STANFORD, Calif. — The final week of spring football practice wrapped up on Friday for Stanford, as the team closed the book on 15 installments of practice scattered across four weeks.
As it has been throughout spring practice, Stanford mixed in a day with just helmets as opposed to full pads. That lighter practice came on Wednesday to allow for maximum recovery time in advance of the heavier Monday and Friday practices.
Last practice of Spring Ball ? @GaethanBernadel signs us off!#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/2m8lrZG2Ye
— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) April 27, 2024
One thing that has been clear from the start of spring practice until the final one on Friday: the team improved and is ahead of where it was last spring. Part of that is the development of the returning players, but also the impact of the early enrollees and newcomers on the team.
"Love the intensity. We are light years ahead of last year," Bradford M. Freeman Director of Football Troy Taylor told the team after Monday's practice. "Defense made some nice plays, got some turnovers. Offense, I saw some nice things, and I thought the protection was much improved."
A point of emphasis all spring was to create more turnovers on defense and that was accomplished. During the final two weeks of practice, the defense was able to generate at least one turnover during 11-on-11 competition, with several practices, the defense recording multiple takeaways.
After the final practice of spring, Collin Wright talked about the many improvements he and his teammates saw during spring. He mentioned both sides of the ball but began by talking about non-football-related things.
"I think first of all our camaraderie is better," Wright mentioned. "We are a lot closer to each other than we were last year. Our coaches love to preach about leadership and how much that will help us on Saturdays. We all want to be professionals, but that carries off the field with everything we do. Our film study, our academics, and just being a good teammate."
This does not mean that the offense has been poor. Several groups showed flashes when going against the defense, and the offensive line did a better job protecting the quarterbacks. The extra time allowed some of the receivers to make plays, which led to some exciting touchdown throws on downfield passes.
That improvement on the offensive side of the ball was echoed by Sam Roush and Fisher Anderson, who were featured on the final "Smooth x Spring Ball" video. Specifically for Anderson, he mentioned the continuity on the offensive line as being a key factor in steady growth on the line.
"We are getting hardened from spring ball," explained Anderson. "We know the playbook, we know the personnel, and we know each other's best game which allows us to hold each accountable. That's huge. On a bad day we can pick each other up and on a good day we can congratulate each other."
We turn to a couple of roommates to close out spring practice on this week's Smoothies x Spring Ball!#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/I88e5bu8RB
— Stanford Football (@StanfordFball) April 28, 2024
Both sides of the ball will need to cash in on these improvements come fall with what the Cardinal has coming down the road. Stanford will face eight teams in 2024 that averaged at least 29 points per game, led by Notre Dame (39.2 points per game). Last season, the Cardinal also faced eight teams to reach that mark offensively.
The Cardinal begin the 2024 season against TCU on Friday, August 30 inside Stanford Stadium, with a home clash with Cal Poly on September 7. Single game tickets for the entire 2024 schedule will be available beginning in the summer.