Stanford Cardinal 2023 College Football Preview
July 14, 2023
2022 Recap
Record – 3-9
ATS – 2-10
The David Shaw era came to a conclusion after the Cardinal suffered their second consecutive 3-9 campaign. There wasn’t much to get excited about other than an impossible SHOCK the WORLD moment when they went to South Bend and emerged victorious over the mighty Fighting Irish (W 16-14). There were definitely some fine moments under the Shaw regime but it seems like a good time to make a change.
Let’s check in with the program and see what new HC Troy Taylor has to work with in 2023.
Stanford Cardinal 2023 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Cardinal had trouble moving the football LY (#10 rushing offense PAC-12, #7 passing) and must replace former QB Tanner McKee who’s off to the lovely city of Philadelphia to ply his trade with the Eagles. Any number of inexperienced youngsters could get the call to start in week one but the early money is on sophomore Ari Patu (25 career pass attempts). It was like a BAD DAY IN BOSNIA for the RB unit LY as they suffered a lot of injuries but they’ve got good depth coming back led by the talented, but unproven EJ Smith. Star TE Benjamin Yurosek is the best returning THROW GAME weapon (49-445, 2nd Team PAC 12) but the WR corps looks weak after losing a pair of doods to the NFL (Higgins, Wilson). The OL could be a HORROR SHOW as almost anyone with a pulse left thru the transfer portal and they’ve only got about 15 career starts in the unit as we approach press time. Yup, it seems that it’ll be a long struggle for the offense.
DEFENSE
It’s been a while since the Cardinal have played decent defense and the first order of business will be learning how to stop the run as they’ve allowed 200+ YPG rushing in each of the last three seasons (224, #11 PAC-12 LY). The stop unit is almost certainly in for a long year as they retain just three starters and lose six of their top-seven (!) tacklers. The front seven looks decent as they’ve got a bit of experience and nice size on the DL, and DE/LB David Bailey and LB Gaethan Bernadel are talented pieces to build around. The secondary is in big trouble as they don’t return a single starter and they lost a pair of important performers to the NFL draft.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Finally some good news, yo. The Cardinal is set in the PK department as they retain1st Team AA Joshua Karty who had a phenomenal 2022 season (18-18 FG, 24-25 XP) and note that he’s capable of hitting from DOWNTOWN (61 yd FG LY). Sadly, they’ll have to find a replacement for reliable punter Ryan Sanborn (41.7).
Schedule Analysis
Overall – Stanford has a great shot of winning a pair of non-conference games although the trip to Hawaii in week one is anything but a slam dunk. They avoid Utah on the conference docket but have to face USC (A), Oregon (H), and Washington (H). They finish the season with a pair of home games (Cal, Irish).
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – at Hawaii (Sept 1)
Stanford is a very inexperienced team and Hawaii has to believe they can pull a yuuuge home upset. We’re gonna avoid backing the Cardinal until we see what we’re dealing with on both sides of the football.
Season Win Total
Market consensus July 14
Over 3 +125
Under 3 -155
MEGALOCKS says:
Lean: Under
If they lose to Hawaii in week one the ‘under’ should be golden. If they squeak out a win, it’ll be a major sweat because they’ve got a layup vs Sacramento St in week three. We slightly favor the ‘under’ as four wins seems like a bit of a stretch. Three wins means that you PUSH IT, PUSH IT REAL GOOD.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
Stanford won three PAC 12 Championships under former HC David Shaw (2012. 2013, 2015).
Google began in January 1996 as a research project by Larry Page and Sergey Brin when they were both PhD students at Stanford. The Google search engine has about 92% of the global search engine market making it a perfect censorship tool and propaganda outlet for the FBI and Federal Government.
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
New HC Troy Taylor did a great job at Sacramento St and finished his tenure with the Hornets with an impressive record of 30-8 (.789). There’s a long road ahead for Taylor and company as Stanford rolls into the season with one of the most inexperienced rosters in the country. The depth chart appears lacking in difference-makers on both sides of the football and we expect a long season for the Cardinal. Hopefully, they can get better as the season moves along, and maybe, just maybe, pull an upset or two.