It's Noteworthy

STANFORD, Calif. - Get the story behind the numbers for Stanford's season-opening matchup at Northwestern.

Air Cardinal
• Under David Shaw, Stanford has played four regular season nonconference games on the road -- all east of the Mississippi (at Duke, at Notre Dame [twice], at Army). In fact, as the crow flies, Stanford has traveled over 2,000 miles per game. By comparison, SEC teams have played only two games in the Pacific Time Zone during that span (Ole Miss at Fresno State in 2011, Tennessee at Oregon in 2013).

• The Cardinal has traveled 8,786 miles for its four nonconference road games under Shaw -- Duke (2,380), Notre Dame (twice - 1,924) and Army (2,558).

• Stanford ranks second among Power 5 teams in nonconference travel since Shaw took over the reins to the program. USC has traveled over 11,000 during that same stretch.

• Last nonconference road game in Pacific Time Zone -- 2006 at San Jose State. Originally slated as a Cardinal home game, the contest was moved to Spartan Stadium due to construction at Stanford Stadium.

• Last season without a game in Central or Eastern Time Zone -- 2007 (no nonconference road game that season).

• Since Stanford’s last game at Northwestern 21 years ago, the Cardinal has played contests in 13 different states (Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin) and won games in 10 of those states.  

 Marked Improvement
• Among all FBS teams, Stanford’s winning pct. has improved the most over the last five years (2010-14) compared to the previous five seasons (2005-09). Stanford’s 42.3 pct. increase in winning pct. tops Utah State (40.1) for the best mark in the country.

Private Sector
• Stanford has the most wins (54) of any Power 5 private school this decade.

• Stanford is the only private school this decade with four double-digit win seasons.

• Stanford has accounted for three of seven major bowl appearances (BCS and New Year’s Six) this decade by a private school.

• Stanford is the only private school this decade to win a Power 5 conference title game (2012 and 2013).

Ol’ Stomping Grounds
• Stanford’s David Shaw and Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald are two of only seven Power 5 head coaches leading their alma mater’s program. Fifteen FBS head coaches share similar company. Shaw and Fitzgerald rank as two of the top-five winningest coaches among the group. One of the group’s newest members, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, previously coached four seasons at Stanford. Harbaugh, Paul Chryst (Wisconsin) and John Bonamego (Central Michigan) all enter their first seasons as head coach for their alma mater.

• Shaw and Fitzgerald are the only two leading programs at a private university.

Hello, Again
• Stanford’s entire full-time coaching staff from the 2014 season returns for the 2015 campaign. It’s the first time since 1999-2000 under Tyrone Willingham that Stanford’s staff remained completely intact from one season to the next.

• Stanford and Northwestern are two of 23 schools in the country to retain its entire full-time coaching staff. In fact, Northwestern has had the most continuous staff in the country, as it has retained the same staff for four straight years.

Card-sistently Dominant
• Stanford is one of five FBS programs to give up five or less yards per play in each of the previous three seasons (Alabama, TCU, Utah State, Wisconsin).

 (Fifth-Year) Senior Moment
• Fifth-year senior QB Kevin Hogan enters his final season on The Farm among the NCAA’s active leaders in several passing categories.