Stanford in big trouble after getting manhandled by Northwestern
It’s safe to say No. 23-ranked Stanford will lose its status as a top-25 team heading into Week 2 after getting abused by Northwestern on Saturday.
The Cardinal struggled to wake up in an early game on the East Coast, and quite honestly never did. The Wildcats were the more physical team from the opening kickoff until the final whistle, earning an impressive 16-6 win over Stanford, which appears to have some systemic issues to overcome going forward.
Senior quarterback Kevin Hogan has never been anything more than adequate for the Cardinal, and he was downright hapless in this contest. He finished with just 155 passing yards on 35 attempts (4.4 yards per attempt), failing to throw a touchdown while turning it over with one interception.
Stanford’s rushing attack didn’t fare much better, averaging just 3.1 yards per carry to finish with just 85 total yards on the ground.
Perhaps just as alarming is the fact that the Cardinal allowed Northwestern to rush for 225 yards on the day.
Head coach David Shaw could be looking at a miserable campaign if he and his staff can’t get things turned around quickly. Stanford hosts UCF next weekend before traveling south to face USC in Week 3. If the issues that showed up in Week 1 aren’t cleaned up quickly, than an 0-3 start isn’t out of the question.