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Stanford’s steep decline in college football can be summed up like this:
The last time they visited Duke, the Cardinal were ranked sixth in the nation and Andrew Luck was their quarterback.
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Oh, how things have changed since 2011.
Saturday, with Luck now its football general manager, Stanford will step onto Duke’s field aiming to end a program-record 11-game losing streak away from home.
The Cardinal’s last road victory was two years ago when they beat Syracuse in their first ACC game.
Stanford has opened this season, its first under coach Tavita Pritchard, with home games against Hawaii (37-27 win) and Miami (45-6 loss).
Duke, meanwhile, is off to a 2-0 start with San Jose State transfer Walker Eget starting at quarterback, has won six in a row overall and is the defending ACC champion.
Not an easy assignment for the visitors.
Duke is favored by 9 ½ points.
“This is a team and a program that obviously had the success that they’ve had because they know their identity,” Pritchard said about Duke. “On the defensive side, they do a great job of stopping the run. They move. They switch coverages. They switch looks a lot. They do so cohesively.”
On offense, the Blue Devils get it done behind running back Nate Sheppard, who leads the nation in rushing yards per game (187) and all-purpose yards per game (215) and is tied for fourth nationally in touchdowns with five.
He ran for 227 yards against Tulane and 147 against Illinois.
“He has got great contact balance,” Pritchard said, adding that Duke’s backup running back, CJ Campbell, is productive as well. “Those are two guys that we know will run the football. They’re running play-action.”
Stanford will counter with a defense that is tied for 33rd against the run, allowing 83.5 yards per game.
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But maybe this one will come down to the passing game.
Last season, Eget threw for 473 yards and three touchdowns in San Jose State’s 30-29 loss at Stanford.
Through two games with his new team, the sixth-year player has completed 28 of 47 passes for 337 yards and three touchdowns.
“I wasn’t here when we played against him at San Jose State, but I know he had a good game against that Stanford team,” Pritchard said. “So you’ve got a quarterback that presents some real challenges with his ability to throw the ball.”
Cornerback Brandon Nicholson is one of Stanford’s returning players who faced Eget last season.
“It’s good obviously having the film and experience of playing against him,” Nicholson said. “The primary focus now is just to see how he’s operating in this new system.”
The good news for Stanford is that it had an extra week to prepare, having not played since Miami visited the Bay Area on Sept. 4.
The Cardinal used the bye week to evaluate both games they have played thus far.
“You learn a lot about your team early in the season,” Pritchard said. “We’re just continuing to tighten down and drill down on, really, the details of our scheme and making sure that we’re playing with the right leverage, the right technique, the right foot placement and hand placement … making sure our eyes are in the right place.”
Among the bright spots for Stanford: Zero turnovers, Davis Warren’s 524 yards passing, Micah Ford’s three rushing touchdowns, Benji Blackburn’s 12 catches for 101 yards and linebacker Matt Rose’s 21 tackles.
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But will they provide enough Saturday to end a two-year road skid?
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