Stanford, back at .500, faces its road problem at Louisville with a bowl push underway

Stanford has climbed back to .500 under first-year coach Tavita Pritchard, and the people closest to the program are now openly asking whether the Cardinal have turned a corner. On a Cardinal Canopy episode written up by Alex Hou for Roundtable Sports, former Stanford safety Bo McNally called the 31-28 win over NC State the team's most balanced offensive game of the season and said he sees all four remaining opponents, Louisville, Virginia Tech, Cal and SMU, as beatable.

The NC State numbers back up the optimism. Davis Warren went 22 of 37 for 303 yards and four touchdowns without an interception, and Micah Ford ran for 150 yards on 22 carries, according to ESPN and On3's Cardinal Sports Report. McNally credited a more settled offensive line for opening space for Ford. He also praised Warren's leadership and command of the offense, and the Roundtable discussion raised the chance that Warren could get another year of eligibility for 2027.

The conversation also took on the criticism aimed at Pritchard and defensive coordinator Kris Richard. McNally is a former teammate of Pritchard's and compared this stretch to the early Jim Harbaugh years. His point was that a few blowouts should not define where the program is headed. Hou pointed to injuries and a new defensive scheme, and he singled out young defenders Jaylen'Dai Sumlin, Charlie Eckhardt and Dre Pollard as players who are developing.

Wins over Elon and NC State put Stanford at 4-4 overall and 2-3 in the ACC. Two wins in the last four games would make the Cardinal bowl eligible.

What it means at Louisville

The blowouts have all come in a specific setting. Stanford is 4-1 at home and 0-3 on the road, and it has been outscored 150-17 in losses at Duke (35-7), Wake Forest (57-3) and No. 3 Notre Dame (58-7). Across eight games the Cardinal have scored 159 points and allowed 284, so they average about 20 points and give up about 35.5. All four losses have been by at least 28 points, including a 45-6 home loss to No. 7 Miami.

The next road game is Saturday at 3:15 p.m. ET on ACC Network against a Louisville team that is 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the ACC, per ESPN's preview. Louisville is coming off an open week and will be playing its homecoming game, The Louisville Cardinal reported.

Across the 11 venues on our board for the game, Louisville is favored by 22.5 points. Novig prices both sides of that number at -102. The best number for Stanford is at Pinnacle, which has the Cardinal at +23.5 for -112, one point better than the consensus. On the moneyline, Novig has Louisville at -1438 and Stanford at +1329. The total is 59.5 at Novig, and FanDuel has the high number for the under at 60.5 (-110). Sportsbook hold on the spread runs from 4.3% to 7.0%, and the venues sit within a point of each other on both the spread and the total.

The market expects another lopsided road result. The question McNally and Hou are raising is whether a balanced offense and better line play will travel. Stanford's three road games so far have produced a combined 17 points. More on the Cardinal's season is on our Stanford team page.