Podcast: Preview of Arizona State's home matchup with Stanford - a podcast by Sun Devil Source

In the latest episode of the Sun Devil Source Report Premium Podcast, publisher Chris Karpman and host Rob Werner are joined by staff reporters Jack Harris, Max Madden, and Mason Kern as they preview Arizona State's Week 8 matchup against David Shaw's Stanford Cardinal. The game is set for Thursday, Oct. 18 with a 6 p.m. kickoff at Sun Devil Stadium and will be televised on ESPN.

In this podcast we start by providing some context to ASU landing four-star cornerback prospect Jordan Clark.

After starting the season 4-0, the Cardinal is coming off of consecutive loses against No. 5 Notre Dame on the road and Utah at home, both by double-digits. Why has Stanford looked lackluster in previous weeks?

We analyze a Cardinal offense that is headlined by one of the better running backs in nation in senior Bryce Love as well as standout senior wide receiver JJ Arcega-Whiteside and discuss their roles in Stanford's offense that is scoring just over 25 points per game. While the running game has struggled for the majority of Stanford's season (averaging just 85 rush years per game), how will ASU be able to stop Stanford's ground-and-pound attack?

Junior quarterback KJ Costello is in his first full year as David Shaw's starting quarterback and has excelled in 2018. The former highly-touted prospect is currently fourth in the conference in passing yards (1,611), quarterback rating (152.2) and third in yards per attempt (8.9). How will the Sun Devils be able to make Costello uncomfortable?

Shaw's offenses have largely operated out of power formations, bringing extra offensive linemen and multiple tight ends into sets to run the ball down opponents throats. What tight ends have been critical in Stanford's offense so far in 2018?

Stanford's defense is led by fifth-year defensive coordinator Lance Anderson and uses a 3-4 scheme. This season, the Cardinal returns six defensive starters from 2017.

After the defense took a step back last year for Stanford, that unit has continued to struggle in 2018 allowing over 400 yards per game but has only allowed a modest 22 points per game. Why has the defense has issues for much of the season?

Stanford’s secondary has been banged up for much of this season, and Stanford ranks just 85th in the country in pass defense and is allowing opponents to complete over 62 percent of passes. What are some of the injuries that have caused Stanford’s secondary to be more thin?

After we each provide our keys to the game, we make our picks for each Pac-12 game taking place in Week 8 and conclude with our score predictions for ASU's test against Stanford.

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