This post was updated Oct. 19 at 11:41 p.m. 

No. 25 UCLA football (4-2, 1-2 Pac-12) will face Stanford (2-4, 1-3) on Saturday in its second consecutive game on the road. The Bruins are coming off a loss to No. 12 Oregon State, while the Cardinal came back from down 29-0 to defeat Colorado 46-43 in double overtime. Here is this week’s scouting report from Sports editor Joseph Crosby and staff writer Gavin Carlson – who are looking forward to the first Pac-12 After Dark game for UCLA.

Stanford’s offense
Scheme: West Coast
Run-pass percentage: 55.4% run, 44.6% pass
Strength: Kicking
Weakness: Offensive line
X-Factor: WR Elic Ayomanor

Stanford is one of the worst teams – if not the worst – in the Pac-12 this year.

It put up just 10 points against a middling USC defense, scored fewer points than Portland State did against Oregon and lost at home against Sacramento State, an FCS team.

But despite an abysmal start to the season, lightning struck for the Cardinal in Boulder.

And contrary to popular belief, UCLA will have to watch out for a second strike.

Wide receiver Elic Ayomanor and quarterback Ashton Daniels combined to lead Stanford’s comeback over Colorado, in which it scored 36 points in the second half and another 10 in overtime. Ayomanor’s night was capped off by a touchdown grab eerily reminiscent of former Cardinal wide receiver Francis Owusu’s catch against UCLA in 2015.

The sophomore wideout is the linchpin – in the loosest sense of the word – of Stanford’s passing attack, and if UCLA can shut him down, then the Cardinal will need to lean on the rest of a corps that hasn’t had a 100-yard receiver since the first game of the year.

And if the passing game struggles as it did in Stanford’s first five contests, then it will further its reliance on the No. 77 rushing offense that will be running head first into the nation’s No. 4 rushing defense.

So who will actually be running the ball?

Recently, it’s been Daniels and quarterback Justin Lamson. One or both of that duo has led the Cardinal in rushing across the last two games, and neither Casey Filkins nor E.J. Smith – Stanford’s two primary running backs – has put up meaningful numbers in its last three games.

Daniels and Lamson have flip-flopped at quarterback this season, with both seeing time in nearly all of the team’s games. Overall, Daniels has led in the air – throwing all seven of the team’s passing touchdowns – while Lamson has been the primary runner of the pair en route to two rushing touchdowns.

That being said, neither signal caller has been particularly impressive – at least not until Daniels’ 396-yard performance in Boulder. Prior to last week, the team had a season high of 248 passing yards and was twice held to under 150.

Stanford’s offensive line isn’t doing much to help its backfield either. With 21 sacks allowed this season, the Cardinal are bottom 20 in the country. The offensive front has also allowed 48 tackles for loss thus far, which places it in the bottom 10 nationally.

As senior defensive lineman Laiatu Latu leads a UCLA defense that ranks eighth in the country in both tackles for loss and sacks, whoever is carrying the ball will be unlikely to find running room, nor will Daniels and Lamson have a clean pocket when Stanford does opt to pass.

The lone offensive bright spot for the Cardinal this year has been kicker Joshua Karty.

An All-Pac-12 First Team selection and Lou Groza Award finalist – given to the best placekicker in the country – in 2022, Karty has been perfect on 13 PATs this year and gone 13-of-16 on field goal tries. Two of those misses were on attempts of 51 yards. Karty has generally been a hallmark of consistency for an offense that has sorely lacked it through the first seven weeks of the season.

Lightning may strike twice for Stanford’s offense sometime this year. Just don’t expect it to come against UCLA’s defense.

Stanford’s defense
Scheme: Nickel 2-4-5
Strengths: Occasionally stops the run
Weaknesses: Everything
X-Factor: LB Gaethan Bernadel

Stanford’s offense may be one of the worst units in the Pac-12, but its defense is one of the worst units in the entire country.

The Cardinal defense is in the bottom 10 in the entire nation in total yards, passing yards and points allowed per game.

It gives up 36 points per contest – which ranks 123rd – and surrenders 459.7 total yards per contest, clocking in at 124th. Both stats are dragged down by the nation’s second-worst passing defense, which allows 321.5 yards through the air per contest.

Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders threw for 400 yards and five touchdowns last week, and Stanford let Oregon’s Bo Nix complete over 84% of his passes for 290 passing yards and four touchdowns in a 42-6 victory the game prior. USC’s Caleb Williams had more touchdowns than incompletions when he completed 90.5% of his passes in a 56-10 win.

No, freshman quarterback Dante Moore is not one of the best passers in the country like Sanders, Nix or Williams. No, he hasn’t even been a top-half quarterback in the Pac-12 so far this season by most metrics.

That being said, even Sacramento State quarterback Kaiden Bennett threw for 279 yards against Stanford’s secondary. Additionally, USC’s backup quarterback went 11-for-15 for more than 100 yards against Stanford.

Moore couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity to bounce back from his recent struggles.

And he shouldn’t even have to attempt that many passes on Saturday.

Stanford’s run defense is by far its greatest strength, and it still ranks 65th in the nation while allowing 138.2 yards on the ground per game. UCLA, meanwhile, will be bringing a top-10 rushing attack in the country to Palo Alto fresh off a 287-yard rushing performance against what was a top-15 rushing defense in Corvallis.

The Bruins are primed to both run and pass all over the Cardinal. If they don’t, there are serious issues in Westwood.