Week 1: Stanford vs Colgate 9/3/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Stanford Cardinal and Colgate Raiders do battle in week 1 of college football action at Stanford Stadium on Saturday. The Colgate Raiders are coming off a 5-win season and enter year 2 under coach Stan Dakosty. The Stanford Cardinal won 3 games last year and enter year 12 under coach David Shaw.

The Colgate Raiders averaged 18.7 points and 319.6 yards per game last season. Colgate allowed an average of 26 points and 374.5 yards per game last season. Michael Brescia has a chance to become the starting quarterback after 88 pass attempts last year. Garrett Oakey and Max Hurleman are a returning receiving duo that combined for 800 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Brescia led the Raiders with 500 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns. Defensively, Tyler Flick returns after 65 tackles, Christian Sweeney had 2 sacks and Mikey Jarmolowich had 1 interception. The Colgate Raiders have playmakers on the offensive side of the ball and an explosive quarterback who could take this team to the next level. Colgate has to be better defensively to build on last year’s efforts, and this game is a great test.

The Stanford Cardinal averaged 20.4 points and 302 yards per game last season. Stanford allowed an average of 32.4 points and 450.6 yards per game last season. Tanner McKee returns at quarterback after throwing for 2,300 yards, 15 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. Benjamin Yurosek and Elijah Higgins are a returning receiving duo that combined for 1,100 yards and 7 touchdowns, while E.J. Smith had 100 rushing yards and 1 touchdown. Defensively, Levani Damuni returns after leading Stanford with 88 tackles, Stephen Herron had 3 sacks and Jonathan McGill had 2 interceptions. The Stanford Cardinal return a majority of last year’s key players on both sides of the ball, and that’s key to a bounce back season. Also, Shaw is one of the better coaches in the country, and I have confidence he’ll be able to get this thing back on track. With more experience, expect Stanford to be one of the more improved teams in the Pac-12.

The Raiders are 1-6 ATS in their last 7 road games and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall. The Cardinal are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 home games and 8-20-1 ATS in their last 29 games overall. The over is 6-2 in Raiders last 8 road games. The over is 8-3 in Cardinal last 11 home games.

The Colgate Raiders have the talent to where they should be better than they were a year ago, but asking them to hang here is asking a lot. The Stanford Cardinal are physical on both sides of the ball, and that physicality usually wears lesser teams down. Stanford is in a look ahead spot with USC on deck, but we’ve also seen the Cardinal make an early statement to prepare them for games like that down the line. Stanford needs to gain some confidence with how last year played out. I’ll lay the chalk, but it’s not my most favorite contest.