• For the first time ever, Stanford and Vanderbilt meet on the gridiron Saturday night. The Cardinal and Commodores kick off at 5 p.m. PT on ESPNU.
• Saturday concludes a seven-game road trip for Stanford, the longest such streak in school history. The Cardinal played its final four games of the 2020 season away from home, while beginning the 2021 season with three straight games away from home. • Stanford is the only Power Five program to begin the season with two straight games away from home, let alone three.
• For the first time since 2017, and just the second time in school history, the Cardinal begins the season with three straight games away from home. In 2017, Stanford opened with a game vs. Rice in Sydney, Australia, before traveling to USC and San Diego State.
• The Cardinal is the only program to play 12 Power Five opponents in the regular season this year, becoming the first program since USC in 2011 to do so. • Stanford plays six teams who were in the AP Preseason Top 25, tied with UCLA and Colorado for most in the country.
• Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football David Shaw is in his 11th season at the helm of the Cardinal. Shaw owns a 91-37 (.711) career record, making him the winningest coach in program history. Shaw’s 91 wins are tied for 13th-most in conference history. • Following its 42-28 win at No. 14 USC on Saturday, Stanford is 28-20 against Top 25 foes under David Shaw and has defeated at least one Top-20 opponent on the road in eight of Shaw’s 11 seasons.
• Since Shaw took over, Stanford is 32-8 against programs from California, including 26-7 against Pac-12 foes from the state (Cal, UCLA, USC).
• Since 2007, Stanford is 10-6 vs. USC with a 5-3 record at the Coliseum. Under Shaw, the Cardinal is 7-5 vs. the Trojans. Prior to 2007, Stanford was 24-57-3 all-time vs. USC.
• In the 15 seasons prior to Shaw taking over, Stanford won 82 games ... eight less than the Cardinal won in Shaw’s first 10 seasons.
• The Cardinal improved to 33-0 on Saturday night when scoring 40-or-more points under Shaw. Stanford is also 80-18 when allowing fewer than 30 points under Shaw.
• Stanford’s 14-point win at No. 14 USC marked its fifth-largest margin of victory ever at USC. Stanford now owns eight, double-digit road victories all-time at USC.
• David Shaw named QB Tanner McKee the starter prior to Saturday’s victory at USC, and the sophomore didn’t disappoint. In his first career start, McKee was 16-of-23 for 234 yards and three total touchdowns in a dominating 42-28 win at No. 14 USC. Since 2012, McKee is the 13th FBS QB to defeat a ranked opponent on the road in his first career start. He also became the first Pac-12 player to do so since Tavita Pritchard defeated No. 2 USC in 2007.