IN THE AGE of the transfer portal, Stanford football has had discussions with university administrators about how the Cardinal can take better advantage of the evolving landscape.
With other programs able to strengthen itself with transfers, Stanford has not had such a luxury because of the university's policies on admitting transfers. Safety Patrick Fields, a holder of two undergraduate degrees from Oklahoma who was admitted to Stanford's management science and engineering master's program, is the only transfer on Stanford's 2022 roster.
David Shaw, Stanford's Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football, said discussions have been positive in enhancing Stanford's ability to bring in transfers to avoid being at a competitive disadvantage.
"We've had a lot of great conversations with our administration and our admissions team," Shaw said. "We're excited that we're putting together a process where we can actually partake in the transfer portal. It means finding a way to do it the Stanford way, but at the same time realizing that in order for us to compete the way that we need to compete, in this era, we have to be able to utilize the portal."
Stanford has had three graduate transfers since 2015 -- highlighted by Brennan Scarlett, a seven-year NFL defensive lineman now with the Miami Dolphins – and no undergraduate transfers.
"This is not just a Stanford issue," Shaw said. "You ask any coach in America right now about the term 'roster management.' I wouldn't say it scares us, it's just an amoeba. It's this formless thing right now. You don't know how many you may lose to the portal. You don't know how many you can bring back from the portal."
The last notable undergrad transfers were All-America center Chase Beeler from Oklahoma in 2007 and tight end Konrad Reuland from Notre Dame in 2008.
"Granted, we haven't moved as fast as other athletic programs, other universities, in some of these new spaces," Shaw said. "We are very deliberate. We want to do things the right way. We don't want to do things one year that have to change the next year. So, we're trying to make decisions on how we're going to operate now going forward.
"But I'm pleased and excited to be able to say that we are. That's great news. That's exciting news. Those are very interesting and exciting changes for us. A lot of great conversations, a lot of recognition on administration's part, on my part, that we have to change some things and maybe look at things differently in order to stay competitive."
Patrick Fields. Photo by John P. Lozano/ISIphotos.com.
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FOOTBALL'S EARLY-ENROLLEE program began in 2021 and five players have taken advantage. Shaw would like to expand that as well.
"We haven't really said what that number would or could increase to," Shaw said. "We just need to recognize that it's an important part of recruiting. We went a decade without taking early enrollment and lost out on a lot of student-athletes in the process -- a lot of high-caliber athletes, high-caliber people, high-caliber students.
"The administration and admissions understand this as part of the new world," Shaw said. "And we're open to participating in it."
Ashton Daniels. Photo by Dave Elkinson/ISIphotos.com.
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JOSHUA KARTY remains perfect on kicks this season, including extra-point and field-goal tries. No Stanford kicker ever has been perfect in a season. Karty, a junior computer science major, is 16-for-16 on field-goal tries with 12 makes of 40-plus yards. Only North Carolina State's Christopher Dunn (21 of 21) is perfect among FBS kickers.
Karty kicked a 61-yard field goal as time expired in the 125th Big Game, setting a school record. It was five yards longer than any other field goal made at the FBS level this season and second-longest field goal in Pac-12 history.
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HOW DOES STANFORD approach the season finale in a season without a bowl possibility?
"It's a one-game season," said receiver Brycen Tremayne. "We're not looking at the past 11 games. It's just about finishing this season on a strong note, sending guys into the off-season with a better taste in their mouths, and inspiring each other to get motivated to train hard and get better next season."
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THANKSGIVING DAY has been a football tradition since 1876 with Yale and Princeton. Rivals Michigan and University of Chicago took up the tradition in the 1890s, further showcasing the idea of rivalry games on the holiday. High schools across the nation popularized it even more.
Locally, the Little Big Game between Palo Alto and Sequoia high schools was played annually at Stanford Stadium, drawing 26,000 in 1967. The Big Bone Game between San Jose and Lincoln high schools was the last Thanksgiving Day high school football rivalry series west of Missouri until it was permanently moved to Labor Day weekend in 2021. The Turkey Day game for the San Francisco public school championship is the only Thanksgiving Bay Area football tradition that remains.
Stanford first played on Thanksgiving in 1893 in the Big Game against Cal, before 18,000 at the muddy Haight Street Grounds. The Big Game was played on Thanksgiving each year from 1893-1900.
In 1893, both Stanford and Cal arrived in elaborately decorated horse-drawn carriages and paraded in front of the stands for 15 minutes before the game could begin. Stanford fell behind but rallied in the second half on a two-yard touchdown run by Bert Kennedy, who also made the conversion in a driving rainstorm for a 6-6 tie, the only blemish in an 8-0-1 season under Pop Bliss.
It's possible that Stanford-Cal would have remained a Thanksgiving tradition, but the calamity at the 1900 contest likely changed that, perhaps to avoid crowds so large in future games. At San Francisco's Recreation Park, as many as 1,000 fans watched from the S.F. and Pacific Glass Works factory when the roof collapsed from their weight. More than 100 fell to the factory's floor, mostly young boys, with more than 60 directly onto the massive, blazing furnace. Twenty-two were killed and more than 100 were injured. The disaster remains the deadliest spectator accident at a U.S. sporting event.
After that, Stanford played only three more games on Thanksgiving, all on the road. Stanford won at Utah (35-11 score) in 1902 and at Colorado (18-0) in 1904, and lost at USC (13-0) in 1919. Overall, Stanford has played 11 games on Thanksgiving – eight at neutral sites and three on the road – and gone 6-3-2.
The BYU game to conclude this season will be played on a Saturday. The first time Stanford played on the Saturday after Thanksgiving was in 1903, with an 18-0 victory over the Sherman Institute, a boarding school for indigenous peoples, at San Francisco's Richmond Field.
San Francisco Examiner clipping from Stanford's first Thanksgiving Day football game, in 1893.
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MITCH LEIGBER'S 83-yard rushing effort and one-handed catch inside the 5-yard line were among the Stanford highlights of last week's 27-20 Big Game loss. And Leigber's emergency mid-season switch from safety to running back has been one of the best stories of the 2022 Stanford season.
"There's so much appreciation for what Mitch has done for us," Tremayne said. "He goes hard every time he gets the ball. Mitch has impressed us in so many ways and we're very thankful for what he has done for our offense."
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MIEZAN SAID EVEN in a 3-8 season, there is much value in what the veterans can pass down.
"The biggest thing is fighting in the face of adversity," he said. "That's what this team does. This team just plays hard no matter what our record is. I hope that we've instilled that upon the younger guys so they can carry that on as they go."
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STANFORD'S SENIORS WILL be honored before the game on Saturday, giving a finality to the college careers for so many.
"The biggest thing I'll miss about this team is the guys," Miezan said. "A couple of us were talking at dinner and we looked around, and we're like, 'This is really the last time some of us could see each other for a long time.
"I'm just grateful and appreciative of all the guys on this team. There's a lot of love here. We just really want to go out and play for each other. That's what it's all about."