This total already has dropped a point and will probably continue to sink before kickoff. The glory days of Stanford's past under David Shaw, in which a rock-solid defense anchored three Pac-12 titles, are long gone. But in order to have any semblance of competitiveness against high-powered Washington, the Cardinal will have to show improvement off their bye week and shorten the game with run-oriented drives. In the past six meetings, 57 is the highest these clubs have reached, while they have scored 50 or fewer four times. Look for this trend to continue Saturday.

All it takes is three wins, three covers and three Overs to change my initial thoughts on Washington, which returned only seven starters from last year's 4-8 squad. New coach Kalen DeBoer and QB Michael Penix Jr. have completely reformed the 2022 Huskies, and I get the sense that DeBoer wants opponents to remember the team they played. I also think he wants Penix in the Heisman Trophy discussion, as he was at Indiana. His game plan is to score quickly, score often and force opponents to play catch-up. I’m on Washington to cover.