The No. 7 Stanford Cardinal will look to extend the nation's longest winning streak against the No. 22 Washington Huskies, who are 5-1 on the season, 3-1 in the Pac-12, and ranked for the first time in more than two years.
Stanford is led, of course, by Heisman Trophy candidate Andrew Luck, who has completed 73.1 percent of his 1,719 yards and 18 touchdowns, 12 of which has come over the last four weeks. The offense is averaging 45.8 points and 485.7 yards per game this season, and it's not only Luck that opposing defenses have to concerns themselves with. Running backs Stepfan Taylor (559 yards, five touchdowns) leads a ground attack that averages 181 yards per game.
Linebacker Chase Thomas (25 tackles, 7.5 for a loss, 5.5 quarterback sacks) spearheads a Cardinal defense that has limited opponents to just 67 points on the season.
Washington has a talented quarterback of their own, with sophomore Keith Price stepping out from under Jake Locker's shadow to complete 69.4 percent of 170 pass attempts for 1,466 yards and 21 touchdowns, which ranks second in the nation behind Baylor Bears quarterback Robert Griffin III. Price has been intercepted just four times on the season and has benefited from the power-running of junior Chris Polk, who has 728 yards and a team-high three rushing touchdowns.
Game date, time: 8pm ET, Saturday, October 22, 2011
Location: Stanford Stadium, Stanford, California
TV channel: ABC/ESPN
Spread: The Cardinals is favored by 21 points
Series history: Huskies lead the all-time series, 40-37-4
For further reading, news, discussion and more, visit Stanford blog Rule Of Tree and Washington blog UW Dawg Pound. Here’s this week’s college football TV schedule, and stay tuned to SB Nation’s college football news hub for more.