Stanford vs. Oregon St: Grading the Cardinal's Win Against the Beavers

The Stanford Cardinal continued their march towards a national championship with a 38-13 thrashing of the Oregon State Beavers.

This team continues to show their depth and talent as week in and week out they find ways to win games—both blowouts and nail-biters.

As always, Andrew Luck continued to impress scouts and fans alike, and in true Stanford style, the defense came to Reser Stadium ready to play.

Oregon State would not go down easily, however. As seen in the past years, Oregon State is usually the cause of Pac-12 upsets and shake-up,s and the Beavers had upset on their minds (at least for a half).

Overall, Stanford played a solid game, but how well did they play and how many BCS style points did they gain? In a week where one undefeated is guaranteed to go down, did the Cardinal do enough to show that they deserve to be No. 1, 2 or 3?

Click through to see the Stanford Cardinal's grades for this one. 

Offense: B+

Andrew Luck is great; the twitterverse at large has started the #SuckForLuck sweepstakes, and this week, the quarterback only further impressed.

Luck finished the game 20-of-30 for 206 yards, three touchdowns and an interception; hardly a spectacular effort. However, as always, he looked calm, cool and collected in the pocket.

Even better for Stanford was the balance the running game gave the Cardinal offense.

Standford finished the game for a combined 300 yards of rushing, averaging over six yards a carry. While no one rushed over the century mark, Stepfan Taylor led the way with 95 rushing yards, with 7.3 a pop.

The combined effort of seven total rushers allowed for Stanford to adjust after only leading 17-7 at the half.

Oregon State had done a good job clogging the line and preventing Stanford from dominating early. But as the case has been all year, Stanford made the necessary adjustments to dominate the third quarter and dismantle the Beavers.

Defense: A

The Stanford defense continues to impress.

The Cardinal held Oregon State to a mere 33 yards on the ground, and the Cardinal tormented Beavers quarterback Steven Mannion all game, to the tune of minus-27 rushing yards; holding the rest of the Beavers rusher to 60 yards is an accomplishment.

Even better for Stanford, they held the explosive James Rodgers to eight touches for 90 total yards, taking out Oregon State's best weapon.

Mannion, meanwhile, did not make any mistakes, completing 60 percent of his passes for 252 yards and one touchdown.

The Cardinal defense put on a defensive clinic and their performance was just short of dominant, looking far superior in every possible way.

If Stanford's defense continues on this track, there is no reason they shouldn't reach the BCS title game.

Special Teams: B+

Special teams is such a difficult unit to judge at times, but Stanford did a great job, with just a few exceptions.

First, the kickoff coverage for Stanford was not spectacular and a personal foul on running back Taylor Gaffney on the final kickoff of the first half gave Oregon State a fantastic opportunity to put pressure on the Cardinal and whittle away at the deficit.

However, the special teams unit redeemed itself with a block on Treavor Romaine's 50-yard kick, and with an extra cut to the outside, Michael Thomas could have nailed the Beavers' coffin much earlier.

Regardless, it was a great effort and showed every part of Stanford's offense can be a threat to score.

While these plays cannot be expected game after game, the simple fact that Stanford now knows they have the capability to do so is enough to force opponents to take extra time in preparation of special teams—thereby eating away on offensive and defensive preparation (another hallmark trait of an well rounded team).

Coaching: A

Stanford coach David Shaw had to handle an incredibly challenging and stressful half time.

Not only was his team facing a very game and challenging Oregon State side, but in a heart-wrenching head-to-head collision, Shaw had just watched one of his seniors, wide receiver Chris Owusu, carted off the field with what is more than likely a season-ending concussion.

Shaw was able to settle his team down, even after a suspect personal foul on Beavers cornerback Jordan Poyer on the ensuing kickoff.

Furthermore, Stanford came out of halftime and torched the Beavers for 14 points,thus effectively ending the game and allowing Luck and the Stanford starters to rest up for Oregon.

Overall: A

Overall, this was a game Oregon State very well could have pulled an upset in. With the history of the Beavers, and the arch-rival Oregon Ducks next week, a 17-7 halftime lead was enough to keep fans on the edge of their seats.

Stanford made tremendous adjustments however, and showed their overall talent on both sides of the ball.

The loss of Owusu will force some adjustments of the Stanford playbook, but that does not mean that the Cardinal are suddenly at a disadvantage next week versus Oregon.

This game showed that Stanford may be the most mature and football-smart team in the country. Led by Andrew Luck, there is no game this team cannot win, and no opponent that will intimidate the Cardinal.

The stage is set for next week and you had better believe that Stanford is ready to go.

Follow Andrew Pregler on Twitter @ACPregler for more college football and other sports updates.