4 Factors for Stanford Football to Have Success Against Virginia

Virginia is 2-1 on the year, with wins over William & Mary Tribe (55-16) and Coastal Carolina (48-7), but lost their matchup to NC State 35-31. The key for NC State in that matchup was their run game, and the amount of time that they provided QB CJ Bailey in the pocket.

NC State ended up rushing for 216 yards on 35 carries (6.2 yards per) and four touchdowns in that game, and the run game has also been Stanford's best offensive weapon this season, with Ford tallying 291 yards so far this season on 55 carries (5.3 per). If the offensive line can provide protection for Gulbranson, the Cardinal will be in business.

What's interesting about the one loss for Virginia is that they out-gained their opponent 514 yards (257 both passing and running), to 416 (200 and 216). Bailey was a bit more accurate (16/23) than Gulbranson has shown so far this season, which could play a factor here, too.

NC State wasn't even particularly effective on third down, going just 1-of-7, but they went 2-for-2 on fourth down. They just kept moving the chains before they reached third down.

As the Stanford broadcast said on Saturday night, the Cardinal were "staying on schedule," meaning that they would set themselves up for second and third down and short distances. They'll have to continue to stay on schedule against a tough Virginia team on the road, to keep themselves out of situations where they absolutely have to pass the ball.

Stanford has shown lots of improvement from week-to-week in all facets of the game. This past week we saw tight end Sam Roush get more involved in the passing game, and wide out Bryce Farrell hauled in five catches for the second consecutive week. If both of them are collecting yards, Stanford will be set up nicely.

The Virginia player Stanford has to contain

While Virginia has a solid offense overall, Stanford is going to have to come up with a way to limit running back J'Mari Taylor. He's run the ball 33 times for 213 yards this season (6.5 per), including a 17 carry, 150 yard performance in that loss to NC State. QB Chandler Morris is also a threat to take off with the ball, collecting 113 rushing yards on nine carries this season.

In facing Boston College, the Eagles were still trying to get the run game going, and ended up with 56 yards. BYU ran it 41 times in their 27-3 win over the Cardinal for 157 yards, including 110 from LJ Martin. The run defense overall has been pretty decent through three games, but if they're able to take away, or limit, one facet of the Virginia offense, then the night should go a bit more smoothly.

Morris being more mobile could make that more difficult.

If Stanford shows up on Saturday with a similar intensity on both sides of the ball that they had against Boston College, then they could be in line to be in this one late in the game. Taking care of the football will be the number one goal, followed by execution in all three phases of the game.

It also wouldn't hurt if the running game, led by Ford, also put together another impressive performance. The passing game sets up the run game and vice versa, so for one to have success, both will need to be clicking for the Cardinal.