Here's a look at Saturday's lineups and key matchups — and a prediction from Star reporter Justin Spears.
Arizona (2-1) at Stanford (1-2)
When: Saturday
Where: Stanford Stadium
Kickoff: 4 p.m.
TV: Pac-12 Network
Radio: 1290-AM, 107.5-FM
Arizona wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (4), left, and wide receiver Montana Lemonious-Craig (5) celebrate Lemonious-Craig’s touchdown against UTEP in September 2023.
Arizona Wildcats
Record: 2-1, 0-0 Pac-12
WHEN ARIZONA IS ON OFFENSE:
[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
XWR | 4 | Tetairoa McMillan | 6-5 | 210 | So.
FWR | 2 | Jacob Cowing | 5-11 | 175 | Sr.
LT | 77 | Jordan Morgan | 6-5 | 325 | Sr.
LG | 72 | Wendell Moe | 6-2 | 340 | R-Fr.
C | 75 | Josh Baker | 6-3 | 305 | Jr.
RG | 79 | Raymond Pulido | 6-6 | 335 | Fr.
RT | 71 | Jonah Savaiinaea | 6-5 | 330 | So.
TE | 84 | Tanner McLachlan | 6-5 | 245 | R-Sr.
ZWR | 5 | Montana Lemonious-Craig | 6-2 | 200 | Jr.
QB | 7 | Jayden de Laura | 6-0 | 205 | Jr.
RB | 6 | Michael Wiley | 6-0 | 215 | Sr.
WHEN ARIZONA IS ON DEFENSE:
[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
KAT | 90 | Isaiah Ward | 6-5 | 225 | R-Fr.
DT | 92 | Tyler Manoa | 6-5 | 315 | Sr.
NT | 45 | Bill Norton | 6-6 | 325 | Sr.
DE | 11 | Taylor Upshaw | 6-5 | 270 | Grad.
WLB | 59 | Jacob Manu | 5-11 | 225 | So.
MLB | 10 | Justin Flowe | 6-2 | 225 | R-So.
STAR | 2 | Treydan Stukes | 6-2 | 195 | Jr.
CB | 7 | Ephesians Prysock | 6-4 | 190 | So.
CB | 23 | Tacario Davis | 6-4 | 195 | So.
BS | 43 | Dalton Johnson | 5-11 | 200 | R-So.
FS | 9 | Gunner Maldonado | 6-0 | 195 | Jr.
2023 schedule
September
2 | N. ARIZONA | W, 38-3
9 | at Mississippi State | L, 31-24 (OT)
16 | UTEP | W, 31-10
23 | at Stanford | 4 p.m.
30 | No. 8 WASHINGTON | 7 p.m.
October
7 | at No. 6 USC | TBD
14 | at No. 21 Washington State | TBD
28 | No. 14 OREGON STATE | TBD
November
4 | No. 22 UCLA | TBD
11 | at No. 19 Colorado | TBD
18 | No. 11 UTAH | TBD
25 | at ASU | TBD
Home games in Bold
2023 STATS
PASSING
[Name | Comp-Att-INT | Yards | TDs | Long]
de Laura | 73-99-5 | 912 | 8 | 55
Fifita | 4-4-0 | 22 | 0 | 10
RUSHING
[Name | Carries | Yards | TDs | Per carry | Per game]
Wiley | 38 | 168 | 1 | 4.4 | 56.0
de Laura | 15 | 124 | 2 | 8.3 | 41.3
Coleman | 8 | 101 | 0 | 12.6 | 33.7
Williams | 12 | 82 | 0 | 6.8 | 27.3
Luke | 8 | 49 | 0 | 6.1 | 16.3
RECEIVING
[Name | Receptions | Yards | TDs | Per catch | Per game]
McMillan | 17 | 315 | 3 | 18.5 | 105.0
Cowing | 20 | 153 | 3 | 7.7 | 51.0
Wiley | 15 | 132 | 0 | 8.8 | 44.0
McLachlan | 8 | 109 | 1 | 13.6 | 36.3
Lemonious-Craig | 7 | 98 | 1 | 14.0 | 32.7
DEFENSE
[Name | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FR | FF]
Manu | 28 | 2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0
Flowe | 20 | .5 | 0 | 0 | 0
Johnson | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1
Irby | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1
Prysock | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0
Stanford tight end Benjamin Yurosek gets dragged down after a catch during the Cardinal’s 31-24 loss to Oregon in October 2021.
Stanford Cardinal
Record: 1-2, 0-1 Pac-12
WHEN STANFORD IS ON OFFENSE:
[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
WR | 13 | Elic Ayomanor | 6-2 | 210 | So.
TE | 84 | Benjamin Yurosek | 6-4 | 242 | Sr.
LT | 76 | Jack Leyrer | 6-5 | 310 | Jr.
LG | 61 | Trevor Mayberry | 6-3 | 315 | Jr.
C | 57 | Levi Rogers | 6-4 | 304 | Sr.
RG | 55 | Simione Pale | 6-4 | 315 | Sr.
RT | 67 | Connor McLaughlin | 6-7 | 295 | Sr.
WR | 3 | Bryce Farrell | 5-10 | 180 | Sr.
WR | 0 | Mudia Reuben | 6-2 | 205 | So.
QB | 14 | Ashton Daniels | 6-2 | 215 | So.
RB | 22 | E.J. Smith | 6-0 | 210 | Sr.
WHEN STANFORD IS ON DEFENSE:
[Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr.]
DE | 92 | Lance Kenely | 6-4 | 250 | Sr.
DT | 94 | Anthony Franklin | 6-3 | 281 | Jr.
DT | 94 | Tobin Phillips | 6-3 | 295 | Sr.
OLB | 11 | Tevarua Tafiiti | 6-2 | 235 | So.
MLB | 0 | Gaethan Bernadel | 6-1 | 227 | Jr.
WLB | 8 | Tristan Sinclair | 6-1 | 221 | Sr.
CB | 6 | Collin Wright | 6-0 | 192 | So.
NB | 20 | Jaden Slocum | 6-1 | 200 | Jr.
S | 21 | Scotty Edwards | 6-1 | 205 | So.
S | 33 | Alaka'i Gilman | 5-10 | 194 | Sr.
CB | 4 | Zahran Manley | 6-2 | 189 | Sr.
Stanford 2023 schedule
September
1 | at Hawaii | W, 37-24
9 | @ No. 6 USC | L, 56-10
16 | Sacramento State | L, 27-24
23 | Arizona | 4 p.m.
30 | No. 10 Oregon | 3:30 p.m.
October
13 | at No. 19 Colorado | TBD
21 | No. 22 UCLA | TBD
28 | No. 8 Washington | TBD
November
4 | at No. 21 Washington State | TBD
11 | at No. 14 Oregon State | TBD
18 | Cal | TBD
25|No. 9 Notre Dame|TBD
Home games BOLD
Stanford 2023 STATS
PASSING
[Name | Comp-Att-INT | Yards | TDs | Long]
Daniels | 31-50-2 | 336 | 3 | 51
RUSHING
[Name | Carries | Yards | TDs | Per carry | Per game]
Filkins | 24 | 184 | 1 | 7.7 | 61.3
Smith | 18 | 135 | 1 | 7.5 | 45.0
Daniels | 19 | 71 | 0 | 3.7 | 23.7
Pittman | 13 | 54 | 0 | 4.2 | 18.0
Lamson | 25 | 39 | 1 | 1.6 | 13.0
RECEIVING
[Name | Receptions | Yards | TDs | Yards per catch]
Yurosek | 13 | 192 | 1 | 14.8
Ayomanor | | 8 | 127 | 1 | 15.9
Reuben | 5 | 92 | 0 | 18.4
Humphreys | 5 | 71 | 1 | 14.2
Farrell | 4 | 41 | 0 | 10.3
DEFENSE
[Name | Tackles | Sacks | INTs | FRs]
Bernadel | 18.0 | 0 | 0 | 0
Gilman | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0
Sinclair | 17 | 1 | 0 | 0
Wright | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0
Edwards | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0
Head to Head
4 Tetairoa McMillan vs. 33 Alaka'i Gilman
McMillan's 89-yard outing against UTEP, which included a nifty one-handed grab that earned a spot on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays, last week placed the sophomore wide receiver over the 1,000-yard mark for his career (1,017). McMillan is fourth in the Pac-12 in receiving yards and is averaging 105 yards per game. Along with his receiver counterpart in Cowing, McMillan has hauled in a touchdown pass in every game this season.
Alaka'i is short for Kealaka’ikula’emaikalani Keawekahikuonamoku. Gilman, The younger brother of Los Angeles Chargers defensive back and former Notre Dame standout Alohi Gilman, is among the top tacklers for the Cardinal. The Laie, Hawaii native had seven solo tackles in the season-opening win over Hawaii, then had back-to-back five-tackle performances. Gilman is part of Stanford's secondary tasked with limiting Arizona's passing attack highlighted by McMillan, Cowing, McLachlan, Wiley and Coleman.
Arizona safety Gunner Maldonado (9) dives over UTEP tight end Judah Ezinwa (17) after scooping up a Miners fumble in the fourth quarter of the Wildcats’ win last Saturday in Tucson.
9 Gunner Maldonado vs. 84 Benjamin Yurosek
Maldonado produced arguably his best performance as a Wildcat in the nonconference finale win over UTEP, logging four tackles, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery — the third takeaway of the season for Arizona. In the first two games of the season, Maldonado was graded poorly by PFF, earning a 41 tackling grade for the NAU game, followed by a 27.5 tackling grade at Mississippi State. Maldonado said he was "doing too much" to begin the season. Maldonado's 82 tackling grade against UTEP is the best of his collegiate career.
Yurosek, a preseason All-Pac-12 Second Team selection, is the Cardinal's top pass-catcher at 13 catches for 192 yards. Yurosek, who also leads Pac-12 tight ends in receiving yards, opened the season with a career-best 138 yards on nine catches and one touchdown at Hawaii. Yurosek was limited in Stanford's upset loss to Sacramento State and only had one rushing attempt for 5 yards.
The matchup
When Arizona has the ball …
Arizona enters this week 19th in the nation in passing with 310.7 yards per game which, by the Pac-12's standards this season, is middle of the pack. The Wildcats' passing unit falls behind Washington (493.3), Colorado (418), Washington State (400.7), USC (395.7) and Oregon (357.7) in the conference. Stanford's passing defense ranks last in the Pac-12 and surrenders 342.3 yards through the air every contest. Last week, the Wildcats imposed their will and rushed for 244 yards against UTEP. This week, look for Arizona to sling the ball down the field.
When Stanford has the ball …
The Cardinal, which heavily rely on Yurosek, are 10th in the Pac-12 this season in yards per game and have been out-gained in every game this season; Sacramento State out-gained Stanford 448-387 last week. Stanford has a quarterback identity crisis and has switched between Daniels and Lamson under center. Stanford is seventh in the Pac-12 in rushing, with Filkins and Smith, son of Pro Football Hall of Famer and ex-Dallas Cowboy star Emmitt Smith.
Prediction: Arizona 38, Stanford 14
The last time Arizona beat Stanford on the road was during the Mike Stoops era in 2006. And the last time Arizona knocked off the Cardinal in general, Andrew Luck, who has been retired from football entirely for four years now, was Stanford's starting quarterback. Here are Stanford's first three PFF pass-blocking grades of the season: 19, 48.2 and 36.7. Arizona's significantly improved defensive line, coupled with the Pac-12's top two tacklers in Manu and Flowe, should result in the Wildcats feasting on Stanford. If de Laura plays a clean game and doesn't turn the ball over, the Wildcats should have no problem scoring in the high 30s or 40s.
