Predictions: No. 12 Oregon State Beavers vs. Stanford Cardinal

By 750 THE GAME STAFF

Each week our staff at 750 The Game and fellow Pac-12 experts predict the score of every Oregon State Beavers game. This week the Oregon State Beavers (7-2) are home hosting the Stanford Cardinal (3-6) from Reser Stadium. The Vegas line has Oregon State -20 1/2.

John Canzano:

Stanford has been much better in recent weeks. Coach Troy Taylor’s team showed some life in beating Colorado and Washington State and competed well vs. Washington, too.

This is Reser Stadium, though.

The Beavers are lethal at home. Oregon State will get its eighth win of the season. But I’ll take Stanford to score a late TD and cover the spread.

Oregon State 34, Stanford 17

Jon Wilner:

Congratulations to the Beavers on reaching a level of success over the past two seasons that brings trap games into the calculation. Following a road win in Boulder, and with Washington looming next week, will they generate the necessary urgency to handle the role of heavy home favorite? Stanford’s two conference wins came on the road (Colorado and WSU), and it lost close games at home to Washington and Arizona. In other words: The Cardinal is better than it looks.

Pick: Stanford +20 1/2

T.J. Mathewson:

With the Beavers back at home in the friendly confines of Reser Stadium, this is a pretty easy pick. Jonathan Smith will have his team focused and ready to face the Cardinal before a monumental two-week stretch awaits.

Oregon State 42, Stanford 10

Steven Vaughan:

Oregon State should win, and should win easily. But Jonathan Smith knows he has his two toughest games coming up against Washington and Oregon. I think Oregon State runs a very vanilla game plan. Get in. Get out. Get the win. Look at Washington next week. Stanford, though, is too good to play that way and still win by three touchdowns.

Oregon State 31, Stanford 14

Judah Newby:

Home sweet home for the Beavers, and with a raucous crowd in attendance, I expect Saturday afternoon to be a celebration of all that is Oregon State football under Jonathan Smith. Give me the Beavs. Big. And wait for the hearing on Tuesday of next week.

Oregon State 47, Stanford 12