Andrew Luck and the Stanford Cardinal are coming off of a thrilling 56-48 triple-overtime victory over the USC Trojans and hope to avoid that type of a close encounter this week against the Oregon State Beavers. The oddsmakers predict that Stanford will return to its dominant Pac-12 ways with the opening line placing Stanford as 20.5-point favorites.
The 2-6 Beavers have struggled this season on both sides of the ball. Oregon State ranks 90th in offense with 23.0 points per game and 83rd in defense with 29.9 points given up per game. The Cardinal, meanwhile, rank third in the country in offense with 49.5 points per game and 13th in defense with 17.0 points surrendered per game.
Stanford has scored more than 37 points in every game this year, and that trend should continue on Saturday against Oregon State. Prior to the USC game, the Cardinal defense had not surrendered more than 21 points in any game and should hold the Beavers under that total. If both patterns hold on Saturday- which they should- Stanford is in prime position to cover the spread and notch another win before next week's big showdown against the Oregon Ducks.