Stanford (3-2, 2-1 Pac-12) at No. 20 Utah (4-0, 1-0)

Sam Curry: Stanford 30, Utah 27

There are many questions for Stanford heading into this Saturday, as well as for the Utes, and I think the game will be a good litmus for both teams for how the rest of this season is going to go, so I can’t predict a Cardinal win with absolute confidence by any means, but I usually like to give Stanny the benefit of the doubt. K.J. Costello has definitely brought a spark to the Cardinal offense in their last two games, and Bryce Love’s success has been well documented for a while now, but the Utes present some challenges they haven’t seen yet, and the same goes for Stanford’s defense. Starting Utah quarterback Tyler Huntley likely won’t be back, but Troy Williams might be the best backup in the Pac-12, as he started for the Utes last year and threw for over 2,700 yards and 15 touchdowns. If Costello continues to be what the Cardinal need, a guy who can find receivers quickly when the opposition gets aggressive with their blitzes in an effort to contain Love, the offense should keep rolling. On the other side, if Stanford can force the Utes to beat them on the ground, something they don’t necessarily like to do, with strong secondary play and consistent pressure on Williams up front, they should keep the Utah offense in check. Rice-Eccles Stadium is a tough place to steal a road win, but I have faith the Cardinal can walk out of there with their Pac-12 North hopes still intact.

Ariana Rollins: Stanford 27, Utah 23

Whatever happens in terms of who plays, this game is going to be hard. Bryce Love has looked great this entire season, and our offense really seems to be improving with each game, but Utah’s defense is ranked 10th against the run. How we perform against this sort of challenge will be a good metric as to how we’ll do against the next couple of teams in our schedule. On the other side of the ball, Stanford ranks 115th on defensive third-down conversions, and one of the keys to our success is going to be how well our defense can defend against Troy Williams — hopefully through balancing pressure with better zone coverage than what we’ve had in the past. Utah’s kicker leads the nation in field goals, and with any luck he’ll be out a lot, bringing us to a close score, though it is unclear who will come out on top.

Jose Saldana: Stanford 20, Utah 17

Given the defensive prowess of the Utes, the Cardinal will need to control the time of possession to win the game. Utah has an offense that eats up the clock as it has won the time of possession in each of its games this season. Stanford, on the other hand, has not controlled the clock consistently. It has only had the ball on offense for majority of time in two games this season (Rice and UCLA). The defense cannot be exposed against the Utah offense for too long or it will break. Fortunately, Stanford has improved from the games against USC and San Diego State. The offensive line has become a lot better, especially offensive tackles Walker Little and A.T. Hall have shown promise after not starting to begin the year. K.J. Costello has been very effective in the role coach Shaw has placed him in. He has a 143.2 passer rating, but of course, these have come against incredibly poor defense. His performance against Utah will shed a lot of light on whether his game is for real. Bryce Love should and will need to get a ton of carries for Stanford to manage the clock. If Utah makes one mistake, then Love will take 50+ yards again, but it’s the runs in between the long runs that will make and break this game. The offensive line needs to manage the Utes line to get Love to the secondary. Stanford should be able to run the ball effectively in a close victory.