On paper, Stanford should win the Foster Farms Bowl by 20 points.

But unfortunately for the Cardinal, games aren’t played on paper, and bowl season usually give us more twists than a bucket of Twizzlers (I hate Red Vines). I mean, who really expected Nebraska to give USC much of a game? Or Duke to Arizona State, for that matter?

The Cardinal are expected to win this game — and not just win, but handily win. They outmatch Maryland pretty much everywhere and they’re coming off of a domination of a much better team than the Terrapins. Oh, and they’re playing 11 miles from campus while Maryland is traveling across the country for a game that kicks off at 10 p.m. Eastern time.

That said, December (and early January, because GoDaddy Bowl) is home to dazzling once-in-a-lifetime performances, clutch two-minute drills, bold fake punts and sometimes even a hook-and-ladder play combined with a well-timed Statue of Liberty handoff. That’s why the Boise States, Utahs and TCUs of the world (and conversely, the Oklahomas, Alabamas and Wisconsins, as well) will be the first to remind you: Come bowl season, don’t ever — ever — count out the underdog. The underdog always has a shot.

Which is exactly why Stanford sits in a rather unenviable position right now. The Cardinal don’t really have much to gain from this bowl matchup — as far as the national picture goes, a win against Maryland isn’t really going to turn many heads. A close win, however, would result in talks of further Cardinal demise rekindling. And a loss — well, a loss would just be disastrous for everything the team worked towards at the end of the season.

Maryland, meanwhile, is playing with nothing to lose and everything to gain. The Terps, after breaking through with a third-place finish in the Big Ten East this season, are looking to prove they can play with the big boys. And they’ve done just that with wins over Iowa and Michigan in a pretty loaded Big Ten schedule. A chance to come into Stanford’s house and make a statement against a team coming off back-to-back Pac-12 championships and Rose Bowl appearances? You bet they’re going to be fired up and smelling blood.

And as a team with nothing to lose, I expect Maryland to play like it. High-risk, high-reward play calls by the Terps should be absolutely no surprise, whether it’s fakes on special teams or other misdirection plays. Expect Randy Edsall’s crew to be aggressive for all 60 minutes. That’s exactly how Boise State beat Oklahoma in 2007 to shock the college football world, and although the parallels to that game (or other lopsided matchups on paper) aren’t there, the base philosophy is the same.

So what does Stanford need to do?

The Cardinal need to be just as aggressive.

The Cardinal playing physical, downhill football is a given. You know, I know, David Shaw knows — Stanford’s going to stick to that formula no matter what. And if they can win the trenches and move the ball at will against Maryland, so be it. But if they can’t early on? Or if Maryland catches Stanford off guard with some trickery?

Remember how in the Rose Bowl two years ago, Stanford came out with a wide-receiver reverse pass from Drew Terrell to Jamal-Rashad Patterson to start the game with a bang? One or two of those big-gain trick plays early against an underdog could take the spunk out of them. If what Stanford’s doing isn’t working and Maryland stays in the game, the Cardinal can’t afford to keep trying to force it (see: last two Rose Bowls).

In that case, as a team with everything to lose, Stanford needs to take on the mindset of a team with nothing to lose. Because simply put, Stanford can’t afford to lose this game. Moreover, it can’t be another one of those coulda-woulda-shoulda losses like Michigan State or Utah last season. If the Cardinal go down, they need to go down kicking, screaming and causing a ruckus after pulling out all the stops, and not in a deflated heap.

Of course, all this is moot if Stanford plays like it should and blows Maryland out of the water. Let’s just hope that the UCLA game was the forward trend and not the anomaly.

Because in a situation like this, there’s no real winning for Stanford — there’s only not losing. That is, if Stanford wants to continue to be considered among football’s elite moving forward.

Do-Hyoung Park will be sitting at home for one of the first times this season instead of in the press box. Free to yell, jump, cheer and/or throw out any expletives towards Hogan and Shaw for once, his family would like some advice on how to cope with the Cardinal football fanatic. Email them at dpark027 ‘at’ stanford.edu.