FACTS & STATS: Site: Stanford Stadium (85,500) -- Stanford, California. Television: Fox Sports Net. Home Record: SJSU 0-0, Stanford 0-1. Away Record: SJSU 0-2, Stanford 0-0. Neutral Record: SJSU 0-0, Stanford 0-0. Conference Record: SJSU 0-0, Stanford 0-1. Series Record: Stanford leads, 46-14-1.

GAME NOTES: On the road again for the third time in as many games, the San Jose State Spartans try to work their way into the win column this weekend as they challenge the Stanford Cardinal in non-conference action in the Golden State. The Spartans, who are on the road for the first four games of 2007 and have only five home games during the entire campaign, were crushed in the opener at Arizona State in a 45-3 decision. Last week the squad was defeated by Kansas State in yet another non-conference meeting, 34-14. Next week SJSU gets its first crack at a Western Athletic Conference victory when it drops in on Utah State. After that game the Spartans play host to UC Davis, Idaho and Hawaii over a three-week period. As for Stanford, it has had two weeks to prepare for this meeting after losing to UCLA in a 45-17 final. While San Jose is on the road for four straight, the Cardinal get to play four consecutive games at home, with the team's first road test coming against top-ranked USC the first week of October. Stanford, which had won four in a row before the Spartans picked up a narrow 35-34 triumph in last year's meeting, leads the all-time series with SJSU by a count of 46-14-1. Prior to the game there will be a tribute to Bill Walsh, a graduate and former player for the Spartans who also went on to coach at Stanford.

With as many as four different players attempting passes for the Spartans, there was little chance that the team was going to come out on top against Kansas State last weekend. Adam Tafralis connected on an impressive 16-of-20, but that led to only 134 yards and one touchdown in the setback. Although the quartet of signal-callers accounted for 220 yards and a pair of scores overall, the fact that the so-called rushing attack came up with just 73 yards on 31 attempts was a very telling stat. Tafralis, who also ran the ball eight times and caught three passes, may not see action this weekend due to a shoulder injury he suffered against KSU, which means the Spartans might get more reps with Myles Eden at the helm. Another issue for the team is the availability of running back Yonus Davis who sat out with a sprained ankle versus the Wildcats and is questionable for this outing as well. For a team that posted nine wins a season ago, having the 116th-ranked scoring offense in the nation at just 8.5 ppg has to be a surprise so far in 2007.

The Wildcats were penalized nine times for 96 yards, were picked off twice and fumbled the ball two times, although neither mishandled ball actually changed hands, and still they had little trouble handling San Jose State. Demetrius Jones recorded a game-high 12 tackles, of which nine were of the solo variety, while Matt Castelo logged nine stops and the only tackle for loss in the contest for the Spartans. As if the struggling offense were not bad enough for the Spartans, the defense is having some serious issues as well, currently ranked 104th in the country in points allowed at 39.5 ppg. The squad has a pass efficiency defense rating of 151.08, just one of the results of ranking a mere 115th in tackles for loss with two and a half per game. Castelo has two of those five TFLs and leads the group with 18 total tackles, while the only sack over two games has been logged by Jarron Gilbert.

As if losing the season opener were not enough, the Cardinal did so versus a Pac-10 opponent in UCLA the first of September. Stanford was a miserable 4- of-18 on third down and controlled the ball for less than five minutes in the final period. The Cardinal found very little success running the ball, producing just 52 net yards on 26 attempts. Quarterback T.C. Ostrander tried to keep the home team in the mix, converting 27-of-59 passing for 346 yards and a pair of scores, but he was also sacked four times in the losing effort. Richard Sherman had four catches for 100 yards and a score, but one of those receptions was for 70 yards alone. With just a single win in 2006, Stanford showed what can happen when an offense struggles to produce. Only Florida International averaged fewer points per game than the Cardinal (10.6 ppg), a team that was coming up with a woeful 231.9 ypg to rank 118th in the nation as well. Last season Ostrander did not play against San Jose State, instead finally getting significant playing time midway through the campaign. For his career Ostrander has almost 2,700 yards passing, but only 10 TDs, against eight picks and minus-383 rushing yards are very telling.

Not only did the Stanford defense surrender 286 yards through the air versus the Bruins, the squad also gave up an unthinkable 338 yards on the ground on 50 attempts by the visitors. Despite running six fewer plays than the Cardinal, UCLA was allowed to come up with 226 more yards for an average of close to eight yards per play. With all those plays being run someone had to try and make stops, which is how Bo McNally came away with a game-high 15 tackles. Clinton Snyder had just four stops, but half of those were behind the line of scrimmage and one was the only sack of the contest for Stanford. It should come as little surprise that, when compared to the rest of the Football Bowl Subdivision, Stanford has one of the worst defenses in the country. The squad is second-to-last in stopping the run, pass efficiency defense and total defense. There are only six teams that are, on the average, giving up more points than the Cardinal. Last season the team was 117th in the country, giving up 210.5 ypg on the ground, and 108th in scoring defense (31.4 ppg) so not that much has changed.

Depending on the health of Tafralis, this game could go either way between two lackluster offenses. If SJSU can get its starting QB back under center the visitors will have a decent shot at the win. Otherwise, look for Stanford to match last season's win total.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: San Jose State 23, Stanford 13

Saturday, September 15th, 10:00 p.m. (et).