Oregon opponent early scouting report: Stanford

An early look at Oregon’s opponents for the 2023 regular season.
Stanford
Game date & time: Stanford Stadium, Sept. 30
2022 record: (3-9)
Coach: Troy Taylor, first year (30-8)
Returning starters: 3 offense, 3 defense
Most important returning players: RB Casey Filkins, TE Ben Yurosek, DE David Bailey
Most critical departures: QB Tanner McKee, WR Elijah Higgins, WR Brycen Tremayne, OL Myles Hinton, OL Walter Rouse, LB Levani Damuni, CB Kyu Blu Kelly, S Patrick Fields, S Kendall Williamson
Oregon storylines:
Returning to The Farm
No matter what Stanford’s record is entering this game, and it’s possible for the Cardinal to be 2-2, a trip to The Farm before a bye is going to be viewed as a trap game. Oregon was a far better team in 2021 and lost after a controversial penalty on the final play of regulation led to a Stanford win in overtime. There are still a few Ducks on the roster from the 2019 win in Palo Alto.
Midseason assessment
The fifth game of the season with the bye to follow creates a natural spot to see where the Ducks have improved and where their weaknesses are entering a more difficult back half of the schedule. This game figures to present several favorable matchups that UO will have fewer of in its final seven games.
Former staffers Viane Talamaivao, Bob Gregory
A graduate assistant and analyst for Oregon last season, Talamaivao and Gregory are coaching Stanford’s offensive line and safeties, respectively.
Stanford storylines:
Casey Filkins
The Lake Oswego native is the most proven offensive weapon Stanford has coming back. Filkins had 19 carries for 80 yards against Oregon last season and that was a game in which Stanford had few other options.
New look Cardinal
Stanford is going to be running a far more open offense than under David Shaw. However, the volume of personnel churn this offseason leaves the Cardinal extremely thin at several spots. It’s hard to know what to expect from Stanford by this point in the season.
An Oregon win would mean:
Reaching the bye week likely either 4-1 or 5-0. As long as the team’s major stars are healthy and stats are trending the right way, the Ducks could be in the top 10 in either scenario.
An Oregon loss would mean:
Yet another brutal showing at Stanford. There are few conference road games that would be truly unacceptable to lose. This is one of them.