Head Coach: Troy Taylor is entering his 2nd season with the Cardinal with a 3-9 record. He took over the program in need of a complete rebuild, but showed progress as time went on last season. Taylor came in after having a ton of success at Sacramento State where he led the Hornets to their 2 first Big Sky titles and the FCS playoffs every season he was there.
Program Outlook: Stanford doesn’t seem to stay in the middle very long. They were a Pac-12 doormat for some time until Jim Harbaugh took over, and after a few years they rose to the top of the conference. Stanford sustained success for so long but too much talent drain from David Shaw’s staff eventually led to things falling apart. Now they begin this new strange life in the ACC with fan support possibly at an all time low.
How does the 2024 Roster look?: Stanford is quietly a team that returns a lot of production from last season, they lead the ACC in fact. Stanford has some good pieces on the offense, and if you missed them because of how frequently they appeared on the Pac-12 network they now run a very fast tempo offense, this isn’t your father’s Stanford team. QB Ashton Daniels had some good performances early in the year but he really got better as the season went on, he’s shown the potential to be really good in this offense. He’s got the receivers, everyone knows about Elic Ayomanor who had a coming out party against Colorado last year, he’s a ridiculous talent, but he’s not alone. They have Tiger Bachmeier on the other side and TE Sam Roush, along with some other young receivers. One reason the Cardinal offense lacked consistency was the fact that the ground game simply didn’t exist for them the offensive line couldn’t open lanes so the backs had nowhere to go, pass blocking was a problem too. The Cardinal will be hoping that experience can lead to improvement, just about everyone who played returns. Stanford trotted out a young defense and it sure faced trial by fire, it was one of the worst performing units in the sport. They couldn’t stop anything, in particular the ground game was a problem because teams were able to keep the Cardinal offense off the field. The defensive line brings their key guys back, with another year together they need to work on getting after opposing QBs more and finding ways to stop the run despite a lack of size. They have a strong group of linebackers who are usually tasked with cleaning up messes but it would be fun to see these guys get to terrorize opposing offenses instead. The secondary didn’t have an easy job, but they showed a lot of ability when they didn’t have to try to hold up in coverage for too long. There’s some work to be done, but this ain’t a new team anymore so they have a shot to figure things out.
Screenshot from fbschedules.com1
2024 Schedule Thoughts: Stanford faces a tougher ACC slate but this is an easier schedule compared to what they went against last season. The opener against TCU will be tough but fortunately their next game is against a Cal Poly team that struggled last season and is trying to sort things out. The start to the ACC schedule is brutal they open with 2 road games at Syracuse and Clemson, home against Virginia Tech and then they go back out of conference play for their annual rivalry game with Notre Dame. It gets a little easier after that with some home games against SMU, Wake Forest, and Louisville. They will end the year with The Game and a tricky road game at San Jose State. The Cardinal could be improved but a bowl may not be in the cards.
Vegas Projection: Stanford’s win total is set at a paltry 3.5 wins, but the odds are geared toward the over. Vegas sees baby steps for the Cardinal!
2024 Best Case: Maybe we’re too quick to assume this team is going to struggle. The offense turns out to be electric and the defense does just enough to help. The Cardinal make an immediate statement on the opening Friday night when they outscore TCU in a surprising upset. They win the next game but truly make a huge opening statement in the conference when Stanford upsets Syracuse on the road in the Battle of the colored S’s. Stanford’s good early run takes a step back as they lose the next 4 games but the Cardinal outscore SMU at home to get back on the right track. They take down Wake Forest the next week for another big win before losing to NC State. Despite the bye Stanford isn’t able to beat Louisville but they do one better. Stanford takes the Axe from rival Cal to win The Game and clinch bowl eligibility. They close out the regular season beating San Jose State to clinch a winning record but it gets even better when the Cardinal manage to win their bowl game. A surprise 8-5 season is more than enough to build some excitement. Troy Taylor has this going in the right direction.
2024 Worst Case: Maybe we were right to assume Stanford would struggle. They are blown out by TCU, struggle to get past Cal Poly and are blown out in their first 4 ACC games. There’s really not much opportunity for Stanford to get right either. There’s no sudden good performances late in the season or anything Stanford collapses to 1-11. Even more insulting is the last 2 game stretch when they’re blown out by rival Cal who ends up reaching the playoff and blown out by San Jose State to be the worst in the Bay Area. This isn’t going anywhere fast.
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