Preview: Stanford welcomes Boston College to The Farm
On Saturday, September 13th, Stanford football will welcome Boston College to The Farm. Kickoff is set for 7:30 PM PT on ACC Network. Stanford comes in at 0-2 overall while Boston College comes in at 1-1.
READ: Boston College Game Notes
Last time out: Stanford fell to BYU 27-3 last week in Provo. The Cardinal will look to bounce back from what was a very difficult loss.
RECAP: Stanford gets pummeled in Provo
Injury report: In addition to releasing their depth chart, Stanford also released an injury report per ACC rules. You can check out both below.
READ: Stanford releases Boston College depth chart
READ: Stanford releases Boston College injury report
On Boston College: The Eagles defeated Fordham 66-10 in their opener before losing a heartbreaker at Michigan State last week 42-40 that went into double overtime. While Stanford was picked to finish last place in the ACC, Boston College was picked to finish 13th. On those grounds, the Eagles shouldn’t sleep on the Cardinal.
The Eagles are led by redshirt sophomore quarterback Dylan Lonergan, who has a 179.3 passer rating due to completing 75.9% of his passes while throwing eight touchdown passes and zero interceptions for 658 yards. Lonergan was recruited heavily by Stanford before choosing Alabama over them. In an alternate universe, he’s the starting quarterback for Stanford.
Redshirt senior wide receiver Lewis Bond leads the team in receptions with 22 while totaling 228 yards. He’s yet to find the end zone, but given how many balls he’s caught, he’ll be eager to get on the board tonight. Junior wide receiver Jaedn Skeete leads the team in touchdown receptions with three. He has five receptions for 67 yards, so he’s been very efficient in terms of finding the end zone.
The top running back for the Eagles is sophomore Turbo Richard, who has rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries for an average of 3.6 yards per carry. The Eagles clearly throw the ball a lot more, but Richard is still one who Stanford needs to be ready to contain as he also has seven receptions for 66 yards and one touchdown.
The top defensive player for the Eagles is sophomore defensive back Omar Thornton, who leads the team in total tackles with 14 (eight solo) and also in tackles for loss with five. He also has one sack on the season, one pass deflection, and one forced fumble. Senior linebacker Daveon Crouch has 10 total tackles (six solo) and one interception, which was returned 28 yards for a touchdown.
On special teams, senior kicker Luca Lombardo is 13-13 on extra points while 3-3 on his field goals with a long of 48 yards. He is having a solid season so far.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is find a way to elevate their quarterback play. Ben Gulbranson is the projected starter under center for the Cardinal despite having a 75.9 passer rating through two games. If he can have a passer rating of at least 100 in this game, that would be huge. Most importantly, don’t throw any interceptions and make the easy throws.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is put pressure on Lonergan. With outside linebacker Teva Tafiti out, guys like R.J. Cooper and Wilfredo Aybar are going to have to pick up the slack with respect to the edge rushing. If Stanford can keep bringing the heat, they’ll give themselves a chance to win this game. Especially if they can force turnovers in the process.
Third, Sam Roush at tight end needs to finally get going. He has less than 10 receiving yards on the season so far. As the “star” tight end of the team, he needs to get going and have a productive day. If he could have at least 50 yards receiving with one touchdown in the red zone, that would be big.
Finally, Stanford needs to get back to running the ball well. Micah Ford rushed for over 100 yards against Hawaii, but got utterly stymied at BYU. If Stanford can get things going with the ground game, that would help to control possession and keep the ball out of Lonergan’s hands. And then if they’re finding the end zone in the process, even better.
Prediction: I’m gonna take a shot in the dark and pick Stanford to win 31-27. If Stanford doesn’t win this game, it’s fair to wonder what game they’ll win. With it being the home opener and Boston College having made a long flight after a tough loss, I see the stars aligning for the Cardinal to win this game.
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