after running for a touchdown in the third quarter of the game against the Brigham Young Cougars at the Rose Bowl. Ucla won 24-23.Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 19, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal linebacker Jordan Perez (15) celebrates in the fourth quarter against the Southern California Trojans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Stanford defeated USC 41-31. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 19, 2015; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal linebacker Jordan Perez (15) celebrates in the fourth quarter against the Southern California Trojans at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Stanford defeated USC 41-31. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports /

Stanford has been a very hard team to read so far this season. Because of their past success, their talented roster, and the physical style of play the Cardinal utilize under head coach David Shaw, Stanford was picked by many to win the Pac-12 North this season. However, the Cardinal looked terrible in a 16-6 season opening road loss to Northwestern, and promptly fell out of the AP Top 25.

But, following a 31-7 victory over UCF and a 41-31 win on the road against Pac-12 favorite USC (and the fact that Northwestern is 3-0 and ranked in the Top 20 in both the AP and Coaches Polls), perhaps we wrote Stanford off too early and this year’s squad is more similar to the Cardinal teams we have become accustomed to in recent years than we thought after Week 1.

Of course, that doesn’t mean they won’t succumb to the Upset Alert Special – a trap game on the road on a weeknight. And Oregon State has a history of pulling off big wins in just that scenario.

One of the youngest teams in the nation that includes just 10 seniors on the roster, Oregon State is 2-1 with home wins over Weber State and San Jose State sandwiching a 35-7 loss to Michigan in Ann Arbor. The Beavers have leaned heavily on the ground game under new head coach Gary Andersen, and have accumulated 214.3 rushing yards per game this year, with quarterback Seth Collins and running back Storm Woods each rushing for more than 200 yards and averaging more than 6.5 yards per carry so far.

Because Stanford also likes to run the football (though they’ve struggled to do so with just 136.7 rushing yards on average so far), that could mean a short game that stays close into the fourth quarter. And, if the Cardinal allow Oregon State to stick around that long, the Beavers may just find a way to win.

Next: Georgia Tech at Duke

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