Stanford Cardinal (0-1 • 0-0 Pac-12)
UCF Knights (0-1 • 0-0 American)
September 12, 2015 • 7:30 p.m. (PT)
Stanford Stadium (50,424) • Stanford, Calif.
Television • Live national broadcast on FOX Sports 1 with Tim Brando (play-by-play) and Spencer Tillman (analyst).
Radio • Live coverage on Stanford’s flagship station -- KNBR 1050 AM -- with Scott Reiss ’93 (play-by-play), Todd Husak ’00 (analyst) and John Platz ’84 (sideline). The broadcast begins one hour before kickoff with the Cardinal Tailgate Show and concludes with the postgame Cardinal Locker Room Report. The game can be heard on Stanford student radio -- KZSU 90.1 FM -- and online at kzsulive.stanford.edu. Sirius Satellite Radio (channel 158) and XM Satellite Radio (channel 198) will carry a national broadcast.
Live Stats • Live in-game statistics available at GoStanford.com
On the Web • GoStanford.com • UCFknights.com • Pac-12.com • TheAmerican.org • #GoStanford
• Stanford begins its seven-game home slate Saturday with a nonconference contest against UCF.
• This will be the first ever meeting between Stanford and UCF. Stanford’s last game against a first-time opponent resulted in a 2014 Foster Farms Bowl win over Maryland.
• The meeting marks the first for Stanford with a current FBS program from the Sunshine State. Stanford faced Pensacola in 1903 and 1904 when the team was stationed in the San Francisco Bay. Stanford is 2-1 in postseason games (L - 1986 Gator Bowl, W - 1993 Blockbuster Bowl, W - 2011 Orange Bowl) played in the state of Florida.
• The home opener will be UCF’s first ever contest against a team from California, and its second against a Pac-12 Conference program (2002 vs. Arizona State).
• Stanford is slated to make a return trip to UCF on Sept. 14, 2019, marking its first ever regular season game played in Florida.
• The Cardinal begins its home schedule at 0-1 following last week’s 16-6 setback at Northwestern. Dating to last season, Stanford has won three of its last four outings. Even more, the Cardinal has won seven straight home openers.
• Neither Stanford nor UCF enters the game ranked. Stanford is 27-4 against unranked opponents under head coach David Shaw.
• Stanford is 10-1 following a loss under head coach David Shaw. Stanford’s 2014 loss to No. 25 Utah, coupled with a loss one week prior at No. 3 Oregon marked the Cardinal’s first consecutive setbacks since midway through the 2009 season.
• The Cardinal is riding a 13-game nonconference home win streak into its meeting with the Knights. Its last such defeat was a 21-14 decision to Notre Dame on Nov. 24, 2007, or 2,849 days prior to Saturday’s meeting. During the seven-year, nine-month and 19-day streak, Stanford has scored at least 34 points in nine of those contests, averaging 43.3 points/game and winning eight matchups by three or more touchdowns. Stanford has held opponents to 20 points or less in 11 of the 13 games, with visitors averaging 14.3 points/game. In 2014, Stanford out-scored its two nonconference opponents, 80-0, at Stanford Stadium. Since Stanford Stadium’s renovation, which was completed prior to the 2006 season, the Cardinal is 14-3 (.823) at home in nonconference games.
• Stanford and Texas are the only schools out of the 68 Power 5 and independent programs in 2015 who play 12 FBS opponents, 11 of which are Power 5 schools or Notre Dame. Five of Stanford’s 12 regular-season opponents -- No. 7 Oregon, No. 8 USC, No. 11 Notre Dame, No. 13 UCLA and No. 22 Arizona -- are ranked in the AP’s preseason top 25.
• Stanford University requires its students to declare an undergraduate major before starting their junior year. Among the team’s juniors and seniors, 16 majors are represented. Eleven Cardinal upperclassmen are engineering majors. Majors with three or more Cardinal student-athletes: communication, economics, human biology, management science and engineering, psychology, public policy, and science, technology and society.
• No program in the nation has a higher graduation rate over the last four years than Stanford (99 pct.). Even more, no Pac-12 Conference team has had more draftees over the last four years than Stanford (19).
• Stanford’s 2015 roster includes student-athletes from 28 states and Canada.
• Fifth-year senior QB Kevin Hogan, senior LG Joshua Garnett, senior LT Kyle Murphy, fifth-year senior CB Ronnie Harris, fifth-year senior OLB Kevin Anderson and senior ILB Blake Martinez serve as team captains for the 2015 season, as voted by their teammates. Hogan is Stanford’s first two-time team captain since Bo McNally (2008-09).
• 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 was ranked 21st in the AP Top 25 poll to start this 2015 campaign, a school-record fifth straight year for the Cardinal in the preseason poll. The Cardinal, unranked to end the 2014 season, was ranked 21st by USA Today.
• Stanford has compiled a 54-14 record since 2010. Its 54 wins are the seventh-most by any college program over that stretch.