Stanford and UCLA have quickly becomes staples in the college football polls over the past few years, and are continuing to improve. Stanford is the two-time defending Pac-12 conference champion, meanwhile, the Bruins have appeared in two of the first three Pac-12 championship games, and are burning up the recruiting trail, stacking their roster with incredible talent and preparing to overtake the Cardinal at the top of the conference.
So who will be better in 2014? At first glance, UCLA looks like the better option. Brett Hundley and Myles Jack are returning, and Stanford lost defensive coordinator Derek Mason, who left to become the head coach at Vanderbilt, and lost Tyler Gaffney, Ed Reynolds, Trent Murphy, Shayne Skov, and many others to the NFL.
However, don’t count the Cardinal out just yet. On offense, they return Kevin Hogan under center, who plays well within the scheme, as well as playmakers Ty Montgomery and Barry Sanders, Jr. They also have a future top-10 draft pick at left tackle, Andrus Peat.
On defense, Stanford trots out the best corner duo in the conference, if not the country, with Wayne Lyons and Alex Carter, and Henry Anderson and A.J. Tarpley in the front seven.
They also still have David Shaw at the helm of the program, so don’t expect their to be too much of a dropoff, if any at all.
It’s hard to pick against the Bruins in this matchup, though. They return 16 starters between the offense and the defense, most notably Hundley, Jack and linebacker Eric Kendricks. Hundley was inconsistent in 2013, struggling to maintain his accuracy. But he is still one of the most talented quarterbacks in the country, so if he takes the step forward in his development that everyone expects, UCLA could be unstoppable.
On offense, along with Hundley, the Bruins return four starters on the offensive line, only losing Xavier Su’a-Filo. At the skill positions, running back is full of depth, led by Jordan James, along with Jack seeing occasional carries, and the receiving corps is headed by Devin Fuller. The experienced talent and familiarity with Hundley and the offensive scheme will help as they have their eyes set on a Pac-12 title.
The defense is loaded with experience and talented youth for coach Jim Mora, Jr. Kendricks and Jack headline one of the most talented linebacking units in the country, that also boasts youngsters like Deon Hollins and Zach Whitley. The defensive line and secondary also return plenty of solid players, such as Eddie Vanderdoes and Ishmael Adams, who also contributes on special teams.
UCLA’s roster isn’t the only thing playing out in their favor in 2014; they were also dealt an incredibly favorable schedule. While they will have to play Arizona State and Washington on the road, they get to play their three toughest opponents (Oregon, Stanford, USC) in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, Stanford has to go on the road against Arizona State, Notre Dame, Washington, Oregon, and, obviously, UCLA.
So overall, while it’s always hard to pick against Stanford, especially with how they physically beat down their opponents, and are riding the momentum of back-to-back Pac-12 titles, all signs point towards UCLA having the better season. They have more talent on the field, and have the more favorable schedule. However, we can speculate all we want, but on November 28th, this question will be answered in Los Angeles, when the two face off. It will be a long wait, but a wait that will be well worth it.