The Stanford football program hasn’t been particularly impressive recently. The Cardinal went just 3-9 last year and are off to a 1-2 start this season.

However, one of their wins last year was an upset victory over Oregon. On Saturday, Stanford will visit Autzen Stadium as the Ducks look to enact some revenge on their Pac-12 foe. Oregon has played well after meeting its match in the season opener against Georgia. The Ducks demolished Eastern Washington, took down a ranked BYU team and opened Pac-12 play with a comeback win over Washington State. Now, they’ll try to chop down some trees.

The Cardinal went into this year with some hope, despite a brutal ending to last season. After beating the Ducks to improve to 3-2, they lost their last seven games of the year. But now they’re led by quarterback Tanner McKee, a 6-foot-6 junior they have high hopes for.

ESPN’s Matt Miller ranked McKee as the top prospect in tier two of his NFL draft preview, naming him a “prospect with potential to rise.” McKee is considered a borderline first-round draft pick and could very well be a future NFL player.

McKee won’t immediately solve all of Stanford’s problems, though; an area that plagued the Cardinal greatly last year was the running game. They failed to rush for 90 yards on eight occasions, and they lost all eight.

Despite losing to No. 10 USC in week two, the Cardinal had a net gain of 221 yards on the ground — back to the type of mark that made them a successful team years ago. E.J. Smith had a net gain of 88 yards, while Casey Filkins had a net gain of 77.

It was actually in the receiving game that USC outplayed Stanford, throwing for 341 yards compared to the Cardinal’s 220. USC’s Jordan Addison was particularly dominant, as he brought Stanford down with seven catches for a total of 172 yards and two touchdowns.

The Cardinal took a step back in week four, losing 40-22 to Washington. They rushed for just 86 yards in the loss. They were actually solid in the passing game, as McKee threw for 286 yards. Receiver Michael Wilson was a standout, accounting for 176 of those yards. Filkins was about the only player with a good performance on the ground. He rushed for 100 yards, while the rest of the team had a net loss of 14.

While the Cardinal saw improvement from McKee, the game still exemplified the inconsistencies that have plagued Stanford over the last few seasons. The defense struggled badly, and the offense had three turnovers. The toughest thing for them has been putting it all together. Dating back to last season, they’ve lost eight conference games in a row.

It’s hard to say which version of Stanford will show up against Oregon. The Ducks will be the vast favorites, but last year’s result showed that you can never be too sure. Stanford’s path to an upset would have to involve another strong performance from McKee combined with a return to the running performance from the USC game. Against a vaunted top-25 Oregon team with momentum in its favor, that may be quite a tall task.

The Ducks and Cardinal will meet for a late 8 p.m. kickoff at Autzen Stadium Saturday night.