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Stanford 41, Arizona 31

What a difference ten days can make. If you watched the loss to UCLA last week, you endured one of the worst offensive performances of the David Shaw era. Led by a third-string quarterback, the Cardinal finished with only 198 total yards, earned just 11 first downs, and averaged a paltry 1.8 yards per carry. With Davis Mills declared out, and K.J. Costello ranging from doubtful to questionable throughout the week, it appeared Stanford could be without its top two quarterbacks once again as they face the Arizona Wildcats.

Blogging with the Enemy: Arizona Wildcats

It's been three years since Stanford and Arizona last saw each other on the field of play, and a lot has happened for both teams since the Cardinal's 34-10 win over the Wildcats in 2016. In 2017, while Bryce Love was rewriting the Stanford record book, Arizona's Khalil Tate was doing the same thing down in Tucson. To say that he was a running quarterback would be an understatement, as he actually had more 200-yard rushing games than Love did. Love set a Stanford mark with 301 yards rushing against Arizona State on September 30th, and the following weekend, in his first game as the starter, Tate topped that with 327 against Colorado.

Tate would finish the season with 1,411 yards rushing, and while he's only combined for 430 yards over the past two seasons, he still presents a unique challenge for the Stanford defense and a unique viewing opportunity for Stanford fans.

Stanford 55, Arizona 17

There's no sense trying to come up with a clever lede for this story -- the Stanford offense is back.

Blogging with the Enemy: Arizona Wildcats

It's amazing to think about where the Stanford football program was the last time the Cardinal tangled with the Wildcats. Arizona travelled to Palo Alto on the first weekend of October back in 2012, just as they do this weekend, for a game that would turn out to be critical to the Cardinal's season. In Stanford's first game without Andrew Luck, the Cardinal squeaked out a 20-17 win over San Jose State, put after pounding Duke, 50-13, the following week and then upsetting #2 USC the week after that, things were looking brighter.

But the offense couldn't score a touchdown in a troubling 17-13 loss to Washington, and suddenly folks were calling for a change at the quarterback position. Josh Nunes had won the starting job late in camp, getting the nod over Brett Nottingham, it was beginning to look like he was out of his depth.

The 2015 Schedule

With no game to look forward to this Saturday, now seems like the perfect time to look at the Cardinal's 2015 schedule, released this week by the Pac-12. Far too many things will happen between now and next fall to predict outcomes of any of the games, but let's take a game-by-game trip through the schedule anyway, just for fun. Oh, and keep this in mind as we go -- the schedule sets up perfectly for a run to the playoffs.

Stanford 54, Arizona 48 (OT)

It was only twenty-four hours ago that the villagers were lighting their torches and preparing to storm the castle. Josh Nunes had to go, said the masses, and he had to go quickly. This morning the torches have been doused, and the villagers have dispersed. Josh Nunes carried the Cardinal to victory on Saturday afternoon, and he did so in dramatic fashion.

Blogging With the Enemy: Arizona Wildcats

There are few teams in America that need to play a football game as badly as Stanford does. After last Saturday's disheartening road loss to Washington, quarterback Josh Nunes and the Cardinal return home to Stanford Stadium where they'll take on the new-look Arizona Wildcats.

When Mike Stoops was hired away from Oklahoma in 2004, optimism was high. After all, Stoops had been the defensive coordinator under his older brother Bob for four years, and during that time the Sooners had gone 55-11, including a national championship and three Big 12 championships. 

The Stoops Experiment lasted a long time in Tucson, but it was ultimately a failure. In seven and a half seasons (Stoops was fired after six games in 2011) he posted a terribly mediocre record of 41 wins and 50 losses, a far cry from what was expected.

Enter Rich Rodríguez. After being cast off by the Michigan Wolverines, Rich-Rod has landed in the desert, bringing with him his spread offense and quirky defense. Initially things looked good, espcially after the Wildcats beat #18 Oklahoma State by three touchdowns in early September. But U of A is up to their old tricks of late, having lost a 49-0 blowout to Oregon two weeks ago and a 38-35 last minute heartbreaker to Oregon State last Saturday.

After this weekend's game against Stanford, the Wildcats will be halfway through a brutal six-game stretch during which they'll face six straight ranked opponents. Washington, USC, and UCLA are still waiting, so it could be argued that Saturday's game is the most important on Arizona's schedule. A win would give them much-needed confidence as they prepare to run the rest of their gauntlet, while a loss could send them into a death spiral from which they might never recover.

So as we prepare for this pivotal game, let's take a look at what the other side is saying. For the second year in a row, Kevin Zimmerman of Arizona Desert Storm has been good enough to answer some of my questions about the current state of the Wildcats. (You can read my answers to his questions about the Cardinal right here.) Check it out, because it's great to learn -- knowledge is power!

Forecasting Stanford Football in 2012, One Game at a Time

Remember in Back to the Future II when Biff stole Marty's copy of Grays Sports Almanac and used the DeLorean to give it to his 1955 self so that he could win every sports bet for the next fifty years? Well, here's the next best thing.

We here at Go Mighty Card have never condoned gambling, but we noticed something recently that caught our attention. Sure, it might be fun to put down some cash on an individual game, then bite your nails to the nubs for three hours before hopefully claiming your winnings, but we've always been more intrigued by the long-term bet, especially because it always looks so easy to make a fistful of money.

One of the earliest reports from Las Vegas has the over/under for the 2012 Stanford Cardinal set at 7.5 wins. On the surface, eight wins seems like a gimme, so I thought I'd take a look at things game by game, putting each match-up into one of three categories: Guaranteed Lock, Toss Up, or Likely Loss.

This is hardly scientific, and by no means a recommendation on how to spend your hard-earned money, but it gives us an excuse to analyze the schedule a bit. As always, feel free to agree or disagree in the comments section. Could it be possible that Stanford could win only seven games this fall? Let's take a look...

Stanford 37, Arizona 10

It's hard to tell from the final score, but there was a stretch of time on Saturday night when it seemed like an entire season was about to come crashing down.

Tight end Coby Fleener was still sitting on the bench, not having seen any action since taking a violent blow to the head midway through the first quarter, and wide receiver Chris Owusu had joined him after landing awkwardly on his right shoulder while returning a kickoff. 

Fleener's injury was a helmet-to-helmet blow, a likely concussion, and even before he wobbled off the field it looked like he'd be out for the game (he would be), and there are concerns any time Owusu is tackled (he would return), but things really begin to look grim when linebacker Shayne Skov went down with just under ten minutes to play in the second quarter.

Blogging With the Enemy: Arizona Wildcats

The last time the Cardinal took a trip to the desert, things ended badly. First-year quarterbacks Andrew Luck and Nick Foles put on a show that belied their inexperience, combining for 838 yards and six touchdowns.

The game, however, came down a coach's decision. Clinging to a 38-36 lead and facing a fourth and one on the Arizona eight-yard line with 5:37 to play, the Cardinal seemed headed for victory. Rather than take the sure field goal and a five-point lead, however, coach Jim Harbaugh kept the offense on the field, minus a gimpy Toby Gerhart.

Luck hit an open Chris Owusu in the flat for what should've led to a first down, but Owusu dropped the ball. The Wildcats took possession and marched eighty-three yards for the game-winning touchdown.

It seems like something like that always happens when Stanford travels to Arizona, and there are fears that even as this team is beginning to build momentum towards a potential championship season, all of that could come crashing down in Tucson.