Statistical Comparison - Colorado Buffaloes Vs Stanford Cardinal

Advantage	Conf	National	Actual	Category	Actual	National	Conf
	Rank	Rank				Rank	Rank
	3	31	197.5	Rushing Offense	101.4	106	11
	7	32	274	Passing Offense	265	36	8
	3	17	471.5	Total Offense	366.4	84	11
	2	7	45.75	Scoring Offense	24.4	89	11
	1	4	62.25	Rushing Defense	127.4	48	8
	4	59	128.35	Pass Efficiency Defense	137.12	89	8
	1	26	312	Total Defense	349.4	43	3
	1	6	11.5	Scoring Defense	30.4	89	9
	10	78	36	Net Punting	37.04	54	4
	3	18	13.88	Punt Returns	4.33	100	10
	6	46	22.44	Kickoff Returns	15.73	120	12
	1	T-13	1.25	Turnover Margin	-0.2	73	9
	8	86	249.75	Pass Defense	222	64	2
	1	6	180.55	Passing Efficiency	138.06	54	8
	1	4	3.5	Sacks	3.4	6	2
	1	8	8.5	Tackles For Loss	6.2	50	5
	2	3	0.5	Sacks Allowed	2.6	T-94	11

more after the jump...

Some Facts

Stanford is ranked 4th in the coaches poll and 7th in the AP poll. They have the nation's longest win streak at 13 games. Stanford is 19-2 in its last 21 home games including eight straight. The Cardinal are 4-0 so far this season, the Buffs are 1-4. Colorado will go into Palo Alto with a 19 game consecutive road losing streak. CU has not won on the road since 2007 against Texas Tech.

Kickoff is at 5:30 MT on Versus/850 KOA.

History - Colorado vs Stanford (pieces the Stanford SID):

Stanford and Colorado have split their previous six meetings, with the Cardinal on a two game winning steak with victories in 1991 and 1993.

Key Players - Ohio State (Stanford SID quoted in certain bios)

Stanford Defense - Many of us automatically think of Andrew Luck when Stanford is mentioned but the defense has been solid even without arguably their best player Shayne Skov. The Cardinal lead the Pac-12 in five defensive categories: rushing defense (62.25), total defense (312.0), scoring defense (11.50), tackles-for-loss per game (8.50) and sacks per game (3.50). An interesting stat from the Cardinal SID: The Stanford defense has held the opponent scoreless in nine out of 16 quarters this season and have allowed just five offensive touchdowns. They have not been scored upon in either the first quarter and has allowed just six points in the third quarter over its first four games.

QB Andrew Luck - we all know about him. He is a stud. Although the passing yardage doesn't rank in the top half of the Pac-12 because of Stanford's great offensive balance, the offense is still ranked seventh in the nation in scoring at just over 45 points per game. The Heisman Trophy completed 23 of 27 passes for 227 yards and three
touchdowns vs. UCLA which gives him 56 career TD passes. Those 56 touchdowns rank third on Stanford’s all-time list behind only John Elway (77) and Steve Stenstrom (72).

Tight End Trio - Stanford utilizes its tight ends better than anyone in the country. Tight ends Coby Fleener, Zach Ertz and Levine Toilolo have accounted for nine of Stanford’s 12 TD receptions this season. As we depicted in our film study, Stanford isn't afraid to lineup three tight ends on the field. This is the offense Jon Embree wants at Colorado. Balance and great tight ends. Fleener is a Mackey Award candidate, 5 of his 10 catches are for touchdowns.

WR Chris Owusu - Also a dangerous return man, Owusu leads the team in receptions with 22 after four games. He also has two scores.

RB Stepfan Taylor - The Cardinal use three running backs but Taylor has the most carries on the Cardinal team. He has 71 carries for 401 yards, a 5.6 yard average. He also has four rushing touchdowns. He is coming off back-to-back 100 yard games. For his career, Taylor has 21 career rushing touchdowns.