Cardinal Goes Down UnderCardinal Goes Down Under
Football

Cardinal Goes Down Under

#14/14 Stanford Cardinal (0-0 overall)
Rice Owls (0-0 overall)

August 26, 2017 • 7 p.m. PT
Allianz Stadium (45,500) • Sydney, Australia

Notes Depth Chart Profiles Statistics Media Guide Live Stats Tickets

TelevisionLive national broadcast on ESPN with Roy Philpott (play-by-play), Tom Ramsey (analyst) and Quint Kessenich (sideline).

RadioLive 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.

On the WebGoStanford.com • RiceOwls.com • #GoStanford

Notes

  • 7,432 • As the crow flies, 7,432 miles separate Stanford's campus and Sydney's Allianz Stadium.
  • 2,085 • Of the 44,073 applicants -- the largest application pool in school history -- for Stanford's class of 2021, only 2,085 were admitted. The admitted students came from all 50 states and 82 countries.
  • 1924 • Football legend, Glenn "Pop" Warner began coaching at Stanford in 1924, the same year that John Heisman began coaching at Rice. The two coaches would later be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame. Pop Warner won a national championship with Stanford in 1926, and his name would represent a national youth football organization. The Heisman Trophy, annually awarded to the most outstanding college football player in the nation, would be named after John Heisman. Only one Stanford or Rice player has ever won the Heisman Trophy -- Stanford's Jim Plunkett in 1970.
  • 1921 • Built in 1921, Stanford Stadium is the eighth-oldest FBS facility. The current configuration includes a renovation completed prior to the 2006 season.
  • 1909 • On February 10, 1909, the Australian Wallabies -- the national rugby team of Australia -- arrived in California to play Stanford as part of their 1908-1909 "Kangaroo Tour." The Australian team played 31 matches against teams around the world, finishing their tour in North America. The Wallabies beat Stanford, 13-3.
  • 643 • Stanford's 643 tackles for loss this decade ranks sixth nationally.
  • 625 • There are over 625 registered student organizations at Stanford.
  • 602 • Stanford's true freshmen accounted for 602 snaps during the 2016 season, 10th-fewest nationally. That included offensive guard Nate Herbig, who started the final six games of 2016 (Stanford was 6-0).
  • 400 • More than 400 Stanford alumni and parents live in Australia. Sydney has the largest concentration (approx. 200), followed by Melbourne (approx. 80). The other 140 are spread over the continent with no other city having more than a couple of dozen alumni and parents. In the fall of 2016, Stanford had more than 50 graduate and undergraduate students from Australia. There are a number of Stanford athletes with ties to Australia:
    • Senior runner Anna Laman is from Sydney.
    • Junior thrower Mackenzie Little is from New South Wales.
    • Sophomore women's basketball forward Alanna Smith is from Melbourne.
    • Sophomore women's soccer midfielder/forward Beattie Goad is from Melbourne.
    • Freshman men's basketball point guard Isaac White is from Adelaide.
    • Freshman runner Louis Stenmark is from New South Wales.
    • Former defensive tackle Solomon Thomas lived in Australia when he was younger.
  • 277 • Stanford leads the nation with 277 sacks since 2011.
  • 223 • Stanford scored at least 25 points in each of its final six games of 2016, and outscored opponents, 223-123, over that stretch.
  • 169 • Stanford has made 169 consecutive extra-point attempts, the third-longest streak in the nation (Michigan - 284, Memphis - 209). The streak dates to Stanford's matchup at Oregon State on Oct. 26, 2013.
  • 137 • Stanford claimed five national team championships during the past academic year, increasing its overall total to 137, including 113 NCAA titles. Recent NCAA crowns came in men's soccer, women's volleyball, women's swimming and diving, and women's water polo.
  • 134 • Stanford has a streak of scoring in 134 consecutive games, dating to Nov. 11, 2006.
  • 123 • Stanford opens its 123rd season with a nonconference game against Rice.
  • 113 • The Cardinal and UCLA share the NCAA lead with 113 team titles.
  • 99 • Stanford received a graduation success rate of 99 percent from the NCAA for the third consecutive year in 2016, a total that paced all FBS institutions and ranked 11 points higher than the next Pac-12 school (UCLA - 88 percent).
  • 97 • Nearly 97 percent of Stanford undergraduates live on campus, and there are an estimated 13,000 bikes at Stanford daily.
  • 96 • Stanford's 8,180-acre campus is large enough to contain 96 Disneylands.
  • 86 • The Cardinal has at least one tackle for loss in each of its past 86 contests and at least one sack in 68 of its past 74.
  • 76 • Stanford's 76 wins this decade are the most of any private school, ahead of TCU (64), Baylor (64), USC (62) and Notre Dame (59).
  • 74 • Stanford's 74 wins against FBS opponents this decade ranks second nationally. Only Alabama (79) has more.
  • 71-72 • The Cardinal ended the 2016 regular season against Rice, and opens the 2017 regular season against the Owls. It's the first time that the Cardinal has ended the previous regular season and started and the next against the same opponent since 1971-72 (San Jose State).
  • 64 • Head coach David Shaw has 64 career wins, seven shy of matching the school record set by Glenn "Pop" Warner (71 from 1924-32).
  • 62 • Quarterback Keller Chryst had a 62-yard touchdown run against Rice in 2016, the longest run by a Stanford quarterback since 1997.
  • 58 • Stanford has rushed for at least 100 yards in 58 of its past 64 games. Stanford has not recorded fewer than 100 yards rushing in a victory since the second game of 2012 (92 yards vs. Duke).
  • 55 • Stanford has recorded at least one rushing touchdown 55 times in its past 62 games. Stanford has won each of its past 12 games -- and 23 of its past 24 -- when recording at least one rushing touchdown.
  • 54 • Stanford has allowed fewer than 30 points 54 times in its past 60 games.
  • 52 • Prior to their matchup in 2016, Stanford and Rice had not met in 52 years, dating to Oct. 10, 1964.
  • 41 • Stanford, which sponsors 36 varsity sports, has won at least one NCAA team title in each of the past 41 academic years, representing the longest streak in history.
  • 37 • Stanford has held opponents to fewer than 400 yards of total offense in 37 of its past 48 games.
  • 35 • During the 2016 season, 35 former Cardinal received an NFL paycheck.
  • 33 • Stanford has produced 33 NFL draft picks since 2010, 12th-most by any program over that span.
  • 31 • It's been 31 years since Stanford played a football game outside of the United States. The Cardinal and Arizona met in 1986 in the Coca-Cola Bowl in Tokyo.
  • 30 • The Stanford Concussion and Brain Performance Center is at the forefront of concussion and traumatic brain injury research, and is incorporating state of the art eye-tracking tests -- EYE-SYNC -- in all of its studies. The EYE-SYNC test is administered with customized eye tracking technology, called Dynamic Visual Synchronization (DVS) Goggles. The eye tracking test lasts 30 seconds, and the results show the ability to focus -- a key problem after a concussion.
  • 30 • Stanford, which operates on the academic quarter calendar, will have 30 days between its season opener (Aug. 26) and the first day of classes (Sept. 25).
  • 30 • Stanford's 2017 roster includes student-athletes from 30 states, and Austria.
  • 30 • No Pac-12 Conference team has had more draftees over the past five years than Stanford's 30.
  • 27 • The Cardinal has won the time-of-possession battle in 27 of its past 33 games.
  • 26 • Aug. 26 is the earliest the Cardinal has started a football season since 1992, when Stanford faced Texas A&M (also Aug. 26) in their only meeting. Bill Walsh led Stanford to a Pac-10 title that season.
  • 26 • Stanford returns 26 players who started at least one game in 2016.
    • Offense (13) -- quarterbacks Ryan Burns (7) and Keller Chryst (6); running back Bryce Love (2); fullback Daniel Marx (1); wide receivers JJ Arcega-Whiteside (2) and Trent Irwin (13); tight end Dalton Schultz (12); linemen Casey Tucker (7), A.T. Hall (13), Jesse Burkett (13), David Bright (10), Nate Herbig (6) and Brandon Fanaika (5).
    • Defense (13) -- tackle Harrison Phillips (12); end Dylan Jackson (4); outside linebackers Joey Alfieri (13) and Peter Kalambayi (13); inside linebackers Bobby Okereke (13) and Kevin Palma (13); cornerbacks Quenton Meeks (11), Alameen Murphy (9), Alijah Holder (4), Terrence Alexander (1) and Frank Buncom (1); safeties Justin Reid (10) and Ben Edwards (3).
  • 25 • Stanford is one of 10 teams to have allowed fewer than 25 points/game for four straight seasons.
  • 23 • Stanford won the 2016-17 Division I Learfield Sports Directors' Cup, extending its streak to 23 years of capturing the award presented to the most successful intercollegiate athletic department in the nation.
  • 22.4 • As of 2016, Stanford's endowment eclipsed $22.4 billion.
  • 22 • Stanford requires students to declare a major before their junior year. Among the team's upperclassmen, 22 majors are represented. Majors are: civil engineering, communication, computer science, economics, history, human biology, international relations, Japanese, mechanical engineering, media studies, management science and engineering, philosophy, political science, product design, psychology, public policy, sociology, sustainable design and construction, symbolic systems, urban studies, and science, technology and society.
  • 19 • The Stanford community includes 19 Nobel laureates.
  • 11 • Australian rules football and rugby are two of the most popular sports in Australia. For 11 seasons from 1906 to 1916, Stanford competed in rugby rather than football, compiling an impressive 93-20-3 record.
  • 9 • Coaching continuity remains a hallmark of the program. Nine of 10 full-time coaches returned for 2017, the only change coming at running back, where Ron Gould replaced Lance Taylor, who became the Carolina Panthers' wide receivers coach.
  • 8 • Stanford's game against Rice will be the eighth to kick off on a Sunday (local time). Two Stanford games in the modern era (post-WWI) were contested on Sundays -- 1978 Bluebonnet Bowl in Houston (25-22 win over #11 Georgia), and 1986 Coca-Cola Classic in Tokyo (29-24 win over #12 Arizona). The Cardinal is 6-0-1 in games played on Sunday.
  • 8 • Stanford has won at least eight games for a school-record eight straight years.
  • 8 • Stanford advanced to a school-record eighth straight bowl game in 2016, a streak that leads the Pac-12.
  • 7.21 • Bryce Love enters the season as Stanford's career leader with 7.21 yards/rush.
  • 7 • Stanford has allowed 200 or more rushing yards only seven times in its past 52 outings (2013 at Army, 2014 at Oregon, 2015 at Northwestern, 2015 vs. Oregon, 2015 vs. Notre Dame, 2016 at Washington, 2016 vs. Colorado and 2016 at Oregon).
  • 6 • Stanford has won six straight games against FBS opponents, the nation's fifth-longest streak behind Oklahoma (10), USC (9), Western Kentucky (8) and Coastal Carolina (7).
  • 6 • Stanford has won six of its past nine games at a neutral site since 2009.
  • 6 • At least six foreign languages are spoken by the Cardinal -- French (Sean Barton and Peter Kalambayi), Samoan (Gabe Reid), Japanese (Jesse Burkett), German (Devery Hamilton and Osiris St. Brown) and Austrian German (Thomas Schaffer). Multiple student-athletes are fluent in Spanish.
  • 6 • Stanford and Alabama lead the nation as the only programs with six seasons of 10 or more wins against FBS opponents since 2010.
  • 6 • Stanford is one of six programs with at least one national championships in football, baseball and men's basketball. It is the only program with at least one national championship in football, baseball, men's basketball and women's basketball.
  • 4 • Stanford did not turn the ball over in its last four games of 2016, matching the program's longest streak (Oct. 8-29, 2005).
  • 3 • Stanford signed three of the nation's top-10 recruits in the 2017 class. The Cardinal had corralled two such signees in the combined 15 previous years. Stanford is the first school in the modern era of college football recruiting services to sign the No. 1 quarterback, No. 1 offensive tackle and No. 1 tight end in the same class, earning the trifecta from both Scout and 247Sports.
  • 2 • Former Cardinal John Elway (Denver Broncos) and John Lynch (San Francisco 49ers) are NFL general managers. The other two schools with two NFL general managers? Connecticut and John Carroll.
  • 2 • Stanford has two wins in five contests against Rice, with the series beginning in 1957.
  • 1 • Rice is the only program in the current Conference USA the Cardinal has ever faced.
  • 1 • Stanford's contest against Rice will be the first American football game ever played in Allianz Stadium.
  • .667 • Of 46 Power 5 head coaches that have completed at least five seasons, David Shaw's .667 (20-10) career winning percentage against ranked teams is second.
  • 0 • Stanford's opener against Rice will be one of five games played during the season's Week 0.