First-Ever Meeting With The Wolfpack Saturday10801350 NCST Preview
Football

First-Ever Meeting With The Wolfpack Saturday

For the fourth time in the last seven weeks, Stanford plays in the Eastern Timezone on Saturday, taking on NC State in Raleigh

Game Coverage

The Opening Kickoff

  • For the fourth time in the last seven weeks, Stanford plays in the Eastern Time Zone this Saturday as the Cardinal takes on the NC State Wolfpack in Raleigh at 12 p.m. ET (9 a.m. PT).
  • Following Saturday's game at Carter-Finley Stadium,  Stanford will spend the final four weeks of the season
    in the Bay Area with a bye week, one home game, and road games at California and San Jose State.
  • Stanford is looking to snap a five-game losing streak, with four of those losses coming in ACC play. The last win for the Cardinal was its inaugural ACC game at Syracuse on Sept. 20.
  • The Stanford defense has been significantly better at forcing defenses into mistakes in year two under Willie Shaw Director of Defense Bobby April. The Cardinal has forced 12 turnovers through eight games, compared to just 11 during the entire 2023 season. Stanford also has two defensive touchdowns in 2024, the first time since 2019 that Stanford's defense has recorded multiple defensive touchdowns in a season.
  • This year's Cardinal team is one of the most aggressive in the country. Stanford has gone for it on fourth down 25 times, tied for the fifth most in FBS. The 13 successful fourth-down conversions are tied for ninth-most in the country.
  • Stanford has struggled early in recent ACC games. In the last four conference contests, Stanford has trailed  17-0 (at No. 17 Clemson), 21-0 (Virginia Tech and No. 21 SMU) and 14-0 (Wake Forest). Despite the early struggles, Stanford scored 17 points in the first half against Wake Forest, tied for the most the Cardinal has put up in the first half of a game this year.
  • Young players have been making an impact for the Cardinal all season long. Two freshman running backs have over 260 yards (Micah Ford and Chris Davis Jr.). 80.7% of the team's receiving yards are from underclassmen, the highest mark in college football. Redshirt sophomore Elic Ayomanor is the team's leading receiver with 42 receptions for 484 yards and four touchdowns.
  • Continuing on the theme of youth, 14 different Cardinal have made their first collegiate starts in 2024. That is tied for the eighth most in FBS and leads the ACC.