NCAA Football
2011-09-10 - Stanford Cardinal at Duke Blue Devils
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States: College Football Week 2
Saturday 10 September 2011 - Kick Off 3:30pm ET
8:30pm (British Standard Time)
Preview
The will he declare himself this year or next year debate surrounding Andrew Luck is long gone now and he has already led the Stanford Cardinal (1-0) to their first win of the season. It will be expected that they can keep their unbeaten record alive as they travel to face the Duke Blue Devils (0-1).
The biggest key to Stanford is the balance they have in their Offense, although all eyes and media attention is placed on their QB who is expected to be the Number 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft of April 2012. All 4 running backs from last season have returned for Stanford, although they only rushed for 141 yards as a team in their 57-3 win over San Jose State last week.
Stanford are hoping to get back to what made them so successful last season when they meet Duke. They only just failed to eclipse the school record for yards rushed as a team last year.
The only change for the Cardinal now that Jim Harbaugh has moved into the NFL is that they will not be using as much of a rotation in the backfield as they did under Harbaugh. Stepfan Taylor is the back that is expected to get the majority of carries this season.
Duke lost their opening game of the season to Richmond at home and their expectations are not much more than finishing better than the 3-9 record last season. The loss to Richmond was a surprise considering they were tabbed as 11 points favourite, and it was really down to the fact they had 2 turnovers to Richmond's 1 that they lost 21-23.
A big problem for the Blue Devils has come in the backfield as both Juwan Thompson and Desmond Scott were pulled from the game against Richmond. Thompson is the starter and has been upgraded to probable this week, but Scott is doubtful.
Another issue is the loss of Brian Moore (C) and he is out indefinitely forcing Duke to rotate the players that will come in there.
Head to Head
This is their first meeting in recent seasons.
Other Interesting Notes
Duke are 18-38-1 against the spread in their last 57 home games.
They are 3-10 against the spread in their last 13 home games being given more than 10.5 points.
The Blue Devils have bounced back with a 5-1 record against the spread in their last 6 games following a straight up loss.
Stanford are 6-1-1 against the spread in their last 8 road games.
They are 13-3-1 against the spread in their last 17 games after allowing under 20 points in their previous game.
They are 10-3-1 against the spread in their last 14 games as a favourite of more than 10.5 points.
Prediction
This is a game where Stanford are expected to win and I think they will do so with a bit to spare.
Duke were beaten heavily here by Alabama last season and also when on the road against Virginia Tech, and I think Stanford are in the upper echelon of schools this season that will be able to put the Blue Devils away.
We can expect the Cardinal to use a lot of running which will either pay dividends or open up the passing lanes for Andrew Luck to take advantage. Richmond had a couple of rushing TDs themselves last week and this is an area Stanford could exploit.
I think Stanford will start off faster than last week, and will eventually be able to pull away from Duke. The team were brutal in putting away teams last season and I expect Stanford to continue that after beating San Jose State easily last week.
The spread is 20.5 points and I do expect Stanford to win by 3 TDs at least.
The Pick :
Duke Blue Devils 17-44 Stanford Cardinal
