341: Number of Rushing Yards accrued by Army in its 47-39 win versus Buffalo

Army ran its triple-option offense to near perfection in last Saturday’s home opener against Buffalo, as the Black Knights just kept scoring on the ground. Senior running back Larry Dixon had 174 total rushing yards, and two of the seven rushing touchdowns for Army in the game. Stanford’s defense will have to be prepared for a unique, yet difficult offense to shut down.

3: Number of Interceptions forced by West Point’s defense against Buffalo last Saturday

Although the Black Knights gave up 39 points and 554 total yards, including 401 yards through the air, Army’s opportunistic defense forced a couple of key turnovers to help clinch the eight point victory. Sophomore defensive back Josh Jenkins had two of the three picks in the game, including an interception at Army 41-yard line, just as Buffalo was trying to sustain a drive down 21-3.

7: Number of Passing Attempts for Army in its win over Buffalo

The Black Knights will not air it out much on offense, but when they do, Army has been very successful in the passing game. Quarterbacks A.J. Schurr and Angel Santiago completed all seven attempts against Buffalo for a total of 125 yards. This constituted an extremely efficient 17.9 yards-per-attempt. While Stanford’s defense will have to key in on shutting down the rushing attack of Army, Stanford’s secondary will nevertheless have to be on the lookout for a change-of-pace throw through the passing game.

7-0: Record of Stanford after a loss under head coach David Shaw

While Coach Shaw and the Cardinal suffered a rare loss to a ranked opponent last Saturday against USC, Shaw has been fantastic at motivating his team to respond after a setback. In particular, after last year’s deflating loss to the Trojans at the Coliseum, Stanford put together its most impressive performance in recent Big Game history, blasting Cal 63-13, while totaling 603 yards of total offense. Based on all indications from the Cardinal players, and prior history with this program, Stanford fans should not expect the Card to come out flat against the Black Knights.

Contact David Cohn at dmcohn ‘at’ stanford.edu.