Inside Slant

The Sports Xchange

October 23, 2018 at 8:05 pm.

Stanford to face red-hot Washington State

Stanford ended a two-game losing streak by winning at Arizona State last week and, as is often the case, not doing anything fancy.

The Cardinal did not turn the ball over and forced three turnovers as it won 20-13, despite managing a modest 358 yards of offense.

“We could have played better, obviously, but for us, this is the way we needed to win this football game,” Cardinal coach David Shaw said.

No. 24 Stanford (5-2, 3-1 Pac-12) might need more from its offense this week as it gets red-hot No. 14 Washington State on Saturday at Stanford Stadium. The Cougars (6-1, 3-1 Pac-12) are coming off a 34-20 home win over then-No. 7 Oregon in which they led 27-0.

WSU averages a 473.3 yards per game, best in the Pac-12.

Stanford (354.7 yards per game) relies more on efficiency. Quarterback K.J. Costello threw for 231 yards and a touchdown, with no interceptions, at Arizona State. Meanwhile, cornerback Paulson Adebo and linebacker Sean Barton had one interception each to help fuel the defense.

“We ran the ball against a team that’s really difficult to run the ball against, threw the ball when we needed to, made some big plays,” Shaw said.

Star tailback Bryce Love returned from injury after missing the loss to Utah. He was limited, with 11 carries for 21 yards.

“Once he got warm, got loose, there were a couple of 4-, 5-yard runs that were really impressive,” Shaw said.

The Cardinal just used its typically smart style, unconcerned about being flashy, in beating Arizona State.

“People call it conservative, but the goal is to make them use timeouts,” Shaw said, after the Cardinal ran the ball three consecutive times and punted late in the Arizona State win. “You see why at the end. They don’t have any timeouts; they can’t stop the clock.”

Washington State quarterback Gardner Minshew II was prolific against Oregon, going 39 of 51 for 323 yards, with four touchdowns and two interceptions. The Cougars managed 400 yards of offense — 323 passing and 77 rushing — and their defense yielded just 58 rushing yards against Oregon.

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