The 2022 season will ultimately be remembered as the final year of David Shaw's successful and memorable tenure as Stanford Football Head Coach. Shaw announced his resignation in the early morning on Nov. 27 following the season finale vs. BYU at Stanford Stadium.
The winningest coach in program history, Shaw finished his 12 seasons with a 96-54 record. Shaw was honored with the 2017 Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year award and led Stanford to three Pac-12 titles and two Rose Bowl victories during his tenure.
In addition to guiding Stanford to three Rose Bowl Game appearances, Shaw is the only four-time Pac-12 Coach of the Year, having led the Cardinal to three conference titles. Shaw's 96 overall wins rank ninth in Pac-12 history while his 65 conference victories rank fifth. Stanford achieved 29 wins against top-25 opponents (ranking eighth nationally since 2011), 11 against top-10 programs and five against top-5 foes. Additionally, the Cardinal had 43 players drafted, a total ranking tied for 13th nationally and tied for the most in the Pac-12.
The Cardinal was equally accomplished in the classroom during Shaw's tenure, boasting a nation-leading 15 Academic All-Americans since 2010, five more than any other program and 10 more than any Pac-12 school in that span, including Andrew Luck (2011) and Christian McCaffrey (2015) as Academic All-Americans of the Year.
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Stanford finished the 2022 season 3-9 overall and 1-8 in the Pac-12. It marked the second straight season the Cardinal has finished 3-9 overall, and since 2019, Stanford is just 14-28.
After Shaw's resignation, Jaquish and Kenninger Director of Athletics Bernard Muir turned to Troy Taylor to become the new Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football. Taylor guided Sacramento State to a 30-8 mark in four years and a berth in the FCS quarterfinals for the first time in school history. Prior to the 2022 season, Sacramento State had never won an FCS Playoff game in its program history.
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The Cardinal began the season with a 41-10 win over Colgate at Stanford Stadium, but lost its next four, all to teams that finished the season ranked in the AP Top 25 (No. 12 USC, at No. 8 Washington, at No. 15 Oregon and No. 17 Oregon State).
However, in a high moment of the season, Stanford went on the road to South Bend and claimed back The Legends Trophy with a thrilling victory at Notre Dame Stadium. The Fighting Irish finished the season 9-4 and ranked No. 18 in the AP's final ranking.
The Cardinal won its second straight the following week, 15-14 over Arizona State, on the leg of five Joshua Karty field goals. At the time, Stanford was 3-4, but lost its final five to end the season. Over the last three full seasons, the Cardinal is 0-12 in the month of November.
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Speaking of Joshua Karty, what a season for the junior placekicker from Burlington, N.C. He was named First Team All-America by the Associated Press, Second Team All-America by The Sporting News and Third Team All-America by the Football Writers Association of America.
Karty is just the second placekicker in school history to earn First Team All-America honors (Rod Garcia, 1973). He is the first Cardinal since 2018 to earn All-American honors (Paulson Adebo, FWAA Second Team) and the first Stanford football player to earn First Team All-America honors since 2017 (Bryce Love, Associated Press).
Karty went 18-of-18 on the year on field goal attempts. For his career, Karty is 51-for-52 on PATs and 28-for-34 on field goals. Impressively, his 18 makes came in just seven games, as the kicker was not called on to kick in the season's first three games as well as the Cardinal's games against Washington State and Utah.
He was the only qualified kicker nationally with no misses on the year, and the only kicker with 13 makes of 40+ yards this season. Dating back to 1996, Karty is just the fourth kicker with at least 18 makes to have a perfect season, and just the third kicker with 10+ makes from 40-or-more yards without a miss.
He set the school record with a 61-yard field goal at Cal, and also had makes of 54 yards (vs. BYU) and 53 yards (at Oregon). No kicker nationally had more than three 50+-yard field goals with no misses. Karty's 61-yarder was five yards further than any other kicker this season.
Karty was not only a dangerous weapon in Stanford's field goal unit but also led the Cardinal's kickoff squad. He finished the season with 40 touchbacks on 55 kickoffs and allowed only 11 kickoff returns. Those returns allowed averaged only 17.09 yards per return.
Karty was a finalist for the Lou Groza Award, earning Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week four times and Groza Award Star of the Week twice.
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Karty led the way as 12 Cardinal were honored with All-Pac-12 selection following the 2022 season. Karty was named to the first team, senior cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly and junior tight end Benjamin Yurosek were both named to the second team. Senior offensive linemen Walter Rouse and Drake Nugent, senior defensive lineman Stephen Herron, senior linebacker Levani Damuni, fifth-year linebacker Ricky Miezan, senior punter Ryan Sanborn, fifth-year wide receivers Brycen Tremayne and Michael Wilson, and senior wide receiver Elijah Higgins each garnered honorable mention recognition.
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Stanford led the nation with four Academic All-Americans, as Patrick Fields, Spencer Jorgensen, Walter Rouse and Kendall Williamson all garnered first-team honors.
Fields compiled a 3.81 undergraduate GPA in economics at Oklahoma, and now carries a 3.62 combined graduate GPA in economics (Oklahoma) and management science and engineering (Stanford). He is a two-time finalist for the Wuerffel Trophy and was a 2021 William V. Campbell Trophy finalist. Jorgensen has an unblemished 4.00 GPA in symbolic systems and began his master's in management science and engineering this last quarter. Rouse carries a 3.52 in biomechanical engineering and was named a finalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy in 2022. Williamson has a 3.81 GPA with a bachelor's in product design while he pursues his master's in sociology.
Stanford's Academic All-American Notes (since 2010):
Leads nation with 11 first teamers (Chase Beeler, Andrew Luck, Christian McCaffrey, Christian McCaffrey, Thomas Booker, Thomas Booker, Noah Williams, Patrick Fields, Spencer Jorgensen, Walter Rouse, Kendall Williamson)
- Next closest school is Penn State with nine first teamers
- Has totaled six first teamers over the last two seasons
- Only five schools have at least six first teamers total since 2010
- Leads nation with eight second teamers (Jordan Richards, Owen Marecic, Henry Anderson, Jesse Burkett, Harrison Phillips, Drew Dalman, Jet Toner, Noah Williams)
- Next closest school is Kentucky with six first teamers
- Leads nation with 19 total honorees
- Next closest school is Minnesota with 11
- Next closest Pac-12 school is Oregon with 5
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