College football preview: Washington State at Stanford

Associated Press

Who: Washington State (4-4, 1-4 Pac-12) at Stanford (3-5, 1-5), Saturday, 3:30 p.m. EDT (Pac-12 Network)

Line: Washington State by 4 1/2, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.

Series: Stanford leads 40-30-1

WHAT’S AT STAKE

Washington State is closing in on becoming bowl-eligible, needing just two more wins to do so. The road for Stanford is a bit more challenging as the Cardinal need to win three of their final four to become eligible for the postseason.

KEY MATCHUP

Stanford’s running game is beat up due to injuries and needs to rise to the occasion. Walk-on Caleb Robinson, an afterthought at the beginning of the season, made his first start last week and left the game injured. His status against the Cougars is unknown but the Cardinal are quickly running out of healthy options. That’s great news for a Washington State team allowing 129.3 yards a game on the ground.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Washington State: QB Cameron Ward is averaging 273 yards passing per game and has already thrown 17 TD passes. Ward completed 87.1% of his passes in a loss to Utah last week.

Stanford: K Joshua Karty is 14-for-14 on field goal attempts this season and was selected special teams player of the week for the third time this year. He is the first player in the Pac-12 to do that since 2018 and the first Cardinal to do it since 1987.

FACTS AND FIGURES

Four of the Cardinal’s five losses have come against ranked opponents. … Washington State has lost three straight since a 28—9 win over California. … The Cougars lead the Pac-12 with an average of 20.8 points allowed. … Stanford has lost its last five games against Washington State. … Both teams are averaging 23.6 points per game. … Stanford is 3-0 this season when allowing 19 points or fewer. … Washington State LB Daiyan Henley is second in the Pac-12 averaging 10 tackles per game. … LB Levani Damuri leads the Cardinal with 52 tackles, two for losses, one INT, one forced fumble and one sack.