Fansided

College football 2018 preview: Predicting the first loss for every Top 25 team

By Jeremy Morris

ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 01: UCF Golden Knights quarterback McKenzie Milton (10) celebrates a touchdown during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl between the UCF Knights and the Auburn War Eagles on January 1, 2017 at Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - JANUARY 01: UCF Golden Knights quarterback McKenzie Milton (10) celebrates a touchdown during the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl between the UCF Knights and the Auburn War Eagles on January 1, 2017 at Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by David J. Griffin/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
14 of 26
Next
PALO ALTO, CA – NOVEMBER 18: Bryce Love #20 of the Stanford Cardinal in action against the California Golden Bears at Stanford Stadium on November 18, 2017 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
PALO ALTO, CA – NOVEMBER 18: Bryce Love #20 of the Stanford Cardinal in action against the California Golden Bears at Stanford Stadium on November 18, 2017 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

Stanford has already been mentioned twice since they play USC and Oregon early in the season. After Oregon, they’ll be 4-0 as they head to South Bend to play Notre Dame in Week 5. They could very easily lose that game, especially coming off of a trip to Eugene the week before.

David Shaw doesn’t get mentioned in the upper echelon of coaches as much as he probably should for his teams’ always being well-coached, disciplined and prepared. Between his coaching and the on-field leadership of players like Bryce Love, I think they’ll have the composure to travel cross-country to South Bend and come back with a 5-0 record.

The home matchup with Utah following back to back road games against ranked opponents is what scares me though. Like Shaw, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham is an underappreciated coach whose teams are tough, disciplined and punch above their weight class.

They’ll be in their second season under new offensive coordinator Troy Taylor after a year spent installing a high-flying spread offense. Quarterback Tyler Huntley led the offense as a true freshman in 2017 and should be a different player with a year of experience coming back. He’s a phenomenal athlete who can make defenses pay on the ground as well as through the air. The Utes will have a stout defensive unit per usual and if things fall into place on offense, I see Utah handing Stanford their first loss of the season.