Foster Farms Bowl 2014: Preview, Predictions for Maryland vs. Stanford

When: Tuesday, Dec. 30; 10 p.m. ET

Where: Levi’s Stadium; Santa Clara, California

TV: ESPN

With both a new name and new home, the Foster Farms Bowl welcomes the Stanford Cardinal (7-5) and Maryland Terrapins to Levi’s Stadium.

The Cardinal will not have far to go—the San Francisco 49ers’ home venue in Santa Clara, California, is all of 13 miles from the Stanford campus.

Conversely, Maryland is making one of the longest treks of any team playing its bowl game in the continental United States. It’s nearly 2,900 miles from College Park, Maryland, to the Bay Area.

Maryland is Stanford’s third postseason opponent from the Big Ten in as many years. The Cardinal beat Wisconsin in the 2013 Rose Bowl and lost last year’s Rose Bowl to Michigan State.

Points come at a premium for opponents facing Stanford's defense, and as the above interactive graphic demonstrates, Maryland must find a way to capitalize on any red-zone opportunities it gets.

The Terrapins have been effective inside the opponent's 20-yard line. Continuing that trend is crucial if Maryland is to have a shot at scoring a win in Stanford's backyard.

Keep Hogan Running Wild

In the 31-10 upset of UCLA to cap Stanford’s regular season, quarterback Kevin Hogan put together arguably his best single-game performance in his three years as the Cardinal’s starting quarterback.

Hogan was 16-of-19 with two touchdowns and showed off some of the mobility for which he was initially known, running for 46 yards on seven carries.

Hogan’s big day was the end result of each phase of the Stanford offense clicking the most it had throughout the Pac-12 slate. UCLA had to respect the Cardinal’s run game, which has been up and down this year.

But with running back Remound Wright emerging as an effective No. 1 in recent weeks—he scored six touchdowns in the final two weeks—Stanford is finding that oh-so-important element to set up quarterback Hogan.

Party in the Backfield

Despite losing some of the faces responsible for the “Party in the Backfield” motto, the Stanford defense is still very much at home behind the line of scrimmage.

The Cardinal rank sixth in the nation with 40 sacks. Two of their most productive outings in that category came in the last three weeks of the season, with five apiece against Utah and UCLA.

That doesn’t bode well for Maryland, which has given up 30 sacks on the year and 72 tackles for loss.

Defensive coordinator Lance Anderson will not necessarily need to apply more pressure than usual—Stanford brings plenty as a matter of course. But asserting its dominance up front right away is essential to deflating Maryland early.

Exercise Ball Control

Turnover margin typically plays an integral part in the success—or lack thereof—of both these teams. To wit, Stanford is minus-six in its losses while Maryland is plus-four in wins—plus-nine if you take away an ugly Week 2 victory over USF in which the Terps coughed up six giveaways.

Stanford’s defense hasn’t created a ton of turnovers this season—15 in total. But the threat always lingers with as aggressive as the Cardinal’s blitz defense is.

Stop the Run

Stanford’s offense functions primarily off the run. At its best, it sets up Hogan for big plays off play-action fakes, as was the case against UCLA.

But after producing some of the best rushing numbers in college football in the last half-decade, this year’s Stanford team ranks just No. 74 in the nation at 154.8 yards per game.

In losses, the average is just 114.6. Twice, opponents held the Cardinal under 100 yards on the ground.

Because the run game is central to everything Stanford does offensively, Maryland must limit the Cardinal’s multiple-ball-carrier backfield early.

Offense

WR Devon Cajuste

The biggest of Hogan’s wide receiver targets, Devon Cajuste’s size can create mismatches. Just ask UCLA, which surrendered a touchdown to Cajuste when he went over the top of two Bruins defensive backs to snag a deep ball from Hogan.

WR Christian McCaffrey

Explosive freshman Christian McCaffrey might remind Maryland fans of Stefon Diggs.

McCaffrey is a similarly skilled utility man who took on added responsibilities with senior Ty Montgomery sidelined at the end of the regular season.

Head coach David Shaw can use McCaffrey as a ball-carrier, which he did against UCLA for nearly six yards per carry on 11 attempts. McCaffrey is also a potential threat in the return game should the Cardinal be without Montgomery for the Foster Farms Bowl.

Defense

DE Henry Anderson

Henry Anderson carries the mantle that recent Stanford predecessors like Trent Murphy held before, keying the Cardinal’s tenacious pass-rush defense.

Anderson leads Stanford with 7.5 sacks on the year and an impressive nine quarterback hurries.

He blends speed with size, coming off the line quickly and using his 6’6” frame to disrupt opposing quarterbacks.

S Jordan Richards

All-Conference defensive back Jordan Richards’ three interceptions are tied with linebacker Blake Martinez for the team high. Richards could add to that total against an occasionally interception-prone Maryland offense.

He’ll certainly get help from the Stanford pass rush. Against like-minded defenses to that of the Cardinal, Ohio State and Michigan State, Maryland gave away seven combined interceptions.

Richards should see his opportunities in the Foster Farms Bowl.

Offense

QB C.J. Brown

Stanford’s swarming pass-rush defense could face a substantial test from quarterback C.J. Brown’s mobility.

The dual-threat playmaker is coming off consecutive games of 87 and 107 yards rushing, with a touchdown in each.

That production of late is no aberration, either. Brown is Maryland’s leading rusher both in yards (569) and carries (148), the result of offensive coordinator Mike Locksley's using running backs Wes Brown and Brandon Ross in tandem.

WR Deon Long

With the explosive Diggs out with injury, Deon Long is the primary weapon in Maryland’s modest passing attack.

He had two of his more productive games to close out the regular season, catching four passes in a win over Michigan and seven in the loss to Rutgers.

Defense

CB William Likely

Should Stanford’s recurring issue with turnovers arise in the Foster Farms Bowl, William Likely will probably be involved.

Likely comes in boasting six interceptions on the year. He’s also broken up eight passes.

Likely could also change the complexion of the bowl game on special teams. He has a punt return for a touchdown this season.

DL Andre Monroe

At 5’11”, Andre Monroe is not the prototypically sized defensive lineman. But don’t let that fool you: Monroe makes plays with the best at his position.

Monroe’s nine sacks are most among all players participating in the Foster Farms Bowl, and only Stanford’s Anderson has more tackles for loss (14) than Monroe’s 12.

Stanford

Shaw on building off defeating UCLA, via UCLABruins.com: "This is the kind of game that we are capable of. We are not looking back. Hopefully lessons have been learned from the past by the coaches and players, but we’re looking forward and this is a great team win by our guys. We have one more game to play and I can’t wait to play it."

Cajuste on Hogan’s play to close the regular season, via Bill Dwyre of the Los Angeles Times: "It looked like he just finally played. He relaxed and played. It looked like he found his love of the game."

Maryland

Monroe on regrouping after losing to Rutgers, via UMTerps.com: "We’re all upset about this loss, but it’s back to work and we’re thankful that we have one more game together as a unit.”

Stanford’s reign atop the Pac-12 ended in 2014, and it ended with a thud. The Cardinal went into the Big Game—their annual rivalry tilt with Cal—needing a win just to reach bowl eligibility.

Nevertheless, Stanford impacted the Pac-12 championship race by beating UCLA in the regular-season finale. In that victory, the Cardinal looked every bit the part of a two-time defending league champion.

This team has seemingly figured it out—and at a most inopportune time for Maryland. The Terrapins were respectable in their first season as Big Ten members but are reeling after blowing a 35-10 lead against Rutgers to cap 2014.

Stanford plays a style that Maryland simply doesn’t match well with, as was evident in the Terps’ lopsided loss to conference foe Michigan State.

Since starting its current streak of six straight bowl appearances, Stanford is winless in odd years and undefeated in the even-numbered years. While that has literally no bearing on this game, the trend should continue.

Look for the Cardinal to impose their will early and roll in a veritable home game.

Prediction: Stanford 35, Maryland 14

Quotes obtained firsthand unless otherwise cited. Statistics courtesy of CFBstats.com.