Stanford (13) Hosts San Diego State to open 2018

Stanford Looks to Rebound and Compete for Pac-12 Title

The fans at Stanford Stadium will see the San Diego State Aztecs and the Stanford Cardinal when they open their 2018 college football season. The Friday night tilt starts at 9 pm EST. Fox Sports 1 will have the telecast.

Oddsmakers opened the Cardinal as -14.5-point favorites versus the Aztecs, while the game's total opened at 53. Stanford is now 13.5-point favorites. The total has settled at 49.

Most fans expected Stanford running back Bryce Love to be in the NFL this week. Instead the scholar-athlete will be in the lineup Friday. Love returns for his senior season. He led all Power 5 running backs last year in yards rushing (2,118), yards per carry (8.1) and 100-yard games (12).

Stanford is Loaded for the 2018 Campaign

Stanford won the Pac-12 North for the fourth time in the past six seasons last year. They return 18 starters, including Love, the Heisman Trophy runner-up. Love finished with 19 touchdowns and had 13 rushes of at least 50 yards.

The loaded Cardinal offense also features their top four receivers from last year. Junior quarterback K.J. Costello, who took over as the starter midway through last season, is back as well.

Stanford is looking to avenge last year's 20-17 loss to San Diego State, which has relied on its stellar running game to go 32-9 over the past three seasons.

The Aztecs Look to Dominate on the Ground

The Aztecs have had back-to-back 2,000-yard rushers in D.J. Pumphrey and Rashaad Penny. They could extend the streak with Juwan Washington. He will receive a heavy workload after rushing for 759 yards seven touchdowns last season.

Senior quarterback Christian Chapman returns behind a strong offensive line for the Aztecs. They are picked to finish second in the West Division of the Mountain West.

San Diego State ranked 21st nationally in scoring defense last season. They return a strong secondary led by safety Tariq Thompson, who finished with five interceptions.

San Diego State has won three consecutive games against Pac-12 teams. They have beaten California (2016), winning at Arizona State (2017) and downing Stanford (2017).

PREDICTION: Stanford 31, San Diego State 17

Recent Form

Name	Record	ATS	Offense	Defense	Diff	ATS Home	ATS Away	OU Record	OU Home	OU Away
San Diego State	10-3	8-5	29.00	20.23	8.77	3-4	5-1	5-7-1	2-4-1	3-3
Stanford	9-5	7-6-1	40.25	22.71	17.54	4-2	3-4-1	7-7	3-3	4-4

Power Stats

Yards Per Point

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
SD.ST	13.71	15.33	-1.62
STANFO	11.11	17.86	-6.74

Yards Per Pass

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
SD.ST	11.88	12.04	-0.16
STANFO	12.34	12.07	0.27

Yards Per Rush

Name	Offense	Defense	Differential
SD.ST	4.94	3.75	1.19
STANFO	8.03	4.59	3.44

Team Records

San Diego State Aztecs

Name	Record	Home	Away	ATS	ATS Home	ATS Away	Offense	Defense	Diff
Overall	10-3	5-2	5-1	8-5	3-4	5-1	30.77	20.23	10.54
vs Conf	6-2	2-2	4-0	6-2	2-2	4-0	30.38	17.38	13.00
Last 3	2-1	2-0	0-1	2-1	2-0	0-1	37.33	25.00	12.33

Stanford Cardinal

Name	Record	Home	Away	ATS	ATS Home	ATS Away	Offense	Defense	Diff
Overall	9-5	6-0	3-5	7-6-1	4-2	3-4-1	32.36	22.71	9.65
vs Conf	7-3	5-0	2-3	4-5-1	3-2	1-3-1	29.90	23.20	6.70
Last 3	1-2	1-0	0-2	3-0	1-0	2-0	34.33	30.00	4.33

Supergrid

Title	Stat	Rank	Stat	Rank
Away Team Overall Scoring vs Home Team Overall Defense	30.77	45	22.71	34
Away Team Road Passing vs Home Team Home Passing Defense	104.50	120	223.50	80
Away Team Road Rushing vs Home Team Home Rushing Defense	318.50	2	174.83	84
Home Team Overall Scoring vs Away Team Overall Defense	32.36	38	20.23	23
Home Team Home Passing vs Away Team Road Passing Defense	191.50	97	131.67	1
Home Team Home Rushing vs Away Team Road Rushing Defense	253.50	17	146.00	34

Head To Head Summary

Name	Record	ATS	OU	Score	Rush	YPR	PA	CP	PY	TY	TO +/-
San Diego State	1-0	1-0	0-1	20.00	171.00	3.49	29.00	72.41	187.00	358.00	0.00
Stanford	0-1	0-1	0-1	17.00	174.00	7.91	20.00	45.00	64.00	238.00	3.00

Head To Head Detail

Date	Away	Home	Score	Line	Total	OU Result	ARY	APY	ATY	ATT	HRY	HPY	HTY	HTT	Away Team Attempts	Home Team Attempts	Away Team Completions	Home Team Completions
Sep 16, 2017	STANFO	SD.ST	17-20	174	64	238	3	171	187	358	0

NCAA Football Betting Odds & Trends

San Diego State Aztecs
San Diego State is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
San Diego State is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games
San Diego State is 6-1 ATS in its last 7 games on the road
San Diego State is 7-1 SU in its last 8 games on the road

Stanford Cardinal
Stanford is 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games
Stanford is 15-5 SU in its last 20 games
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Stanford's last 5 games
Stanford is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games at home
Stanford is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games at home

Team Last 5 Games

San Diego State Aztecs

Date	Opponent	score	Result	line	ATS Result	offensive rush yards	offensive passing yards	offensive total yards	defensive rush yards	defensive passing yards	defensive total yards	turnovers	Location
Dec 23, 2017	ARMY	35-42	L	-6.5/46	L/O	255	25	280	440	6	446	1	A
Nov 24, 2017	NEWMEX	35-10	W	-20/47.5	W/U	265	198	463	82	167	249	0	H
Nv 18, 2017	NEVADA	42-23	W	-17/55.5	W/O	289	205	494	34	414	448	-1	H
Nov 4, 2017	SJ.ST	52-7	W	-23.5/51	W/O	554	94	648	33	167	200	-2	A
Oct 28, 2017	HAWAII	28-7	W	-7/54	W/U	334	83	417	35	160	195	1	A

Stanford Cardinal

Date	Opponent	score	Result	line	ATS Result	offensive rush yards	offensive passing yards	offensive total yards	defensive rush yards	defensive passing yards	defensive total yards	turnovers	Location
Dec 28, 2017	TCU	37-39	L	3/49.5	W/O	157	212	369	147	341	488	-1	A
Dec 1, 2017	USC	28-31	L	3.5/58.5	W/O	151	192	343	176	325	501	-1	A
Nov 25, 2017	NOTRD	38-20	W	3/57.5	W/O	152	176	328	154	261	415	-3	H
Nv 18, 2017	CAL	17-14	W	-14/56	L/U	193	185	378	155	182	337	0	H
Nov 10, 2017	WASH	30-22	W	6.5/50	W/O	195	211	406	135	190	325	-1	H

Next up:
San Diego State home to Sacramento State Saturday, September 8
Stanford home to USC Saturday, September 8

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