Q&A: The Stanford Daily on how the Cardinal will match up with the Bruins

To get some inside information on the Stanford football team, Daily Bruin Sports reached out to The Stanford Daily and asked a few questions about the Cardinal before their upcoming game against UCLA this Saturday.

All of the responses below come from Vihan Lakshman, a football writer at The Stanford Daily.

Daily Bruin Sports: It seems that year after year, UCLA circles the game with Stanford on its calendar as one of the biggest days of the year. Since the Bruins haven’t beaten the Cardinal since 2008, do you think Stanford shares that same mentality, or is Saturday night going to be just another Saturday?

Vihan Lakshman: The Cardinal absolutely relish this matchup. The Stanford players set the goal of becoming the “Kings of California,” ahead of every season and defeating the Bruins is obviously a vital part of those aspirations. The Stanford coaching staff emphasizes routine in preparing for every game, and I don’t expect the Cardinal to approach this battle with any different focus and intensity than usual. The fact that Stanford has emerged victorious in the last eight contests with UCLA plays a very small part in how David Shaw’s squad views this game, especially since the bulk of Stanford’s roster was in middle school when the streak started. The Cardinal see this game as a critical showdown with a talent-laden in-state rival as opposed to a winning streak that needs defending.

DB Sports: We all know junior running back Christian McCaffrey will be the man to watch. What can UCLA do to slow him down?

VL: When talking about slowing down McCaffrey, you have to address his presence as not only a runner, but also as a returner and as a receiver. When No. 5 gets the ball out of the backfield, it’s all about winning the battle in the trenches. When Stanford’s offensive line can dominate the point of attack and allow McCaffrey to hit the second level untouched, the 2015 AP Player of the Year is nearly impossible to stop. Last year, Northwestern and Washington had a lot of success generating penetration up front and contained McCaffrey better than just about anybody.

We saw how dangerous McCaffrey can be in the return game against UCLA last season, and the formula for stopping him here would probably involve kicking it away from him. At this point, Stanford’s offense hasn’t shown the potency to score almost at will that it displayed last season, so sacrificing a bit of field position to avoid ending up on the wrong end of a highlight reel has to be a worthwhile trade-off.

Stopping McCaffrey, the receiver, might be the trickiest proposition. He had a long touchdown reception out of the backfield last week against USC and should have added another after he lined up out wide and put a beautiful double move on a safety to create five yards of separation. Because of his primary threat as a runner, McCaffrey will inevitably be matched up on linebackers and safeties in coverage. If the Bruins can handle this unique challenge while applying pressure to hurry quarterback Ryan Burns, they could be in position to win this battle.

Another underrated aspect of slowing down McCaffrey is the performance of a team’s offense. Kansas State did a masterful job of controlling the clock and allowed Stanford to run just 49 plays for the entire game, limiting the number of times McCaffrey could touch the ball. Winning the time of possession battle can go a long way towards assisting a defense.

DB Sports: Outside of McCaffrey, who has the potential to hurt the Bruins the most? Will senior Ryan Burns be able to dominate the Bruin defense as much Kevin Hogan has done in prior years?

VL: In my opinion, the most dangerous Stanford offensive weapon not named Christian McCaffrey is sophomore running back Bryce Love. Love missed the Cardinal’s opener against Kansas State with a leg injury, but returned to action against USC and received 11 carries for 51 yards, including one or two runs where he was a shoestring tackle away from outrunning everybody in sight. Love brings truly elite speed into the equation for Stanford, and he can make a difference even when he doesn’t have the ball in his hands as defenses must always account for his presence.

Regarding the quarterbacks, it’s very true that UCLA always seemed to draw Kevin Hogan on his A-plus days. Hogan’s success against the Bruins was also historic as he became the first starting quarterback to defeat a single opponent five times. I don’t expect a statistical avalanche out of quarterback Ryan Burns as he makes his first career road start at the Rose Bowl. Shaw has been restrained in his use of Burns thus far, calling 33 total pass plays in Stanford’s first two games. The senior signal-caller has looked poised running the Cardinal offense – making pre-snap reads, delivering the ball on-target for the most part and making plays with his legs – and could be the most important player for Stanford in this game. However, I wouldn’t expect him to put up numbers that would overwhelm someone reading the box score.

DB Sports: What do you think the Cardinal defense will dial up to slow down sophomore quarterback Josh Rosen?

VL: David Shaw hates the phrase, but Stanford has found a lot success with a “bend but don’t break” defensive scheme that’s geared towards limiting explosive plays. Against Southern Cal, the Cardinal gave up 353 yards, but held the Trojans to just 10 points by getting off the field on third down (USC converted just four of 12 attempts) and playing stout red zone defense. That will probably be the game plan once again with a talent like Rosen on the other side. I expect the Cardinal will be happy to give up scores of passing yards to Rosen before dialing up the pressure in specific situations. Stanford’s secondary appears to be the strongest point of this year’s defense, and defensive coordinator Lance Anderson will place a lot of trust in them when the Cardinal decide to go after the Chosen One.

DB Sports: Finally, does the losing streak continue for UCLA? What is your prediction for the game?

VL: Before the season started, I had pegged Stanford to lose this game, but the strong play of the Cardinal offensive line and the defensive depth on display in the first two games has me more confident in Shaw’s group than I was in August. As we talked about in the first question, though, UCLA is chomping at the bit to get after Stanford in this game, and I expect a tight game that comes down to the wire. The Bruins defense looks to have turned a corner after stuffing BYU and you can never count out Rosen and company when it comes to putting up points. Stanford bringing a first-year starting quarterback into a road environment for the first time will certainly be a concern, but the Cardinal showed the ability the establish the run against USC and the running game is the spring from which the rest of Stanford’s offense flows. I see Stanford scoring a late touchdown and holding on for a 27-23 victory.