TCU vs. Stanford Predictions & Bets Week 1 NCAA College Football 8/29/24 | Hitting The Books

all right TCU and Stanford we've got TCU nine-point favorites 59 being the total in this game as they make the trip to Palo Alto this open 10 and a half I agree with the move to Stanford uh Stanford's going to be one of those teams I think that's going to be money makers this year I don't know how many games they're going to win under Troy Taylor here in 2024 but I thought considering he was taking over something just you know it was a rebuild job right from the beginning for him and to see Stanford as competitive as they often were last year uh I was I thought he did a solid job they bring back Ashton Daniels at the quarterback spot uh it's someone that definitely flashed some potential last year he certainly better than Justin Lamson the other quarterback that got some playing time last year for the Cardinals so I agree with Ashton Daniels getting the uh starting job eight interceptions he does have to cut down on that but he did have over 2,000 passing yards 11 touchdowns that's what you want to see they do have to start over at running back Cedric Irvin probably going to take over as far as the starting running back their top two backs from last year did not return uh to the team this season so we'll see how they handle that what I love about Stanford though is all five back on the offensive line all five starters returning here for this Stanford o line I think they're going to be set up to have some success here uh eor e omor uh bachmeyer and frell some pretty good receivers um you know they're going to be able to have some success moveing this football I think Daniels definitely has that potential I know last year the offense wasn't great but I expect them to definitely improve on the 20 points per game last year and keep in mind the schedule was a little bit difficult obviously the defensive side of the football is where they had their issues 38.4 points per game for Stanford last year but they should improve there seven starters are back their leading tackler is back that's the good news for them going into this first game of the year against TCU I think when you look at the horn frogs Josh Hoover is going to be uh turning at quarterback uh he started as the backup last year and eventually ended up becoming the starter he's another guy that has to cut down an interceptions but he was pretty solid once he got in they do have their top two receivers Savon Williams JP Richardson returning here's the one problem the one starter for them back on the offensive line uh he went transfer portal heavy as far as uh recruiting to the offensive line so it's going to be lots of transfers in the mix here for TCU along the offensive line for sunny dkes we'll see how that uh ends up transpiring the defensive side of the football for TCU of course last year um you know after going it's what what a high of highs two years ago national championship game and then last year just uh the bottom fell out uh for TCU and defense was a big part of the problem uh 20 almost 30 points per game um not what you want to see they gave up way too much as far as almost 500 total yards allowed per game last year they do have six starters back on the defensive side of the football but when I look at that defense Sunny Dykes has never put an emphasis to me on great great defenses I think even when they went to the national championship game two years ago a lot of that was they bent but didn't break they forced turnovers kind of masked the fact that they still gave up a lot of yards in that season and then we saw them obviously not turn it over as not forc turnovers last year and then we saw all those yardage numbers they gave up last year resulted in points so I I I need to see it before I believe it especially when you're talking about laying almost double digits on the road in your first game with this defense so I like Stanford here as a dog at home I also like over the total I would think this is more of a higher scoring game than a lower one between these two teams uh Connor what do you think here TCU Stanford yeah let's hit all the total real quick I I kind of I agree with you I always totals I just you know early on but this is one you have to look at now TCU last year played a little bit more unders but they crazy totals you know it's way high like right now in the 60s even higher like the last 63 62 you know they had some high total 64 so it's right about there because TCU both these teams will move the ball TCU will move it and one problem with Stanford's defense is the secondary dead last just got torched all year long I don't know if it really is going to improve a lot of these guys are back uh but what do we get from that and the dline T is pretty good they have a few guys uh that are solid uh the dline and the linebackers for Stanford and I yeah I'm an Ashton Daniels fan I think uh he can do well he's got a few weapons you talked about Irvin in the backfield so I think they could move the ball and in this game too there's a lot of this is almost that double digit range for Me Maybe with Stanford they let me down a ton last year for the most part but they got their uh I think it was the win total but you know they had a few covers when they clicked but when you can't stop anything it's tough to take you they just couldn't get a stop and Hoover should be able to do what he wants for TCU and I don't really trust their defense as you were just getting to I I don't trust TCU defense really at all I think they could give up some points in this game so I over I'd like to look at Stanford a lot of crazy ones when you go through all these numbers that I found in this one like TCU last year was bad off the National Championship run lost a bunch of games on the road consistently where but they've won their last 10 Road openers Stanford's lost their n nine straight at home you know there's there's kind of all these when you run through some of these things that kind of look to TCU but can they cover I don't know that's that I'm gonna like I say I think in this game given this situation Stanford being at home um a team I think they could be competitive they can be competitive they are going to struggle this offense against teams with Elite defenses I still don't think TCU is an elite defense Stanford's own defense has issues too but that's also why I like the over but I think Stanford can do enough offensively against this suspect TCU group to hang around in that game