Three observations about Stanford during Week 1

The Stanford Cardinal handled business in their Week 1 win over Colgate, and are now in the process of preparing for the top-15 ranked USC Trojans.

This game has major implications as USC is currently viewed as the Pac-12's last playoff candidate, but that won't stop Stanford from doing everything in their power to pull off the upset in consecutive seasons.

Both teams played below average FCS teams, so there wasn't much to take from the games but there were definitely some things that stood out when watching Stanford in their 41-10 win. A couple of these things were certainly help Stanford in their matchup against USC, but one of them could be the difference between them winning or losing the game.

As it stands, USC has a 74.6% chance of winning the game according to ESPN's FPI and is currently favored by just nine points. If this is any indication of how close the game will be, that means that when the clock hits zero there will be specific plays that we look back at, and view as the difference.

With that being said, let's dive into my observations from Stanford's Week 1 win.

E.J. Smith is lightning in a bottle

After being buried on the depth chart behind Austin Jones and Nathaniel Peat, E.J. Smith took full advantage of being the lead back. The first play of the game, Smith showed off his breakaway speed and elusiveness as he took the handoff 89-yards for the score all while being untouched.

If Stanford has any chance at winning against USC, they will need a few of these plays from Smith whether it be in the run game or the passing game. However, not sure if it was the direction of the game since Stanford had a lead throughout, or something changed, Smith wasn't as effective the remainder of the game as he rushed for just 20 yards on six carries in the second and third quarters. He will likely get more quality opportunities against USC, whose run defense was looking iffy against the run prior to them forcing all of those Rice Turnovers. Look for Smith to see an increased load, and potentially more electric plays like his touchdown run on Saturday.

The defense was disruptive

One of the talks of the offseason was the change in scheme from the 3-4 to the 4-3, and there was a major difference. Colgate's quarterback was under pressure all game, and was constantly forced to deal with a collapsing pocket. Stanford got to him for a sack twice, and were credited with seven quarterback hurries making it very difficult to go through progressions.

While being able to generate pressure against Colgate isn't anything to marvel over, it is nice to see an improvement after a year of being pushed around in the trenches. Getting pressure on Caleb Williams this weekend will be more difficult due to his running ability, but I expect Stanford to continue to build off their momentum and make him uncomfortable. The linebackers will really need to be on their "A" game, as Williams will be moving all over the place and be looking to get to the second level.

Special teams turnovers were almost fatal

One of the things that David Shaw talked about right after the game was the fact that their specialist have been better. In total, there were three muffed punts with one of them hitting a blocker and the other two being dropped. Luckily for Stanford, the defense was able to limit the damage on all of them, except for when Casey Filkins tried fielding off the bounce at his own five.

Obviously they will work on this during the week, but considering how difficult it could be to stop the Trojan offense that scored every offensive possession through the first three quarters against Rice, preventing miscues like this can easily be the difference between a win and loss. Williams and company do not need help on offense, so if Stanford has any chance at winning they will need to tighten up and capitalize on the times they do force three-and-outs.