Stanford Football: Three Keys to Victory Against BYU

Enduring a Week 0 loss to Hawaii, the Stanford Cardinal (0-1, 0-0 ACC) took full advantage of a Week 1 bye to rest, recover and regroup, hoping that they can get in the right mindset to get into the win column against BYU on Sept. 6. If they were to be able to pull off the upset, Stanford would provide themselves a massive momentum boost as they prepare for ACC play.

BYU, coming off of an Alamo Bowl title last season, is a strong program and will be a big test for this new-look Stanford squad. While they aren't ranked in the AP's top-25, they finished just outside, gaining plenty of attention.

Winning against BYU will not be easy. Entering the game as massive underdogs, coming out ahead in the game against a tough and competitive Cougars squad will take everything that the Cardinal have and will require everyone to step up. But in football, anything is possible. Here are three keys to victory for Stanford heading into its massive tilt with BYU.

Strong QB play

This one goes without saying. The most important position in sports, quarterback play is crucial in dictating not only the outcome of one game, but the success of an entire season. In the Cardinal's first game of the season, starting quarterback Ben Gulbranson struggled to find a rhythm, completing only 50% of his passes with one interception, contributing to the 23-20 loss.

BYU is a tougher team than Hawaii and if the Cardinal want to win, moving the ball and scoring is important—and that all starts with Gulbranson. Add that to the fact that Stanford has guys chomping at the bit to start, such as Elijah Brown and Dylan Rizk, and Gulbranson is in dire need of a big game. If he starts off slow, interim head coach Frank Reich may be inclined to try someone else.

Good late game strategy

While there were a lot of reasons why Stanford was unable to come away with the opening night win, one big reason was the late game clock management from interim head coach Frank Reich.

Having three timeouts available to use late in the game, Reich elected to not use a single one of them, leaving minimal time on the clock for the Cardinal to march down the field and attempt to get the game-winning score. And in Reich's first-ever Power Four showdown, the stakes will be even higher.

Stanford's main goal is to take big steps forward this season and while the program is not expected to win much, being competitive each week is the idea. It'll be up to the coaching staff to put their players in the best scenarios to succeed.

Defense, defense, defense

As important as Stanford's offense will be this week, the defense will need to step up even more. BYU's offense features a true freshman at quarterback in Bear Bachmeier—a former Stanford commit—and while he lacks experience, his talent suggests that BYU's offense could be high powered in 2025.

BYU has featured some dominant defenses throughout its program's history, but offense has been the school's bread and butter for years. If Stanford's defense shows up ready to go and minimizes the damage that the Cougars can cause offensively, it will disrupt BYU's game plan and could lead to the Cardinal pulling off the win.