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Coming off three straight wins against teams ranked near the bottom of the Pac-12 standings, the Stanford Cardinal will get a more difficult challenge on Saturday when they face No. 11 Oregon State.
Stanford cruised to a 48-0 win against Colorado last week, but will now play a pivotal game in the Pac-12 North race. At 5-1, Oregon State and Stanford are tied for second place in the Pac-12 North, trailing 6-0 Oregon. With upcoming games against Oregon State and Oregon, Stanford controls its own destiny, beginning Saturday. If Stanford is going to knock off the Beavers, it will do so with Kevin Hogan at quarterback. The redshirt freshman replaced starter Josh Nunes during the game against Colorado and will now start against Oregon State.
Hogan completed 18 of 23 passes for 184 yards and two touchdowns against the Buffaloes. He proved to be a threat on the ground as well, rushing seven times for 48 yards. Hogan replaces Josh Nunes who started the first nine games of the season, but struggled recently.
The Cardinal offense will be challenged on Saturday as it faces one of the top defense in the Pac-12. Oregon State is 19th in the country and second in the Pac-12 in defense points allowed at 18.1. The Beavers trail Stanford who allowed 16.6 points per game during the first nine games.
Stanford has won the last two games between the teams, including a 38-13 win at Oregon State last season.
Game time, TV channel: 3 p.m. ET, FOX
Online streaming video: N/A
Point spread: Stanford is favored by 5-1/2 points.
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