Last Updated on November 3, 2010 3:48 am by Anthony Rome
Arizona vs. Stanford Preview
STANFORD, CA – Led by highly touted quarterback Andrew Luck and a potent offense, Stanford is off to its best start in a 40 years.
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Luck and the 10th-ranked Cardinal had little trouble putting up points against one of the nation’s most disappointing teams last weekend, but expect a much tougher test Saturday night when they host No. 13 Arizona and its formidable defense.
Oddsmakers from online sports book BroburySports.com have made Stanford –9.5 point spread favorites for Saturday’s game against Arizona. Current NCAA Public Betting Information shows that 74% of more than 2,193 bets for this game have been placed on Stanford –9.5.
In a matchup of teams tied for second place in the Pac-10, Stanford (7-1, 4-1) is fifth in the FBS in scoring at 42.4 points, while Arizona (7-1, 4-1) is seventh in the nation in scoring defense at 14.4 points.
The Cardinal are coming off another impressive offensive showing, racking up 470 yards in a 41-0 win at Washington on Saturday. The game was supposed to feature two of the top quarterback prospects for next spring’s NFL draft in Luck and Jake Locker, but the anticipated matchup was completely one-sided.
At a rainy Husky Stadium, Luck completed 19 of 26 passes for 192 yards with a touchdown, and ran for a 51-yard TD around end after faking a handoff. One of Luck’s few mistakes came on the final play of the first half when he threw an interception on a jump ball in the end zone.
“Let’s open up the Heisman discussion a little bit,” Cardinal coach Jim Harbaugh said. “This Andrew Luck is a great, great football player.”
Luck, third in the conference with 20 touchdown passes, has guided Stanford to its best start since the 1970 team opened 8-1. As a result, the Cardinal are thinking about their first Rose Bowl appearance since 2000.
The Wildcats are in a similar position. They’re enjoying their best season since the 1998 team went 12-1 and are hoping to land a spot in Pasadena for the first time.
The defense has keyed Arizona’s success, but it had an inconsistent performance in a 29-21 win at UCLA on Saturday. The Wildcats yielded 299 yards and were hurt by two big plays – a 68-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter and a 49-yard TD pass with 14:24 remaining.
“I thought we played relatively well if you take out a couple of plays defensively,” coach Mike Stoops said. “Besides that, we had pretty good control of the game.”
Arizona rolled up a season-high 583 yards and 32 first downs behind backup quarterback Matt Scott, and could have starter Nick Foles back this week.
Foles, the Pac-10 leader in passing at the time of his injury at 305.8 yards per game, has missed the last two contests due to a sprained right knee, though he was healthy enough to start warming up after Scott hurt his hand last weekend.
Stoops said Foles’ availability against the Cardinal will depend on whether he’s healthy enough to practice.
“If Nick is ready, he’ll start against Stanford,” Stoops said.
Foles and Luck put up gaudy numbers in Arizona’s 43-38 win over Stanford last season. Foles threw for 415 yards and three touchdowns, while Luck passed for 423 yards with three TDs as the teams combined for 1,137 yards of offense.
Duplicating those performances seems unlikely with both schools’ defenses playing so well.
While Arizona’s defense garners most of the attention, Stanford ranks third in the Pac-10 in both total defense at 331.6 yards and scoring defense at 21.3 points.
The Cardinal, 14-2 in their last 16 at home, yielded just 107 yards against a struggling Huskies offense last week – the second-best defensive effort in school history. They also notched their second shutout of the year, the first time they’ve held two opponents scoreless in a season since 1972.
“This defense is more talented than what we have shown the past couple of weeks,” Stanford linebacker Shane Skov said. “We made it extra motivation to get back on track and show the Pac-10 that this defense is a force.”
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