7 things we’ve learned through 7 weeks of the college football regular season
By Stu White
7. Stanford is damn good
Remember the first week of the season? Remember when the Stanford Cardinal looked slow and disorganized against the Northwestern Wildcats? And remember how we then all hopped on Twitter to mock ESPN’s Desmond Howard for picking the Cardinal to win the national championship?
Yeah, we were idiots.
Look, not even the biggest Stanford doubters thought that the Cardinal’s sloppy performance against the Wildcats would be indicative of the rest of the season. But the Cardinal have done more than merely turn things around since that opening loss: they have become one of the most dangerous teams in college football.
For evidence, look at Thursday night’s thrashing of UCLA. The Cardinal trounced the Bruins, 56-35, and they did so without scoring in the fourth quarter. Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey gouged the Bruins for a school-record 243 yards, and Francis Owusu hauled in the most spectacular catch you’ll see this year. Quarterback Kevin Hogan put together a solid performance, continuing his streak of steady play, and the Cardinal defense caused a slew of problems for UCLA’s wunderkind freshman Josh Rosen, who threw two interceptions in defeat.
At this stage in the season it’s hard to imagine anyone challenging the Cardinal in the Pac-12 North. Oregon and Washington are too young, the Washington State is erratic, and California, even with its Bear Raid offense, seem beatable. (Oregon, of course, is a dumpster fire.) With only two away games remaining the rest of the season — at Washington State on Halloween and at Colorado the following weekend — the Cardinal have the inside track in terms of reaching the conference title game. Don’t be surprised if they continue to climb up the national polls as well.
Next: 6. Fans are awful