• Stanford opens Pac-12 Conference play on Saturday with a showdown vs. No. 14/15 USC, who is 1-0 after a 66-14 win over Rice last weekend. The Cardinal, also 1-0, opened the campaign with a 41-10 win over Colgate.
• Stanford is 7-5 against USC under David Shaw, with four of those victories coming when the Trojans have been ranked. Last year, the Cardinal won in dominating fashion, 42-28, at the Coliseum.
• Under Shaw, Stanford is 32-10 against programs from California and 26-9 against in-state conference foes.
• The Cardinal improved to 10-2 in home openers under Shaw and 9-3 in season openers. Stanford is 7-4 in Pac-12 openers under Shaw.
• Since 2010, Stanford Football has been one of the best programs nationally. In that span, the Cardinal ranks:
13th nationally with 106 wins (106-46 overall) and 2nd in the Pac-12 behind Oregon. No other Pac-12 program ranks in the Top 25.
Tied for 14th with 50 NFL Draft picks, 2nd most in the Pac-12 behind USC.
7th in wins over Top 25 opponents with 31 (31-24 in that span), the best in the Pac-12.
Tied for 8th nationally with 10 consensus All-Americans, most in the Pac-12.
1st nationally with 15 Academic All-Americans, five more than any other program and 10 more than any Pac-12 school in that span.
Including the 2009 season, Stanford’s five Top-Two finishers in the Heisman Trophy voting is second nationally to Alabama’s six in that span.
The Cardinal has appeared in four Pac-12 Championship Games since 2011 and would have appeared in five under the newly instituted Pac-12 Championship Game format.
• Stanford will recognize its Hall of Fame Class, as well as Andrew Luck for his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame Class of 2022, this weekend. Luck, who will be the 19th Cardinal player inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, will be recognized in between the first and second quarters with his National Football Foundation on-campus salute.
• Stanford Athletics is celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Title IX by inducting its first-all-female class. The ceremony will be on Friday evening with recognition Saturday at halftime during the football game. The 2022 class consists of: Lisa Bernhagen Ramos (Women’s Track and Field), Elaine Breeden Penrose (Women’s Swimming and Diving), Margie Dingeldein (Women’s Water Polo), Ashley Hansen (Softball), Carly Janiga Reardon (Women’s Gymnastics), Linda R. Meier (Special Recognition (Service)), Nneka Ogwumike (Women’s Basketball), Christen Press (Women’s Soccer), Tara VanDerveer (The Setsuko Ishiyama Director of Women’s Basketball (1985-present)) and Sally Voss Krueger (Women’s Golf).
• Early enrollee and true freshman David Bailey started at EDGE last night for Stanford. He is the first true freshman to start a season opener at Stanford since Owen Marecic (fullback) in 2007.
• Junior RB E.J. Smith, son of NFL Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith, sprung free for an 87-yard rushing touchdown on Stanford’s first play from scrimmage Saturday. It was tied for the fifth-longest TD run in program history. Smith, making his second career start, rushed for 118 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries, while adding 37 yards on five receptions. For Smith, it was his first career 100-yard and multi-TD game. Stanford had just one 100-yard rusher last season and did not have a running back register multiple rushing TDs in a game.