The NIL period has not been variety to Stanford soccer, however then, the years previous it weren’t so good, both. Stanford hasn’t been to a bowl recreation since 2018, and apart from its 4-2 marketing campaign in 2020, hasn’t completed with a successful document since then both.
Stanford’s excessive admission requirements current an additional hurdle for constructing a aggressive roster and they’re particularly disadvantageous within the portal period. There’s additionally the matter of economic funding, and the Cardinal are lagging behind the majority of the facility 4. I questioned if Stanford may emerge on this cash period as a heavier spender—certainly there isn’t any scarcity of cash amongst its alumni base—however the college has answered that query with a powerful no. It appears college’s potential sugar daddies haven’t taken the outing of their busy schedules constructing tech firms that make society demonstrably worse.
The outcomes on the sector have been predictable, and this season is one other working example. No superior stats are essential to illustrate the myriad issues on show.
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Stanford has three wins this season: 37-27 over Hawaii (119 in SP+), 34-27 over Georgia Tech (64), and 34-7 over Elon. All three got here at house, and the GT recreation was additionally a 7:30 p.m. PT kick—the Cardinal are 3-0 in such video games towards ACC groups from the Jap time zone, so, uh, there may be that.
Stanford’s issues on offense are in all places however boil right down to not having the ability to run the ball that offers it no selection however to depend on a below-average quarterback to get something performed. All 5 of the Stanford opponents with a pulse have efficiently made the Cardinal one-dimensional by limiting it to fewer than 100 yards speeding. In league video games, Stanford is averaging 71.5 speeding yards on 2.5 per carry, and has one speeding landing.
Quarterback Davis Warren leads ACC quarterbacks in cross makes an attempt—Stanford is averaging 37 passes per recreation in league play—however ranks twelfth or worse amongst ACC QBs in landing passes, completion proportion, yards per try, and passer ranking. The road does an honest job defending him and he’s solely thrown two interceptions in 234 makes an attempt, however this is without doubt one of the nation’s least explosive offenses and regularly up towards it on third downs because of this.
Stanford’s defensive radar is extra pathetic than NC State’s, which is saying one thing—the Cardinal just isn’t even vaguely good at something. In 4 ACC video games, it has surrendered 10 passing touchdowns and 12 speeding touchdowns. ACC opponents have accomplished 72% of their passes on 9.5 yards per try. They’ve additionally averaged greater than 5.0 yards per speeding try towards this protection.
Stanford has solely 4 sacks in 2026, and two of these got here in Week 1 towards Hawaii; the Cardinal common fewer than 4 tackles for loss per recreation, which is charges 114th nationally. The dearth of disruption up entrance has been disastrous, clearly—and NC State can actually relate to that. Operating a dime-store protection with no playmakers is one factor these groups have in widespread.
There aren’t any excuses for Dave Doeren and NC State on this one. Stanford is the worst staff on the schedule not named Richmond, there will probably be roughly seven folks in attendance, and it’s a must-win scenario that comes with an additional week of preparation. All the circumstances are advantageous save the kickoff time. We have to see NC State play like the higher staff that it’s, even with an offensive line held collectively by Scotch tape.
